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EDITOR'S NOTE: Although the authorship of the following oration is disputed by modern scholars, it is traditionally ascribed to St. Methodius of Olympus (in Asia Minor). St. Methodius is best known as the author of a Platonic dialogue in which female philosophers at a dinner party establish the exalted status of virginity. Besides defending monastic asceticism, he was an opponent of Origenism; both of these concerns show up in "Simeon and Anna". More on the author's mind, however, is the tragedy of Israel's rejection of the Messiah, and the role of the Church as the New Israel. This theme is addressed not in a tone of triumphant anti-Semitism, it seems to me, but in the spirit of Romans 11: there is a certain sadness mingling with the great joy of the feast. -- N. Redington
Although I have before, as briefly as possible, in my dialogue on
chastity, sufficiently laid the foundations as it were, for a
discourse on virginity, yet today the season has brought forward the
entire subject of the glory of virginity, and its incorruptible
crown, for the delightful consideration of the Church's
foster-children. For today the council chamber of the divine
oracles is opened wide, and the signs prefiguring this glorious day,
with its effect and issues, are by the sacred preachers read over to
the assembled Church. Today the accomplishment of that ancient and
true counsel is, in fact and deed, gloriously manifested to the
world. Today, without any covering, and with unveiled face, we see,
as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, and the majesty of the divine
ark itself. Today, the most holy assembly, bearing upon its
shoulders the heavenly joy that was for generations expected, imparts
it to the race of man.
"Old things are passed away" [2 Cor. 5:17] -- things new burst forth
into flowers, and such as fade not away. No longer does the stern
decree of the law bear away, but the grace of the Lord reigneth,
drawing all men to itself by saving long-suffering. No second time
is an Uzziah [2 Sam. 6:7] invisibly punished, for daring to touch
what may not be touched; for God Himself invites, and who will stand
hesitating with fear? He says: "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and
are heavy laden." [Matt. 11:28] Who, then, will not run to Him?
Let no Jew contradict the truth, looking at the type which went
before the house of Obededom [2 Sam. 6:10]. The Lord has
"manifestly come to His own." [John 1:11, Ps. 1:3] And sitting on
a living and not inanimate ark, as upon the mercy-seat, He comes
forth in solemn procession upon the earth. The publican, when he
touches this ark, comes away just; the harlot, when she approaches
this, is remoulded, as it were, and becomes chaste; the leper, when
he touches this, is restored whole without pain. It repulses none;
it shrinks from none; it imparts the gifts of healing, without itself
contracting any disease; for the Lord, who loves and cares for man,
in it makes His resting-place.
These are the gifts of this new grace. This is that new and strange
thing that has happened under the sun [Eccles. 1:10] -- a thing
that never had place before, nor will have place again. That which
God of His compassion toward us foreordained has come to pass, He
hath given it fulfilment because of that love for man which is so
becoming to Him. With good right, therefore, has the sacred trumpet
sounded, "Old things are passed away, behold all things are become
new." [2 Cor 5:17] And what shall I conceive, what shall I speak
worthy of this day? I am struggling to reach the inaccessible, for
the remembrance of this holy virgin far transcends all words of
mine. Wherefore, since the greatness of the panegyric required
completely puts to shame our limited powers, let us betake ourselves
to that hymn which is not beyond our faculties, and boasting in our
own unalterable defeat, let us join the rejoicing chorus of Christ's
flock, who are keeping holy-day. And do you, my divine and saintly
auditors, keep strict silence, in order that through the narrow
channel of ears, as into the harbour of the understanding, the vessel
freighted with truth may peacefully sail. We keep festival, not
according to the vain customs of the Greek mythology; we keep a feast
which brings with it no ridiculous or frenzied banqueting of the
gods, but which teaches us the wondrous condescension to us men of
the awful glory of Him who is God over all [Rom 9:5].
II.
Come, therefore, Isaiah, solemnest of preachers and greatest of
prophets, wisely unfold to the Church the mysteries of the
congregation in glory, and incite our excellent guests abundantly to
satiate themselves with enduring dainties, in order that, placing the
reality which we possess over against that mirror of thine, truthful
prophet as thou art, thou mayest joyfully clap thine hands at the
issue of thy predictions. It came to pass, he says, "in the year in
which king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high
and lifted up; and the house was full of His glory. And the
seraphim stood round about him: each one had six wings. And one
cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts:
the whole earth is full of His glory. And the posts of the door were
moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with
smoke. And I said, Woe is me! I am pricked to the heart, for I am a
man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. And one
of the seraphim was sent unto me, having a live coal in his hand,
which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar. And he touched
my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine
iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is purged. Also I heard the
voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go unto
this people. Then said I, Here am I; send me. And He said, Go, and
tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye
indeed, but perceive not." [Isaiah 6:1-9] These are the
proclamations made beforehand by the prophet through the Spirit.
Do thou, dearly beloved, consider the force of these words. So shalt
thou understand the issue of these sacramental symbols, and know both
what and how great this assembling together of ourselves is. And
since the prophet has before spoken of this miracle, come thou, and
with the greatest ardour and exultation, and alacrity of heart,
together with the keenest sagacity of thine intelligence, and
therewith approach Bethlehem the renowned, comparing the prophecy with
the actual issue of events. Thou wilt not stand in need of many
words to come to a knowledge of the matter; only fix thine eyes on
the things which are taking place there. "All things truly are plain
to them that understand, and right to them that find knowledge."
[Prov 8:9] For, behold, as a throne high and lifted up by the
glory of Him that fashioned it, the virgin-mother is there made
ready, and that most evidently of the King, the Lord of hosts. Upon
this consider the Lord now coming unto thee in sinful flesh. Upon
this virginal throne, I say, worship Him who now comes to thee by
this new and ever-adorable way. Look around thee with the eye of
faith, and thou wilt find around Him, as by the ordinance of their
courses, the royal and priestly company of the seraphim. These, as
His body-guard, are ever wont to attend the presence of their king.
Whence also in this place they are not only said to hymn with their
praises the divine substance of the divine unity, but also the glory
to be adored by all of that one of the sacred Trinity, which now, by
the appearance of God in the flesh, hath even lighted upon earth.
They say: "The whole earth is full of His glory." For we believe
that, together with the Son, who was made man for our sakes,
according to the good pleasure of His will, was also present the
Father, who is inseparable from Him as to His divine nature, and also
the Spirit, who is of one and the same essence with Him. For, as
says Paul, the interpreter of the divine oracle, "God was in Christ
reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them." [2 Cor 5:19] He thus shows that the Father was in the
Son, because that one and the same will worked in them.
III.
Do thou, therefore, O lover of this festival, when thou hast
considered well the glorious mysteries of Bethlehem, which were
brought to pass for thy sake, gladly join thyself to the heavenly
host, which is celebrating magnificently thy salvation [2 Sam 6:14].
As once David did before the ark, so do thou, before this virginal
throne, joyfully lead the dance. Hymn with gladsome song the Lord,
who is always and everywhere present, and Him who from Teman, as says
the prophet [Habak. 3:3], hath thought fit to appear, and that in
the flesh, to the race of men. Say, with Moses, "He is my God, and I
will glorify Him; my father's God, and I will exalt Him." [Exod. 15:2]
Then, after thine hymn of thanksgiving, we shall usefully
inquire what cause aroused the King of Glory to appear in Bethlehem.
His compassion for us compelled Him, who cannot be compelled, to be
born in a human body at Bethlehem. But what necessity was there
that He, when a suckling infant, that He who, though born in time,
was not limited by time, that He, who though wrapped in swaddling
clothes, was not by them held fast, what necessity was there that He
should be an exile and a stranger from His country? Should you,
forsooth, wish to know this, ye congregation most holy, and upon whom
the Spirit of God hath breathed, listen to Moses proclaiming plainly
to the people, stimulating them, as it were, to the knowledge of this
extraordinary nativity, and saying, "Every male that openeth the
womb, shall be called holy to the Lord." [Exod 31:19] O wondrous
circumstance! "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God!" [Rom 11:33] It became indeed the Lord of the
law and the prophets to do all things in accordance with His own law,
and not to make void the law, but to fulfil it, and rather to connect
with the fulfilment of the law the beginning of His grace. Therefore
it is that the mother, who was superior to the law, submits to the
law. And she, the holy and undefiled one, observe that time of
forty days that was appointed for the unclean. And He who makes us
free from the law, became subject to the law; and there is offered
for Him who hath sanctified us a pair of clean birds [Luke 2:24],
in testimony of those who approach clean and blameless.
Now that that parturition was unpolluted, and stood not in need of
expiatory
victims, Isaiah is our witness, who proclaims distinctly to the whole
earth under the sun: "Before she travailed," he says, "she brought
forth; before her pains came, she escaped, and brought forth a
man-child." [Isaiah 66:7] Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath
seen such things? The most holy virgin mother, therefore, escaped
entirely the manner of women even before she brought forth:
doubtless, in order that the Holy Spirit, betrothing her unto
Himself, and sanctifying her, she might conceive without intercourse
with man. She hath brought forth her first-born Son, even the
only-begotten Son of God, Him, I say, who in the heavens above shone
forth as the only-begotten, without mother, from out His Father's
substance, and preserved the virginity of His natural unity undivided
and inseparable; and who on earth, in the virgin's nuptial chamber,
joined to Himself the nature of Adam, like a bridegroom, by an
inalienable union, and preserved his mother's purity uncorrupt and
uninjured -- Him, in short, who in heaven was begotten without
corruption, and on earth brought forth in a manner quite
unspeakable. But to return to our subject.
IV.
Therefore the prophet brought the virgin from Nazareth, in order that
she might give birth at Bethlehem to her salvation-bestowing child,
and brought her back again to Nazareth, in order to make manifest to
the world the hope of life. Hence it was that the ark of God removed
from the inn at Bethlehem (for there He paid to the law that debt of
the forty days, due not to justice but to grace), and rested upon the
mountains of Sion, and receiving into His pure bosom as upon a lofty
throne, and one transcending the nature of man, the Monarch of all,
she presented Him there to God the Father, as the joint-partner of
His throne, and inseparable from His nature, together with that pure
and undefiled flesh which he had of her substance assumed. The holy
mother goes up to the temple to exhibit to the law a new and strange
wonder, even that child long expected, who opened the virgin's womb,
and yet did not burst the barriers of virginity; that child, superior
to the law, who yet fulfilled the law; that child that was at once
before the law, and yet after it; that child, in short, who was of
her incarnate beyond the law of nature. For in other cases every
womb being opened by connection with a man, and, being impregnated
by his seed, receives the beginning of conception, and by the pangs
which make perfect parturition, doth at length bring forth to light
its offspring endowed with reason, and with its nature consistent,
in accordance with the wise provision of God its creator. For God
said, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." But the
womb of this virgin, without being opened before, or being
impregnated with seed, gave birth to an offspring that transcended
nature, while at the same time it was cognate to it, and that without
detriment to the indivisible unity, so that the miracle was the more
stupendous, the prerogative of virginity likewise remaining intact.
She goes up, therefore, to the temple, she who was more exalted than
the temple, clothed with a double glory -- the glory, I say, of
undefiled virginity, and that of ineffable fecundity, the benediction
of the law, and the sanctification of grace. Wherefore he says who
saw it: "And the whole house was full of His glory, and the
seraphim stood round about him; and one cried unto another, and said,
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of
His glory." [Isaiah 6:3] As also the blessed prophet Habkkuk has
charmingly sung, saying, "In the midst of two living creatures thou
shalt be known: as the years draw nigh thou shalt be recognised --
when the time is come thou shalt be shown forth." See, I pray you,
the exceeding accuracy of the Spirit. He speaks of knowledge,
recognition, showing forth. As to the first of these: "In the midst
of two living creatures thou shalt be known," [Hab. 3:2 LXX], he
refers to that overshadowing of the divine glory which, in the time
of the law, rested in the Holy of holies upon the covering of the
ark, between the typical cherubim, as He says to Moses, "There will I
be known to thee." [Exod. 25:22] But He refers likewise to that
concourse of angels, which hath now come to meet us, by the divine
and ever adorable manifestation of the Saviour Himself in the flesh,
although He in His very nature cannot be beheld by us, as Isaiah has
even before declared. But when He says, "As the years draw nigh,
thou shalt be recognised," He means, as has been said, before, that
glorious recognition of our Saviour, God in the flesh, who is
otherwise invisible to mortal eye; as somewhere Paul, that great
interpreter of sacred mysteries, says: "But when the fullness of the
time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons." [Gal. 4:4-5] And then, as to that
which is subjoined, "When the time is come, thou shalt be shown
forth," what exposition doth this require, if a man diligently
direct the eye of his mind to the festival which we are now
celebrating? "For then shalt thou be shown forth," He says, "as upon
a kingly charger, by the pure and chaste mother, in the temple, and
that in the grace and beauty of the flesh assumed by thee." All
these things the prophet, summing up for the sake of greater
clearness, exclaims in brief: "the Lord is in His holy temple"
[Hab. 2:20]; "Fear before Him all the earth." [Ps. 95(96):9]
V.
Tremendous, verily, is the mystery connected with thee, O virgin
mother, thou spiritual throne, glorified and made worthy of God.
Thou hast brought forth, before the eyes of those in heaven and
earth, a pre-eminent wonder. And it is a proof of this, and an
irrefragable argument, that at the novelty of thy supernatural
child-bearing, the angels sang on earth, "Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards men," by their
threefold song bringing in a threefold holiness. Blessed art thou
among the generations of women, O thou of God most blessed, for by
thee the earth has been filled with that divine glory of God; as in
the Psalms it is sung: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, and the whole
earth shall be filled with His glory. Amen. Amen." [Ps. 71(72):18,19]
And the posts of the door, says the prophet, moved at the voice of him
that cried, by which is signified the veil of the temple drawn before
the ark of the covenant, which typified thee, that the truth might
be laid open to me, and also that I might be taught, by the
types and figures which went down before, to approach with
reverence and trembling to do honour to the sacred mystery
which is connected with thee; and that by means of this prior
shadow-painting of the law I might be restrained from boldly
and irreverently contemplating with fixed gaze Him who, in His
incomprehensibility, is seated far above all.
For if to the ark, which was the image and type of thy sanctity, such
honour was paid of God that to no one but to the priestly order only
was the access to it open, or ingress allowed to behold it, the veil
separating it off, and keeping the vestibule as that of a queen, what,
and what sort of veneration is due to thee from us who are of creation
the least, to thee who art indeed a queen; to thee, the living ark of
God, the Lawgiver; to thee, the heaven that contains Him who can be
contained of none? For since thou, O holy virgin, hast dawned as a
bright day upon the world, and hast brought forth the Sun of
Righteousness, that hateful horror of darkness has been chased away;
the power of the tyrant has been broken, death hath been destroyed,
hell swallowed up, and all enmity dissolved before the face of peace;
noxious diseases depart now that salvation looks forth; and the whole
universe has been filled with the pure and clear light of truth. To
which things Solomon alludes in the Book of Canticles, and begins
thus: "My beloved is mine, and I am his; he feedeth among the lilies
until the day break, and the shadows flee away." [Cant 2:16,17]
Since then, the God of gods hath appeared in Sion, and the splendour
of His beauty hath appeared in Jerusalem; and "a light has sprung up
for the righteous, and joy for those who are true of heart." [Ps.
71(72):11]
According to the blessed David, the Perfecter and Lord of the perfected
hath,
by the Holy Spirit, called the teacher and minister of the law to minister
and testify of those things which were done.
VI.
Hence the aged Simeon, putting off the weakness of the flesh, and putting
on the strength of hope, in the face of the law hastened to receive the
Minister of the law, the Teacher with authority, the God of Abraham, the
Protector of Isaac, the Holy One of Israel, the Instructor of Moses; Him,
I
say, who promised to show him His divine incarnation, as it were His
hinder
parts [Exod. 3:23]; Him who, in the midst of poverty, was rich; Him who in
infancy was before the ages; Him who, though seen, was invisible; Him who
in
comprehension was incomprehensible; Him who, though in littleness, yet
surpassed all magnitude -- at one and the same time in the temple and in
the
highest heavens -- on a royal throne, and on the chariot of the cherubim;
Him who is both above and below continuously; Him who is in the form of a
servant, and in the form of God the Father; a subject and yet King of all.
He [Simeon] was entirely given up to desire, to hope, to joy; he was no
longer his own, but His who had been looked for. The Holy Spirit had
announced to him the joyful tidings, and before he reached the temple,
carried aloft by the eyes of his understanding, as if even now he
possessed what he had longed for, he exulted with joy. Being thus led on,
and in his haste treading the air with his steps, he reaches the shrine
hitherto held sacred; but, not heeding the temple, he stretches out his
holy arms to the Ruler of the temple, chanting forth in song such strains
as became the joyous occasion:
"I long for Thee, O Lord God of my fathers, and Lord of mercy, who hast
deigned, of Thine own glory and goodness, which provides for all, of Thy
gracious condescension, with which Thou inclinest towards us, as a
Mediator
bringing peace, to establish harmony between earth and heaven. I seek
Thee,
the Great Author of all. With longing I expect Thee, who, with Thy word,
embracest all things. I wait for Thee, the Lord of life and death. For
Thee I
look, the Giver of the law, and the Successor of the law. I hunger for
Thee,
who quickenest the dead; I thirst for Thee, who refreshest the weary; I
desire Thee, the Creator and Redeemer of the world.
"Thou art our God, and Thee we adore; Thou art our holy Temple, and in
Thee we
pray; Thou art our Lawgiver, and Thee we obey; Thou art God of all things
the
First. Before Thee was no other god begotten of God the Father; neither
after
Thee shall there be any other son consubstantial and of one glory with the
Father. And to know Thee is perfect righteousness, and to know Thy power
is
the root of immortality [Wisd. 15:3]. Thou art He who, for our salvation,
was
made the head stone of the corner, precious and honourable, declared
before
to Sion. For all things are placed under Thee as their Cause and Author,
as
He who brought all things into being out of nothing, and gave to what was
unstable a firm coherence; as the connecting Band and Preserver of that
which
has been brought into being; as the Framer of things by nature different;
as
He who, with wise and steady hand, holds the helm of the universe; as the
very Principle of all good order; as the irrefragable Bond of concord and
peace. For in Thee we live and move and have our being [Acts 18:28].
"Wherefore, O Lord my God, I will glorify Thee, I will praise Thy name;
for
Thou hast done wonderful things; Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and
truth; Thou art clothed with majesty and honour. For what is more splendid
for a king than a purple robe embroidered around with flowers, and a
shining
diadem? Or what for God, who delights in man, is more magnificent than
this
merciful assumption of the manhood, illuminating with its resplendent rays
those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death?
"Fitly did that temporal king and Thy servant once sing of Thee as the
King
Eternal, saying, Thou art fairer than the children of men, who amongst men
art very God and man [Ps. 44:3 (45:2)]. For Thou hast girt, by Thy
incarnation, Thy loins with righteousness, and anointed Thy veins with
faithfulness, who Thyself art very righteousness and truth, the joy and
exultation of all. Therefore rejoice with me this day, ye heavens, for the
Lord hath showed mercy to His people. Yea, let the clouds drop the dew of
righteousness upon the world [Isaiah 45:8]; let the foundations of the
earth
sound a trumpet-blast to those in Hades, for the resurrection of them that
sleep is come. Let the earth also cause compassion to spring up to its
inhabitants; for I am filled with comfort; I am exceeding joyful since I
have
seen Thee, the Saviour of men."
VII.
While the old man was thus exultant, and rejoicing with exceeding great
and holy joy, that which had before been spoken of in a figure by the
prophet
Isaiah, the holy mother of God now manifestly fulfilled. For taking, as
from
a pure and undefiled altar, that coal living and ineffable, with man's
flesh
invested, in the embrace of her sacred hands, as it were with the tongs,
she
held him out to that just one, addressing and exhorting him, as it seems
to
me, in words to this effect:
"Receive, O reverend senior, thou of priests the most excellent, receive
the
Lord, and reap the full fruition of that hope of thine which is not left
widowed and desolate. Receive, thou of men the most illustrious, the
unfailing treasure, and those riches which can never be taken away. Take
to
thine embrace, O thou of men most wise, that unspeakable might, that
unsearchable power, which can alone support thee. Embrace, thou minister
of
the temple, the Greatness infinite, and the Strength incomparable. Fold
thyself around Him who is the very life itself, and live, O thou of men
most
venerable. Cling closely to incorruption and be renewed, O thou of men
most
righteous.
"Not too bold is the attempt; shrink not from it then, O thou of men most
holy. Satiate thyself with Him thou hast longed for, and take thy delight
in
Him who has been given, or rather who gives Himself to thee, O thou of men
most divine. Joyfully draw thy light, O thou of men most pious, from the
Sun
of Righteousness, that gleams around thee through the unsullied mirror of
the
flesh. Fear not His gentleness, nor let His clemency terrify thee, O thou
of
men most blessed. Be not afraid of His lenity, nor shrink from His
kindness,
O thou of men most modest. Join thyself to Him with alacrity, and delay
not
to obey Him. That which is spoken to thee, and held out to thee, savours
not
of over-boldness. Be not then reluctant, O thou of men the most decorous.
The
flame of the grace of my Lord does not consume, but illuminates thee, O
thou
of men most just.
"Let the bush which set forth me in type, with respect to the verity of
that
fire which yet had no subsistence, teach thee this, O thou who art in the
law
the instructed. Let that furnace which was as it were a breeze distilling
dew
persuade thee, O master, of the dispensation of this mystery. Then, beside
all this, let my womb be a proof to thee, in which He was contained, who
in
nought else was ever contained, of the substance of which the incarnate
Word
yet deigned to become incarnate.
"The blast of the trumpet does not now terrify those who approach, nor a
second time does the mountain all on smoke cause terror to those who draw
nigh, nor indeed does the law punish relentlessly those who would boldly
touch. What is here present speaks of love to man; what is here apparent,
of
the Divine condescension.
"Thankfully, then, receive the God who comes to thee, for He shall take
away
thine iniquities, and thoroughly purge thy sins. In thee, let the
cleansing
of the world first, as in type, have place. In thee, and by thee, let that
justification which is of grace become known beforehand to the Gentiles.
Thou
art worthy of the quickening first-fruits. Thou hast made good use of the
law. Use grace henceforth. With the letter thou hast grown weary; in the
spirit be renewed. Put off that which is old, and clothe thyself with that
which is new. For of these matters I think not that thou art ignorant."
VIII.
Upon all this that righteous man, waxing bold and yielding to
the exhortation of the mother of God, who is the handmaid of God in
regard to the things which pertain to men, received into his aged arms
Him who in infancy was yet the ancient of days, and blessed God, and
said:
"Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according
to Thy word: for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast
prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the
Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel." [Luke 2:29-32] I have
received from Thee a joy unmixed with pain. Do thou, O Lord, receive
me rejoicing, and singing of Thy mercy and compassion. Thou hast given
unto me this joy of heart. I render unto Thee with gladness my
tribute of thanksgiving. I have known the power of the love of God.
Since, for my sake, God of Thee begotten, in a manner ineffable, and
without corruption, has become man. I have known the inexplicable
greatness of Thy love and care for us, for Thou hast sent forth Thine
own bowels to come to our deliverance. Now, at length, I understand
what I had from Solomon learned: Strong as death is love: for by it
shall the sting of death be done away, by it shall the dead see life,
by it shall even death learn what death is, being made to cease from
that dominion which over us he exercised. By it, also, shall the
serpent, the author of our evils, be taken captive and overwhelmed.
[Cant. 8:6]
"Thou hast made known to us, O Lord, Thy salvation causing
to spring up for us the plant of peace, and we shall no longer wander
in error. Thou hast made known to us, O Lord, that Thou hast not unto
the end overlooked Thy servants; neither hast Thou, O beneficent One,
forgotten entirely the works of Thine hands. For out of Thy
compassion for our low estate Thou hast shed forth upon us abundantly
that goodness of Thine which is inexhaustible, and with Thy very
nature cognate, having redeemed us by Thine only begotten Son, who is
unchangeably like to Thee, and of one substance with Thee; judging it
unworthy of Thy majesty and goodness to entrust to a servant the work
of saving and benefiting Thy servants, or to cause that those who had
offended should be reconciled by a minister. But by means of that
light, which is of one substance with Thee, Thou hast given light to
those that sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, in order that
"in Thy light they might see the light" of knowledge [Ps. 35:10(36:9)];
and it has seemed good to Thee, by means of our Lord and
Creator, to fashion us again unto immortality; and Thou hast
graciously given unto us a return to Paradise by means of Him who
separated us from the joys of Paradise; and by means of Him who
hath power to forgive sins Thou hast blotted out the handwriting which
was against us [Col. 2:4].
"Lastly, by means of Him who is a partaker of Thy throne, and who
cannot be separated from Thy divine nature, Thou hast given unto
us the gift of reconciliation, and access unto Thee with confidence,
in order that, by the Lord who recognises the sovereign authority of
none, by the true and omnipotent God, the subscribed sanction, as it
were, of so many and such great blessings might constitute the
justifying gifts of grace to be certain and indubitable rights
to those who have obtained mercy. And this very thing the prophet
before had announced in the words: No ambassador, nor angel, but the
Lord Himself saved them; because He loved them, and spared them, and
He took them up, and exalted them [Isaiah 43:9 LXX].
"And all this was, not of works of righteousness which we have done,
nor because we loved Thee (for our first earthly forefather, who was
honourably entertained in the delightful abode of Paradise, despised
Thy divine and saving commandment, and was judged unworthy of that
life-giving place, and mingling his seed with the bastard off-shoots
of sin, he rendered it very weak); but Thou, O Lord, of Thine own
self, and of Thine ineffable love toward the creature of Thine hands,
hast confirmed Thy mercy toward us, and, pitying our estrangement from
Thee, hast moved Thyself at the sight of our degradation to take us
into compassion. Hence, for the future, a joyous festival is
established for us of the race of Adam, because the first Creator of
Adam of His own free will has become the Second Adam. And the
brightness of the Lord our God hath come down to sojourn with us, so
that we see God face to face, and are saved.
"Therefore, O Lord, I seek of Thee to be allowed to depart. I have
seen Thy salvation; let me be delivered from the bent yoke of the
letter. I have seen the King Eternal, to whom no other succeeds; let
me be set free from this servile and burdensome chain. I have seen
Him who is by nature my Lord and Deliverer; may I obtain, then, His
decree for my deliverance. Set me free from the yoke of condemnation,
and place me under the yoke of justification. Deliver me from the
yoke of the curse, and of the letter that killeth; and enrol me in the
blessed company of those who, by the grace of this Thy true Son, who
is of equal glory and power with Thee, have been received into the
adoption of sons."
IX.
"Let then," says he, "what I have thus far said in brief, suffice for
the present as offering of thanks to God. But what shall I say to
thee, O mother-virgin and virgin-mother? For the praise even of her
who is not man's work exceeds the power of man. Wherefore the dimness
of my poverty I will make bright with the splendour of the gifts of
the spirits that around thee shine, and offering to thee of thine own,
from the immortal meadows I will pluck a garland for thy sacred and
divinely crowned head. With thine ancestral hymns will I greet thee,
O daughter of David, and mother of the Lord and God of David. For it
were both base and inauspicious to adorn thee, who in thine own glory
excellest with that which belongeth unto another.
"Receive, therefore, O lady most benignant, gifts precious, and such as
are fitted to thee alone, O thou who art exalted above all
generations, and who, amongest all created things, both visible and
invisible, shinest forth as the most honourable. Blessed is the root
of Jesse, and thrice blessed is the house of David, in which thou hast
sprung up. God is in the midst of thee, and thou shalt not be moved,
for the Most High hath made holy the place of His tabernacle. For in
thee the covenants and oaths made of God unto the fathers have
received a most glorious fulfilment, since by thee the Lord hath
appeared, the God of hosts with us. That bush which could not be
touched, which beforehand shadowed forth thy figure endowed with
divine majesty, bare God without being consumed, who manifested
Himself to the prophet just so far as He willed to be seen. Then,
again, that hard and rugged rock, which imaged forth the grace and
refreshment which has sprung out from thee for all the world, brought
forth abundantly in the desert out of its thirsty sides a healing
draught for the fainting people. Yea, moreover, the rod of the priest
which, without culture, blossomed forth in fruit, the pledge and earnest
of a perpetual priesthood, furnished no contemptible symbol of thy
supernatural child-bearing.
"What, moreover? Hath not the mighty Moses expressly declared,
that on account of these types of thee, hard to be understood, he
delayed [Ex. 32:1] longer on the mountain, in order that he might
learn, O holy one, the mysteries that with thee are connected?
For being commanded to build the ark as a sign and a similitude of
this thing, he was not negligent in obeying the command, although
a tragic occurrence happened on his descent from the mount; but
having made it in size five cubits and a half, he appointed it to
be the receptacle of the law, and covered it with the wings of the
cherubim, most evidently presignifying thee, the mother of God,
who has conceived Him without corruption, and in an ineffable
manner brought forth Him who is Himself, as it were, the very
consistence of incorruption, and that within the limits of the
five and a half circles of the world. On thy account, and the
undefiled Incarnation of God, the Word, which by thee had place
for the sake of that flesh which immutably and indivisibly remains
with Him for ever. The golden pot also, as a most certain type,
preserved the manna contained in it, (which in other cases was
changed day by day), unchanged, and keeping fresh for ages.
"The prophet Elijah likewise, as prescient of thy chastity, and
being emulous of it through the Spirit, bound around him the
crown of that fiery life, being by the divine decree adjudged
superior to death [4 Kings 2:11, Sirach 48:1]. Thee also
prefiguring, his successor Elisha, having been instructed by a
wise master, and anticipating thy presence who wast not yet
born, by certain sure indications of the things that would have
place hereafter, ministered help and healing to those who were
in need of it, which was of a virtue beyond nature; now with a
new cruse, which contained healing salt, curing the deadly
waters, to show that the world was to be recreated by the
mystery manifested in thee; now with unleavened meal, in type
responding to thy child-bearing, without being defiled by the
seed of man, banishing from the food the bitterness of death;
and then again, by efforts which transcended nature, rising
superior to the natural elements in the Jordan, and thus
exhibiting, in signs beforehand, the descent of our Lord into
Hades, and His wonderful deliverance of those who were held
fast in corruption. For all things yielded and succumbed to
that divine image which prefigured thee.
"Hail! hail! mother and handmaid of God. Hail! hail! thou to whom the
great
Creditor of all is a debtor. We are all debtors to God, but to thee He is
Himself indebted. For He who said, Honour thy father and thy mother,
will have most assuredly, as Himself willing to be tested by such proofs,
kept inviolate that grace, and His own decree towards her who ministered
to Him that nativity to which He voluntarily stooped, and will have
glorified with a divine honour her whom He, as being without a father,
even as she was without a husband, Himself has written down as mother.
"Even so must these things be. For the hymns which we offer to thee, O
thou
most holy and admirable habitation of God, are no merely useless and
ornamental words. Nor, again, is thy spiritual laudation mere secular
trifling, or the shoutings of a false flattery, O thou who of God art
praised; thou who to God gavest suck; who by nativity givest unto morals
their beginning of being: but they are of clear and evident truth.
"But the time would fail us, ages and succeeding generations too, to
render
unto thee thy fitting saluation as the mother of the King Eternal, even as
somewhere the illustrious prophet says, teaching us how incomprehensible
thou art [Baruch 3:24,25]. How great is the house of God, and how large is
the place of His possession! Great, and hath none end, high and
unmeasurable. For verily, verily, this prophetic oracle, and most true
saying, is concerning thy majesty; for thou alone hast been thought worthy
to share with God the things of God; who hast alone borne in the flesh
Him, who of God the Father was the Eternally and Only-Begotten. So do they
truly believe who hold fast to the pure faith."
X.
"But why do I digress, and lengthen out my discourse, giving it the rein
with
these varied illustrations, and that when the truth of thy matter stands
like
a column before the eye, in which it were better and more profitable to
luxuriate and delight? Wherefore, bidding adieu to the spiritual
narrations
and wondrous deeds of the saints throughout all ages, I pass on to thee
who
art always to be had in remembrance, and who holdest the helm, as it were,
of this festival.
"Blessed art thou, all-blessed, and to be desired of all. Blessed of the
Lord
is thy name, full of divine grace, and grateful exceedingly to God, mother
of
God, thou that givest light to the faithful. Thou art the circumscription,
so
to speak, of Him who cannot be circumscribed; the root of the most
beautiful
flower; the mother of the Creator; the nurse of the Nourisher; the
circumference of Him who embraces all things; the upholder of Him who
upholds
all things by His word; the gate through which God appears in the flesh;
the
tongs of that cleansing coal [Isaiah 6:6]; the bosom in small of that
bosom
which is all-containing; the fleece of wool, the mystery of which cannot
be
solved [Judges 6:37]; the well of Bethlehem, that reservoir of life which
David longed for, out of which the draught of immortality gushed forth;
the
mercy-seat from which God in human form was made known unto men; the
spotless
robe of Him who clothes Himself with light as with a garment.
"Thou has lent to God, who stands in need of nothing, that flesh which He
had not, in order that the Omnipotent might become that which it was His
good pleasure to be. What is more splendid than this? What than this is
more
sublime? He who fills earth and heaven, whose are all things, has become
in
need of thee, for thou hast lent to God that flesh which He had not. Thou
hast clad the Mighty One with that beauteous panoply of the body by which
it
has become possible for Him to be seen by mine eyes. And I, in order that
I might freely approach to behold Him, have received that by which all the
fiery darts of the wicked shall be quenched."
XI.
But for the time that remains, my most attentive hearers, let us
take up the old man, the receiver of God, and our pious teacher, who
hath put in here, as it were, in safety from that virginal sea, and
let us refresh him, both satisfied as to his divine longing, and
conveying to us this most blessed theology; and let us ourselves
follow out the rest of our discourse, directing our course unerringly
with reference to our prescribed end, and that under the guidance of
God the Almighty, so shall we not be found altogether unfruitful and
unprofitable as to what is required of us.
When, then, to these sacred rites, prophecy and the priesthood had
been jointly called, and that pair of just ones elected of God
(Simeon, I mean, and Anna, bearing in themselves most evidently the
images of both peoples) had taken their station by the side of that
glorious and virginal throne (for by the old man was represented the
people of Israel, and the law now waxing old; whilst the widow
represents the Church of the Gentiles, which had been up to this point
a widow), the old man, indeed, as personating the law, seeks
dismissal; but the widow, as personating the Church, brought her
joyous confession of faith, and spake of Him to all that looked for
redemption in Jerusalem, even as the things that were spoken of both
have been appositely and excellently recorded, and quite in harmony
with the sacred festival.
For it was fitting and necessary that the old man who knew so
accurately that decree of the law, in which it is said: Hear Him, and
every soul that will not hearken unto Him shall be cut off from His
people [Deut. 18:15-19], should seek a peaceful discharge from the
tutorship of the law; for in truth it were insolence and presumption,
when the king is present and addressing the people, for one of his
attendants to make a speech over against him, and that to this man his
subjects should incline their ears. It was necessary, too, that the
widow who had been increased with gifts beyond measure, should in
festal strains return her thanks to God; and so the things which there
took place were agreeable to the law.
But, for what remains, it is necessary to inquire how, since the
prophetic types and figures bear, as has been shown, a certain
analogy and relation to this prominent feast, it is said that
the house was filled with smoke. Nor does the prophet say this
incidentally, but with significance, speaking of that cry of the
Thrice-Holy, uttered by the heavenly seraphs. You will discover
the meaning of this, my attentive hearer, if you do but take up
and examine what follows upon this narration: For hearing, he
says, ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing, ye
shall see, and not perceive.
When, therefore, the foolish Jewish children had seen the glorious
wonders which, as David sang, the Lord had performed in the earth
[Ps. 45:9 (46:8)], and had seen the sign from the depth and
from the height meeting together, without division or confusion;
as also Isaiah had before declared [Isa. 7:11], namely, a mother
beyond nature, and an offspring beyond reason; an earthly mother
and a heavenly son; a new taking of man's nature, I say, by God,
and a child-bearing without marriage; what in creation's circuit
could be more glorious and more to be spoken of than this! yet
when they had seen this it was all one as if they had not seen it;
they closed their eyes, and in respect of praise were supine.
Therefore the house in which they boasted was filled with smoke.
XII.
And in addition to this, when besides the spectacle, and even
beyond the spectacle, they heard an old man, very righteous, very
worthy of credit, worthy also of emulation, inspired by the Holy
Spirit, a teacher of the law, honoured with the priesthood,
illustrious in the gift of prophecy, by the hope which he had
conceived of Christ, extending the limits of life, and putting off
the debt of death -- when they law him, I say, leaping for joy,
speaking words of good omen, quite transformed with gladness of
heart, entirely rapt in a divine and holy ecstasy; who from a man had
been changed into an angel by a godly change, and, for the immensity
of his joy, chanted his hymn of thanksgiving, and openly proclaimed
the "Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people
Israel." [Luke 2:32] -- Not even then were they willing to hear what
was placed within their hearing, and held in veneration by the heavenly
beings themselves; wherefore the house in which they boasted was filled
with smoke.
Now smoke is a sign and sure evidence of wrath; as it is written,
"There went up a smoke in His anger, and fire from His countenance
devoured;" [Ps. 17(18):8] and in another place, "Amongst the
disobedient people shall the fire burn." [Sirach 22:7] which
plainly, in the revered gospels, our Lord signified, when He said to
the Jews, "Behold your house is left unto you desolate." [Matt.
23:38] Also, in another place, "The king sent forth his armies, and
destroyed those murderers, and burnt up their city." [Matt. 17:7]
Of such a nature was the adverse reward of the Jews for their
unbelief, which caused them to refuse to pay to the Trinity the
tribute of praise.
For after that the ends of the earth were sanctified, and the mighty
house of the Church was filled, by the proclamation of the Thrice
Holy, with the glory of the Lord, as the great waters cover the
seas, [Isa. 6:3,4] there happened to them the things which before hand
been declared, the preacher of truth signifying, as has been said, by
the Holy Spirit, as it were in an example, the dreadful destruction
which was to come upon them, in the words: "In the year in which king
Uzziah died, I saw the Lord" -- Uzziah, doubtless, as an apostate,
being taken as the representative of the whole apostate body -- the
head of which he certainly was -- who also, paying the penalty due to
his presumption, carried on his forehead, as upon a brazen statue,
the divine vengeance engraved, by the loathsomeness of leprosy,
exhibiting to all the retribution of their loathsome impiety.
Wherefore with divine wisdom did he, who had foreknowledge of these
events, oppose the bringing in of the thankful Anna to the casting
out of the ungrateful synagogue. Her very name also presignifies
the Church, that by the grace of Christ and God is justified in
baptism. For Anna is, by interpretation, grace.
XIII.
But here, as in port, putting in the vessel that bears the ensign of the
cross, let us reef the sails of our oration, in order that it may be
with itself commensurate. Only first, in as few words as possible, let
us salute the city of the Great King, together with the whole body of
the Church, as being present with them in spirit, and keeping holy-day
with the Father, and the brethren most held in honour there.
Hail, thou city of the Great King, in which the mysteries of our
salvation are consummated. Hail, thou heaven upon earth, Sion, the city
that is for ever faithful unto the Lord. Hail, and shine thou
Jerusalem, for thy light is come, the Light Eternal, the Light for ever
enduring, the Light Supreme, the Light Immaterial, the Light of one
substance with God and the Father, the Light which is in the Spirit, and
in which is the Father; the Light which illumines the ages; the Light
which gives light to mundane and supermundane things, Christ our very
God.
Hail, city sacred and elect of the Lord. Joyfully keep thy festal days,
for they will not multiply so as to wax old and pass away. Hail, thou
city most happy, for glorious things are spoken of thee; thy priest
shall be clothed with righteousness, and thy saints shall shout for joy,
and thy poor shall be satisfied with bread. Hail! rejoice, O Jerusalem,
for the Lord reigneth in the midst of thee. That Lord, I say, who in
His simple and immaterial Deity, entered our nature, and of the virgin's
womb became ineffably incarnate; that Lord, who was partaker of nothing
else save the lump of Adam, who was by the serpent tripped up.
For the Lord laid not hold of the seed of angels -- those, I say, who
fell not away from that beauteous order and rank that was assigned to
them from the beginning. To us He condescended, that Word who was
always with the Father co-existent God. Nor, again, did He come into
the world to restore, nor will He restore, as has been imagined by some
impious advocates of the devil, those wicked demons who once fell from
light; but when the Creator and Framer of all things had, as the most
divine Paul says, laid hold of the seed of Abraham, and through him of
the whole human race, He was made man for ever, and without change, in
order that by His fellowship with us, and our joining on to Him, the
ingress of sin into us might be stopped, its strength being broken by
degrees, and itself as wax being melted, by that fire which the Lord,
when He came, sent upon the earth.
Hail to thee, thou Catholic Church, which hast been planted in all the
earth, and do thou rejoice with us. "Fear not, little flock" [Luke
12:32], the storms of the enemy, for it is your Father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom, and that you should tread upon the necks of
your enemies. Hail, and rejoice, thou that wast once barren, and
without seed unto godliness, but who hast now many children of faith.
Hail, thou people of the Lord, thou chosen generation, thou royal
priesthood, thou holy nation, thou peculiar people -- show forth His
praises who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light;
and for His mercies glorify Him.
XIV.
Hail to thee for ever, thou virgin mother of God, our unceasing
joy, for unto thee do I again return. Thou art the beginning of our
feast; thou art its middle and end; the pearl of great price that
belongest unto the kingdom; the fat of every victim, the living altar
of the bread of life. Hail, thou treasure of the love of God. Hail,
thou fount of the Son's love for man. Hail, thou overshadowing mount
of the Holy Ghost.
Thou gleamedst, sweet gift-bestowing mother, of the light of the sun;
thou gleamedst with the insupportable fires of a most fervent charity,
bringing forth in the end that which was conceived of thee before the
beginning, making manifest the mystery hidden and unspeakable, the
invisible Son of the Father -- the Prince of Peace, who in a marvellous
manner showed Himself as less than all littleness.
Wherefore, we pray thee, the most excellent among women, who boastest
in the confidence of thy maternal honours, that thou wouldest
unceasingly keep us in remembrance. O holy mother of God, remember
us, I say, who make our boast in thee, and who in hymns august
celebrate the memory, which will ever live, and never fade away.