Слово на Рождество Пренепорочной Владычицы нашей Богородицы и Приснодевы Марии. (Из ветхозаветной истории и разных свидетельств доказательства того, что Дева Мария происходит от семени Давидова). Св. Андрея, архиепископа Критского

Once again there is a celebration, and again I, as a good founder, call everyone to a spiritual meal, the Giver of which, the Mother of God, feeds her guests with a stream of sweetness. And you, bees of Christ, having flown in this stream of sweetness, go home from here, having collected at least a few honeycombs. And who would want to be deprived of this pleasure, especially those who tasted its kindness? If others do not leave a meal richly decorated with food until they have enjoyed the food to the point of satiation, then would it not seem strange if someone departed from this royal meal before partaking of the sacraments contained therein? And this meal is truly royal, and the Queen comes from the royal seed. Therefore, come again, beloved, accept our word, which leads you to the goal for which in previous words I very extensively and clearly said that Christ comes from the root of David. If this is proven, then it becomes completely clear that She who gave birth to Him in the flesh is a branch of the same root, and it is unnecessary to provide new proof of this. In order, however, to show the deceitfulness of the Jews who revile the truth, we will show to the best of our ability that the Virgin herself is from the same root of David. For this, we will use the genealogies according to Luke and Matthew, of which one is in reverse order, and the other in direct order; We will indicate the connection that took place in the relationship of Joseph's ancestors, and we will clearly show the image that the Virgin herself came from David. For it is beyond praise to arm ourselves against tongues fighting against God and to shut the lips of all who roar at Her. So, trusting in the Holy Spirit, who teaches every man knowledge, I approach the subject. In ancient times, the law was in force that no one could take a wife except from his own tribe; and that this is true, listen to the words of the law itself, which read like this: And Moses commanded the sons of Israel according to the commandment of the Lord, saying: Let not the inheritance of the children of Israel be changed from one tribe to another: for every one of the inheritance of the tribe of his fatherland shall marry the sons of Israel. And every daughter who shall live on the inheritance of the tribes of the children of Israel, who alone are of the assembly of her father, shall have a wife. As the Lord commanded Moses (Numbers 36:5, 7–8, 10). Of course, this was observed for a time: for while Judaism flourished and the Mosaic Law was in force, they did not have a single custom that did not receive meaning from the law. But from the time it began to decline and gradually decrease, they began to live, in a certain way, like pagans and put no importance on the great work, although the law prescribed, and the prophets proclaimed, and almost all Scripture testified that they did not violate what was legal. So, when the Jews were punished and tormented by God in various ways because they had retreated from their fatherly faith and reached extreme wickedness (for the city was surrounded by besiegers, and the holy places were trampled under unclean and criminal feet, and the people themselves suffered from robbery, the fatherly land was devastated, they were taken to a foreign country, they presented a pitiful sight to those who saw and heard to those who heard and from all parties were subjected to terrible disasters), then there could no longer be any concern about understanding the clans: since the entire people were suppressed by the severity of daily disasters and misfortunes, and the tribes, having merged, lost every advantage they had. However, the dignity of this glorious family did not completely disappear: for its significance for the tribes, like certain relics, passed on by inheritance, remained until the All-Praised Virgin Herself, who was the only one among the wives of the Mother and Virgin betrothed to her husband. I would like, blessed Matthew, to know why you disagree with Luke in your genealogies? “Not at all,” answers Matthew, gifted with the highest intelligence for describing Divine affairs, formerly a publican, and now an interpreter of the mysteries. - There is no disagreement between us: for he, composing the narrative in reverse order, missed the natural fathers, remembering only the legal fathers; I made a clear mention of the natural fathers; each of us, as inspired by the same Spirit, acknowledges the words of the other, without changing them in any way. But, beloved, let us carefully consider the series of genera outlined by each, and here we will find a solution to the question. So, according to the voice of the Evangelist, the accuracy of genealogy is revealed by two types of genealogy - natural and legal. Matthew, beginning his work, says: the book of the kinship of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham, - and his word goes further, extending to the betrothed of the Virgin (Matthew 1:1-16). Luke, after the appearance of Christ in baptism, writes like this: And Jesus was about thirty years old, beginning, as we say, the son of Joseph, Heli, Matthat, Levein, Melchiin, and further, ascending upward, to: Seth, Adam, God (Luke 3:23-38). Of course, everyone knows that Scripture usually names as legitimate fathers those who, although they died without children, nevertheless had sons after death through offspring born from the seed of a brother; on the contrary, natural ones - those who, firstly, gave birth to sons from their own seed to continue the race, and sometimes, if their brothers died childless, gave them an inheritance from a substitute seed. Thus, one of the Evangelists, mentioning only the natural fathers, passed over the legal ones in silence; and the other, keeping silent about the natural, deliberately mentioned the legal - and in this not one deviated from the truth. It would not be indecent to recall here the ancient testimony of a learned man (Afrikanus). It is like that. Among those who count the generations of David through Solomon, the third from the end is Matthan, who gave birth to Jacob, the father of Joseph; from Nathan the son of David, according to the Gospel. Luke, Melchius is third from the end. Since our main subject is Joseph, it is necessary to show how both, according to Scripture, were his father, that is, both Jacob, who descended from Solomon, and Eli, who was from Nathan. Matthew and Melchius, having taken one wife in turn, produced half-brothers: for the law did not forbid that a wife who had lost her dead husband or was rejected should marry another. There is a legend that Matthan, who was descended from Solomon, first gave birth to Jacob, and when Matthan died, Melchius, who descended from Nathan, took a widow who was from the same tribe (albeit from a different surname) and received from her a son, Eli. Therefore, Jacob and Eli were half-brothers, from two different families; one of them, that is, Jacob, when his brother Eli died childless, having taken his wife in marriage, took Joseph from him as the third, by nature his son, and by law the son of Eli. For this reason, Matthew, conveying his genealogy, says: Jacob begat Joseph (Matthew 1:16); and Luke in the reverse order: this, as we imagine, is the son of Joseph, Eliev, Melchiin, and with such childbearing he silences the word “give birth,” ascending to: Adam, God (Luke 3:38). Thus, Joseph was the son of both Jacob and Elijah. If Joseph’s blessing is conveyed in this way, then it is clear that the Virgin Mother of God Mary herself is from the same tribe with him: because, according to the law of Moses, one tribe was not allowed to mingle with others: for the law decreed that every maiden from a tribe should be united in marriage with one from the same tribe, so that the hereditary inheritance would not somehow pass from one tribe to another. Therefore, if anyone demands that the genealogy of the Virgin Herself be conveyed especially, he will be unfair, since the law never allowed or commanded this: where will the ancients find the genealogy of the wife, when they showed the predominant sex in the genealogies? And it is not our business to correct ancient institutions and introduce new customs, for it is unlawful to rearrange the eternal limits that our fathers set. However, let's not shy away from what we stated earlier. If Moses speaks the truth, sanctifying what is signified in the monuments of the Scriptures (and he undoubtedly spoke the truth, as he spoke lip to mouth with God, Who is the truth), then it will also be proven that the God-called Mother of God comes from the same tribe from which is the husband who betrothed Her, according to the ineffable economy, that is, Joseph, as known to be from the tribe of David. If they agree with us that he comes from the seed of David, then it will be necessary to admit that his betrothed was from the same tribe: for the angel who appeared in a vision to him, oppressed by the sadness of his soul due to idleness, said: Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to accept Mariam your wife (Matthew 1:20). So, Moses and David did not sin—the one forbidding the tribes to mix with each other, and the other prophesying with an oath that Christ would come from his loins. Thus we have clearly established by word that Christ was born of Judas and David. But we will try to provide proof of this in another way from the ancient scriptures. Of what was accomplished by Christ, something remained unknown to the majority, as wisely kept silent by contemporaries; namely, what was done by Him before baptism, also the way of life led by Him until the thirtieth year. One of those miracles that was hidden in silence was His origin, which at the time He assumed human nature, with the exception of a few, was unknown to anyone, as in one place the holy man Ignatius says: “And from the prince of this age the virginity of Mary was hidden, as well as Her birth, as well as the death of Christ”: three sacraments worthy of loud proclamation were performed in silence. Therefore, it was not without reason that the birth of Christ from the Holy Spirit was kept silent before the people, and Joseph was taken instead of the father, and therefore, as was fitting for the truth, he was considered the father of the baby: for if this had not happened, the boy would have been recognized as having no father, as having no pedigree on the paternal side. So, the wonderful evangelists, of necessity, then compiled the genealogy of Joseph: for if, having missed him, they compiled the genealogy of Him (the Savior) on the maternal side, then this would not only be indecent, but would also be alien to the custom of the Scriptures: because there had never before been a genealogy on the female side. And, leading the family of Joseph from David, the evangelists conveniently confirmed at the same time that the Virgin Mary came from David, that is, through the groom, showing the family of the bride according to the law of Moses, which we cited earlier and which reads: “do not pass from tribe to tribe, for everyone must be tied to the inheritance of the tribe of their fathers” (Num. 36:7). Moreover, everyone knows that Joseph was righteous and led a life in accordance with the law, living according to the requirements of the law; he, of course, took a wife not from someone else’s, but from his own tribe. She was from Judah, from the same people and family, that is, from David: because such were the decrees of the law. Therefore, if Joseph comes from the tribe of Judah, from the inheritance of David, then is it not natural that Mary should come from the same tribe, from the same tribe from which Joseph descended? The above law clearly commanded not to marry members of another tribe; on the contrary, it clearly prescribed cohabitation with members of the inheritance and tribe of one’s own tribe. For the same reason, this glorious Virgin was from the seed of David, which is why the genealogy of the groom is transmitted. And truly, if, according to the Apostle, the head of a wife is the husband (1 Cor. 11:3) and, according to the law, the two will become one flesh (Eph. 5:31), and the betrothed woman, having violated fidelity to her husband, is subject to judgment for adultery, as having already become the body of her husband and having attributed him to herself as the head: then how, when the genealogy of the head is compiled, is the body not included in it? Thus, and from here we must rightly conclude that the Virgin is added to the genealogy of Joseph - and that She comes from the same tribe, even being born from the tribe and surname of David. And Gabriel, in the gospel of Her, prophetically says, among other things: and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David (Luke 1:32), teaching us by this that the forefather of the one who would be born of Her was David. Otherwise, would it be proper for an angel to use these words to the Holy Virgin, if he did not recognize Her as having descended from David? If She had not descended from David, the angel would not have said to Her: and God will give Him the throne of His father David: for the Virgin, who confessed that She did not know a husband, and knew that she would conceive from the Holy Spirit, could reasonably have asked, if the angel had not spoken to David’s daughter, to ask: “Which father”? Hence it was rightly said by Luke: Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, for he was no longer from the house and fatherland of David, to be married to Mary, his betrothed wife, who is not idle (Luke 2:4-5). For we must read this passage not in the sense that Mary accompanied Joseph just to write her name, but in the fact that She, along with Joseph, came from the house and family of David; We have the basis for such an interpretation in what was said above. So. It is clearly shown that it was not in vain that the evangelists predicted the genealogy of Joseph, through which the necessity of the Virgin’s descent from David and the wondrous miracle of Christ, the eternal Son of God, being born from Her becomes known. And whoever tries to contradict this will rather sharpen the sting of his tongue against himself; for us, who have been given grace and truth, it is impossible for us, according to Scripture, to examine anything more than what we have said: understand what you are commanded, and do not test yourselves who are strong (Sir. 3:21-22). Understand, Jew, the power of what has been said and do not fight the truth. Reject the doubting thought and walk in grace without any doubt: by it you will be freed from the yoke of the letter. Take off the veil, accept the pure light of what is written, come out of the shadows, accept naked grace. Approach the truth without any doubt; praise and preach the one who decreed this. Say like Moses: This is my God, and I will glorify Him: God of my Father, and I will exalt him (Ex. 15:2). This is how you can think and teach, both for you and for anyone who wishes; We, on whom the light of truth has firmly been pointed, have no time to seek more, when the truth has been proven very clearly. It is indecent, indecent, for those who want to celebrate and triumph to turn their speeches into research. But let the word go to the goal and announce the mysteries of the day, standing within the doors and speaking to us the joyful saying: “Rejoice and leap,” for what we expected has come. Before the doors is an appeal to the previous state, before the doors is redemption, in the hands is salvation. How and in what way? Let us sing the song of David, who says: God will surely come (Ps. 49:3). Where does it come from and how? - From the sky, disembodied; as we are by nature and appearance. How can this be unless God becomes incarnate? Truly, God cannot be visible in the naked Divinity if, united with our mixture, He does not become like us, except for sin, taking on human nature. Is it not clear that the Lord of creation, for the sake of all creation, unites with creation in order to save creation? Where and how? – In the virgin receptacle, at the end of times, when the coming of His (the Savior) was predicted by David. And this is the Nativity of the Virgin, now celebrated, the eve of the holidays, and the beginning of the sacraments even about Christ: since the chamber had to be prepared first, and then the King should come; first the royal shrouds had to appear, and then the Royal Child had to appear - and, finally, first the clay had to bloom, and then the potter had to appear. Therefore, the Divine husband Joachim and his wife Anna, called by God, rightly accepted the fruit of prayers - this Queen of nature and the firstfruits of our confusion, whose Nativity we celebrate, whose shrouds we honor, worshiping the restoration of our race: for now what is familiar to us receives the beginning of deification. Now the bonds of former barrenness are being resolved, the childless one becomes matter, the childless one turns out to be the parent of a beautiful child, and Anna rejoices, breastfeeding the virgin Child. Nowadays the paths of infertility are blocked, and the conception of a barren woman is prevented by a miracle with the Virgin: for if it is a great thing that a barren woman gives birth, then isn’t it all the more amazing that a Virgin gives birth? And she who gave birth now did not remain barren, and she who gave birth without a husband remained a virgin again, not being corrupted by the womb and having escaped what is characteristic of mothers. But one thing happened before, another after; and the first was a type of the second. It was necessary that He, through Whom is everything and in Whom is everything, as the Lord of nature, showed a miracle in His foremother, making her a barren mother, and then in the Mother changed the laws of nature, making Virgin Matter and preserving the signs of virginity. Such is the Nativity of the Virgin, such is the revelation and end of the hidden mystery, the deliverance of the entire human race, by which we, who sat in darkness and the shadow of death, were visited, and enlightened by the impregnable light from the height of Christ Jesus, the Lord of us all and the Savior of God, who shone to us. To Him be glory, honor and power with the beginningless Father and His Life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen 198. See Curs. Compl. Patrolog. Migne, series graeca, vol. XCVII, col. 843–862. You might be interested in: