Слово на Рождество Пресвятой Богородицы. Св. Андрея, архиепископа Критского

A real holiday is the beginning of the holidays for us. Serving as a limit to the law and types, it also serves as a door to grace and truth. It can also be called middle and last. Its beginning is the end of the law; the middle is the union of extreme points, the end is the revelation of truth. The end of the law is Christ (Rom. 10:4), who, freeing us from writing, leads us to the spirit. Here is the end (of the law): because the Lawgiver, having completed everything, changed the writings to the spirit and headed everything in Himself (Eph. 1:10), reviving the law by grace: grace accepted the law under its dominion, and the law was subject to grace, so that the properties of the law and grace did not suffer mutual confusion, but only the heavy, slave and service (in the law), by Divine power was changed into light and free (in the law). grace) so that we - as the Apostle says - are not enslaved to the elements of the world (Gal. 4:3), and are not under the slavish yoke of the written law. This is the height of Christ’s blessings to us! Here is the revelation of the mystery and here is the deification of perceived humanity - the fruit of the exhaustion of the God-man. Of course, the bright and obvious descent of God to people must have a joyful beginning, introducing to us the great gift of salvation. This is the real holiday, which begins with the Nativity of the Mother of God, and ends with the union of the Word with flesh, this is the most glorious of all miracles, constantly proclaimed, incomprehensible and always incomprehensible. The less comprehensible it is, the more it reveals itself; and the more it is revealed, the less comprehensible it is. Therefore, this real God-given day, the first in our celebrations, revealing the light of virginity and, as if weaving a crown from the unfading flowers of the spiritual garden of Scripture, offers the creation a common joy. Take heart, he says, behold, the feast of the Nativity (of the Virgin) and the renewal of the (human) race! The Virgin is born, raised, grows and prepares to become the Matter of the All-King of the Ages - God. All this, with the help of David, becomes for us the subject of spiritual contemplation. The Mother of God reveals to us Her God-given Nativity, and David points to the bliss of the (human) race and the wondrous affinity of God with people. Oh, miracle! She becomes a mediator between the greatness of the Divine and the insignificance of the flesh and becomes the Matter of the Creator; and this one prophesies about the future as about the present, and accepts from God with an oath the glorious vow of continuation and preservation of the race from the fruit of his womb (Ps. 132:11). So, in truth, we must glorify the sacrament of the day, and bring the word as a gift to the Mother of the Word: because nothing is so pleasing to Her as the word and the praise of the word. From here we will receive a double benefit: firstly, we will enter the realm of truth, and secondly, we will emerge from captivity and slavery of the written law. How? It is known that when darkness disappears, then light appears; so it is here: the law is followed by the freedom of grace. The current triumph is the limit separating truth from prototypes, introducing the new instead of the old. About this Paul - the Divine trumpet of the Spirit - exclaims: if you are in Christ, you are a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17): be renewed; the ancient mimoidosha, behold, was all new: but the law accomplished nothing: but the bringing is a better hope, by which we draw near to God (Heb. 7:19). The truth of grace shone brightly. The Lawgiver Himself, having incomprehensibly subjected Himself to exhaustion, structurally became a man in order to fill what was missing and change what was imperfect into something better and more perfect. This is what the tall John, the God-voiced thunder of the Word, wanted to express as clearly as possible. From His fulfillment - he says - we will all receive grace and receive grace (John 1:16). When (the Word) exhausted Himself and, above the laws of nature, borrowed our nature from us; then we received fullness and, instead of the (carnal) confusion taken from us, we were enriched in the Divine. Let all creation rejoice now; May nature triumph. Let the heavens from above rejoice, and let the clouds sprinkle righteousness (Isa. 45:8), let the mountains dig up sweetness (Amos 9:13), let the hills spit up joy, for God has shown mercy to His people (Is. 49:13), and raise up the horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David (Luke 1:69), this Virgin, most immaculate and unshaken by man, from By which Christ was born, the hope and salvation of the tongues. May every grateful soul rejoice now, and may nature summon creation to its renewal and re-creation. Barren ones, flock quickly: because the childless and barren one gave birth to the Divine Child - the Virgin. Mothers, rejoice: the mother who did not give birth gave birth to the incorruptible Mother and the Virgin. Virgins, rejoice: the unplanted earth has ineffably brought forth the One who is born of the Father. Wives, rejoice: the wife gave the ancient cause for sin, and she also received the firstfruits of salvation; the woman, condemned of old, appeared justified by God. The husbandless mother, chosen by the Creator, and the renewal of the (human) race. Let every creation praise and rejoice and bring a gift worthy of this day. May there now be one, common triumph both in heaven and on earth. Let everything that is in the world and that is outside the world celebrate together. Now the Creator of all things has a built church; and creation is being prepared for a new Divine dwelling for the Creator. Now, our nature, expelled from the land of bliss, accepts the beginning of deification, and dust strives to ascend to the highest glory. Now Adam brings from us and for us the firstfruits to God, the most worthy fruit of humanity - Mary, in whom (the new Adam) becomes bread for the restoration of the (human) race. Now the great bosom of virginity is being opened, and the Church, in the image of the marriage, imposes upon itself the pure pearl of true purity. Nowadays, human dignity accepts the gift of the first creation and returns to its previous state: the splendor of beauty, darkened by the ugliness of sin, through the union of human nature with the red goodness born of Matter (Ps. 44:3), man receives in a most excellent and most God-becoming form. And this creation is, in truth, made by creation, and re-creation by deification, and deification by the return of the first perfection! Now the barren becomes, beyond expectation, Matter, and, having given birth without a husband, sanctifies natural birth. Now a magnificent color has been prepared for the Divine scarlet, and poor human nature has been clothed in royal dignity. Now - according to prophecy - the Branch of David has grown, which, having become the ever-green rod of Aaron, has blossomed for us the rod of power - Christ. Now the Virgin Mary comes from Judah and David, representing the royal and priestly dignity of Aaron who received the priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 7:15). Now grace, having whitened the mysterious ephud 195 of the Divine Priesthood, made it from the Levitical seed, and God adorned the royal purple with the blood of David. In short, now the restoration of our nature begins, and the decayed world, accepting a God-appropriate education, receives the beginning of the second Divine creation. The first creation of people came from pure and undefiled soil; but their nature darkened its innate dignity, having lost grace through the sin of disobedience; for this we were expelled from the land of life and, instead of heavenly pleasures, we received temporary life, as a family inheritance, and with it death and corruption of the race (ours). Everyone began to prefer earth to heaven, so that there was no hope of salvation except for higher help. Neither natural nor written law, nor the fiery conciliatory broadcasts of the Prophets were strong enough to heal the disease. No one knew how to correct human nature and by what means it would be more convenient to raise it to its first dignity, until God, the Artist of everything, deigned to reveal to us another harmonious and newly formed world, destroying the anciently invading plague of sin, which gave rise to death, and giving us a wondrous, free and completely dispassionate life, through our re-creation in the baptism of Divine birth. But how would this great and glorious good, so in accordance with the Divine laws, be communicated to us, if God had not appeared to us in the flesh, was not subject to the laws of nature, and had not deigned to live with us in the manner known to Him? And how could all this come to fruition if the pure and inviolable Virgin, who contained the Incontainable, had not first served the sacrament, according to a law exceeding the laws of nature? And could any other maiden do this other than the one. Which was chosen before all generations by the Creator of nature? This Virgin is the Mother of God - Mary, glorified by God, from whose womb the Divine One came with flesh and whom He Himself built as a wonderful church for Himself. She conceived without seed and gave birth incorruptibly, because (Her Son) was God, although he was born carnally, without confusion or disease. This Mother, truly, escaped what is typical of mothers and marvelously nourished her Son, who was born without a husband, with milk. The Virgin, having given birth to the seedless conceived, remained a pure Virgin, keeping the signs of virginity intact. So, truly. She is called the Mother of God; Her virginity is honored, and Her birth is blessed. God, uniting with people and appearing in the flesh, gives Her his own glory. Feminine nature is suddenly freed from the first oath, and just as the first introduced sin, so the first begins salvation. But our word has achieved its main goal, and I, now triumphant and participating with joy in this sacred feast, offer you common joy. The Redeemer of the race (of the human race - as I said - wanted to arrange a new birth and re-creation (of man): just as at the first creation, taking dust from the virgin and pure earth, he formed the first Adam, so now, arranging His incarnation on earth - so to speak, instead of dust - chooses from all creation this pure and immaculate Virgin and, recreating humanity in the chosen one from among men, the Creator of Adam becomes the new Adam in order to save ancient. Who is this (Virgin) and from what parents did she come from? Let’s say briefly, looking, if possible, into history. Mary, the glory of all, was born of the tribe of David, and of the seed of Joachim. She came from Eve, and was a child of Anna. Joachim was a gentle, pious man, brought up in the law of God. Living chastely and walking before God, he grew old childless: his prosperous years did not correspond to the continuation of the family. Likewise, Anna was God-loving, chaste, but barren; she lived in harmony with her husband, but was childless. Not caring so much about anything as keeping the law of the Lord, she, however, was daily stung by the sting of childlessness and endured what is usually the lot of the barren - she was sad, grieved, lamented, not enduring childlessness. Thus, Joachim and his wife complained that they did not have a successor to their family; however, the spark of hope had not yet completely extinguished in them: both sent out prayers for the gift of a child to them to continue the seed. Both, imitating the heard prayer of Anna (1 Samuel 1:10), did not leave the church, earnestly asking God to resolve barrenness and give fruit to the childless. And they did not stop their efforts until they got what they wanted. Indeed, their desires were fulfilled: the Giver of gifts did not despise the gift of their hope. Immediate power soon came to the aid of those who asked and pleaded with God and made one capable of producing and the other capable of receiving fruit. Thus, from barren and withered parents, as from watered trees, a glorious fruit grew for us - the most immaculate Virgin. The bonds of infertility were resolved - prayer, beyond expectation, turned out to be fruitful; the childless one gave birth to a child; the childless woman became the happiest mother. Since the class of incorruption, which grew from Her womb, came from a barren mother, then her parents, in the first flower of Her age, brought Her to the church and dedicated Her (to God). The priest, who was then performing a series of services, seeing the face of the virgins who preceded Her, rejoiced and rejoiced, seeing, as it were, the actual fulfillment of Divine promises. He dedicated Her to God as an honorable gift and a favorable sacrifice - and, as a great treasury of salvation, he hid Her in the innermost parts of the church. Here the Young Lady walked in the justifications of the Lord, as in a bridal chamber, feeding on heavenly food until the time of betrothal, which was predetermined before all ages by those who, by ineffable mercy, were born from Her, and by those who, before all creation, time and space, Divinely gave birth to Him, and together with His natural and worshipful Spirit; and this is one Divinity, having one nature and kingdom, inseparable and unchangeable and not different in anything except personal properties. Therefore, I triumph and rejoice, and I bring a celebratory gift to the Mother of the Word; because what was born from Her taught me to believe in the Trinity: the beginningless Word and the Son arranged His incarnation in Her; the Father who gave birth favored it; The Holy Spirit overshadowed and sanctified the womb of the woman who incomprehensibly conceived. Now is the time to ask David: what did the God of all men swear to him? Say, chanter Prophet! Come, take the harp, jingle the strings, and proclaim clearly: what did the Lord swear to you? - “What did the Lord swear to me? I swore to set him on my throne from the fruit of my womb (Ps. 131:11). This is what he swore and did not break his oath, he swore and sealed his word with deed! By one thing, He said, I swore for my holy one, that if I lie to David, his seed shall endure forever, and his throne shall be like the sun before Me, and like the moon perfect forever: and a faithful witness in heaven (Ps. 89:36-38). God fulfilled such an oath, because it is impossible to lie to God (Heb. 6-18). Look: Christ is called my Son according to the flesh (Matthew 22–42); and all languages ​​worship my Lord and Son (Ps. 71:11), seeing Him sitting on the virgin throne! Behold, the Virgin, from whose womb came the Eternal One, who was incarnated at the end of the ages and renewed the eyelids, also grew from my loins! It’s all true!” People of God, holy language, holy assembly! Let us honor our father's memory; Let us magnify the power of the sacrament. May each of us, according to the grace given to him, bring a worthy gift to this triumph. Fathers are the prosperity of the family; mothers - happiness; barren is the barrenness of sin; virgins - strict chastity, i.e., soul and body; marriage - praiseworthy abstinence. If any of you is a father, let him imitate the father of the Virgin; even if someone is childless, let him reap fruitful prayer that grows from a godly life. May the Mother, who nourishes her children, rejoice together with Anna, who raised the Child given to her in barrenness through prayer. Barren, non-bearing, deprived of blessed fruit - let her come with faith to the God-given branch of Anna and put off barrenness. The Virgin, who lives immaculately, will be the matter of the word, decorating with the word the splendor of the soul. Marriage - let him make a smart sacrifice from the fruits of prayer. Together the rich and the poor, the young men and the virgins, the old and the young (Ps. 48:3; 148:12), priests and Levites, kings and queens - let us all triumph together in honor of the Young Lady, the Mother of God and the Prophetess: from Her came the Prophet, foretold by Moses, Christ God, the Truth (Deut. 18:15). Let us hasten after the flowing maidens; let us enter the Holy of Holies. There is a beautiful color ripening there; there God prepared an educational chamber for the Young Lady. Therefore, the virgins - her neighbors - rejoice, arranging the future. That is why the daughters of Zion follow Her as a Queen, attracted by the fragrance of Her peace. The church opened its sacred gates to receive royal glory; then, then, the Holy of Holies opened to enclose the Most Holy Mother of the Holy One in its inaccessible depths. She has wonderful food: She is nourished, without the help of hands, by the One Who Himself soon had to feed on Her milk. Her nourisher was the Holy Spirit, until the time of His appearance to Israel, when the time of betrothal came, and Joseph, a descendant of David, betrothed David's daughter to himself, and She received the voice of Gabriel instead of the seed; after which, being not involved in the marriage, she appeared to the possessed woman in her womb and gave birth to a Son without the assistance of her father, remaining pure, without losing her birthright, because the One who was born of Her retained, and upon birth unharmed, the signs of virginity. He is Christ Jesus of Nazareth, coming into the world. He is the true God and eternal life. To him be glory, and honor, and worship with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto ages of ages. Amen 196. Clothing of the Old Testament Jewish priests. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N. Note electron. Editorial staff. Curs. Compl. Patrolog. Migne, Tom. XCVII. col. 805–820; compare Christ. Read 1836, III. h., pp. 231–248; “Chosen One.” words of the holy fathers in honor of the Mother of God." Moscow. 1886, 43–52 countries. You might be interested in: