Беседа на спасительное Рождество Пренепорочной Владычицы нашей Богородицы и Приснодевы Mapии. Святого Григория Паламы, архиепископа Фессалоникийского

Every time is convenient to begin a life of salvation. Expressing this, the great Paul said: this is an acceptable time, this is the day of salvation: let us therefore put aside dark works, and put on the armor of light: for we may walk gracefully in days (Rom. 13:11-13), designating as favorable for salvation, not any known hour or day, but all the time after the appearance of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. With the rising of the sensual sun on earth, the time of bodily work comes for people, as David also says: the sun has risen..., and man will go out to his work and his work until the evening (Ps. 103:22-23); like this, even after the Sun of righteousness appeared in the flesh, all the time after His appearance was convenient for the spiritual. This name is in mind, the same Prophet in another place, having spoken about the appearance of the Lord in the words: the stone, which he carelessly built, this will become the head of the corner (Ps. 117:22-23), - adds: this day, which the Lord has created, we will rejoice and be glad in it (Ps. 117:24). But regarding the sensual sun, since it is interrupted at night, it is said: a man will go out to do his work until evening; while, on the contrary, the Sun of righteousness, since He has no evening, and, according to the Apostolic expression, there is no change or change (James 1:17), gives us a continuously favorable time for spiritual work. If, however, there be a time of sowing and a time of harvest, a time of planting trees and a time of gathering fruit, there is a season for everything; and if you are looking for the beginning of something especially appropriate for works of goodness: then this is the time of autumn and, precisely, that month of autumn, which is, in our opinion, the first month and the beginning of the year, in which month our salvation began, which we now celebrate. For now we have the first holiday and triumph of our re-creation, a triumph in which the place of a temporary law is replaced by a permanent one, the letter is replaced by the spirit, and the truth instead of the shadow. Now there appears a new world and a wonderful paradise, in which and from which a new Adam has appeared, recreating the ancient Adam and renewing the whole world: he is not deceived, but deceives the deceiver and gives freedom to those who were enslaved to sin through insidious deception. Now a wonderful book has been prepared on earth, which can bring into the light not images of words, but the living Word Himself, and the Word is not airy, but heavenly - a Word that is not subject to corruption, but frees from corruption those who approach Him - a Word that does not come from the movement of the human tongue, but is begotten eternally from God the Father. Now the inspired and miraculous tabernacle has appeared, and the intelligent, animated ark of the Bread of Life, truly sent from heaven. Now, according to the saying of the psalms, truth has risen from the earth, and righteousness has come from heaven (Ps. 84:12), which, having been condemned by unrighteousness, condemned by righteousness and bound the strong in rage, plucking out his weapons and adapting them to the acceptance of Divine truth, and thus granted the captives of sin the right to be justified by faith in the Lord, and to live with it eternally, and the ruler sin, clothed with inevitable bonds, will be given over to the eternal and invisibly dark fire. Now, as it was foretold, from the root of Jesse came a rod, and from it a flower blossomed (Isa. 11:1), which not only itself is not subject to withering, but, on the contrary, calls on our entire nature, which has faded and therefore fallen away from the unfading place of pleasure, and returns it to prosperity and, giving it an ever-blooming state, elevates it to heaven, brings it to paradise. That rod came into existence, through which the great Shepherd transferred the intelligent flock to eternal pastures - the rod, relying on which, our nature put aside decrepitude and powerlessness and easily marches to heaven, leaving the earth to the ground... Who is this new world, this wonderful paradise, this amazing book, this tabernacle of God and the ark, the truth from the earth and the much-praised rod of Jesse? This is all – the Ever-Virgin, before birth and after birth, the Virgin, whose birth from barrenness we now celebrate. Joachim and Anna, living in cohabitation and being blameless before God, were considered by the Israeli law worthy of reproach, since they did not have children (since the Jews did not yet have hope for immortality, therefore, succession of the family seemed to them the most necessary thing). Now, after the Virgin born today has given us eternity by Her birth in virginity, succession in childbearing is no longer necessary for us. But then fertility seemed to the Israelites preferable even to virtue, and infertility was considered such a shameful vice by them that these righteous people became objects not so much of praise for their virtue as of reproach for their infertility. Extremely grieving over the reproach, remembering Abraham and Sarah, and others who experienced the grief of childlessness, and knowing about the remedy tried by some for such sadness, they decided to resort to a remedy - turn to God in prayer. For this purpose, the prudent Joachim retires to the desert and, having settled in it, labors in fasting and sends up a prayer to God to become a father. He did not stop praying and did not return from there until he received notification that his prayer had been heard. On the other hand, the unanimous Anna lies in the garden and with a heart full of sorrow exclaims to the Lord: “Hear me, O God of my fathers, and bless me, as You blessed the womb of Sarah.” And the Lord heard and blessed them, promised to give and now brings His promise to fulfillment: He will give them the most wonderful Daughter of all that has ever been wonderful, Herself, who gave birth to the Creator of all things, who deified the human race and made the earth numb, who made God the Son of man, and people the sons of God (for She conceived in Herself without a seed and gave birth ineffably in the flesh to the One who created all creation from nothing and brought her into well-being, and does not allow her to fall into oblivion again). Why was She born from a barren womb? - In order to dispel sorrow and destroy the reproach of parents, and to give a prototype of the dispersion of sorrow and curse of the ancestors of the family that would be through Her. So, how could nature dare to make common (for the birth of many children) the womb in which She dwelt and from which She was born, Who alone inhabited the Holy of Holies and alone became the abode of the Creator of nature? For, just as before Her and after Her no one dwelt in the Holy of Holies, so it was very natural that no other child should be conceived in this mother’s womb, either before or after Her. And since it was necessary for the Mother of God to be a Virgin and from the line of David, and the time had already come, and the Virgin had to be prepared, meanwhile none of the others, even those belonging to the line of David, was found more virtuous than these childless righteous people: therefore, although they were childless, they were preferred to have many children, so that from such many virtuous people the pre-virtuous Virgin would be conceived, and from the pure - the Most Pure One, so that, in this way, chastity, in combination with prayer and deeds, would be fertilized and become the parent of virginity, moreover, virginity, which in the flesh incorruptibly gave birth to the One who, according to Divinity, was born before the ages from the virgin Father. Oh, boldness acquired from the Lord through prayer! Oh, immaculate hearts, who sent forth a prayer that reached so far and accomplished such a great deed! For it was necessary that a great miracle should be prepared by a miracle, and that nature should gradually submit to grace. You, the listeners of my words, my intelligent flock in Christ, offer the Mother of God the deeds of virtues and your success in them, as a parental gift. Husbands and wives, old men and young men, rich and poor, rulers and ruled, in short: let every generation and age, each of you diligently receive the heavenly seed, the saving word, and let him contribute through himself to fruit pleasing to God: let none of you leave the beginning of good deeds unfruitful. Let none of you demonstrate his faith in Christ Jesus with just his tongue: for not everyone who says to Me, says the Savior, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven: but do the will of My Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21); and no one lays his hand on the forehead, and in vain turns back, he is ruled in the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62). Virgins and those who have chosen a solitary life by vow, live in everything according to God, for the sake of the Virgin now born for us, who in virginity temporarily gave birth according to the flesh of the One who before the ages was born of a virgin Father. Live for Her sake and for the sake of the one God incarnate from Her, looking at Him alone and considering Him alone as your own delight, rejoicing in hope, enduring in sorrow, serving each other, warning each other in the world - pure and virgin in body and soul, in everything showing a spiritual and gifted mood and life. Thus, following the Mother of God, you will be transported and enter the church of the King of heaven not made by hands. Those of you who are married, do not give yourself entirely to this world: for for you too, this newly established and truly worldly church (I mean the Mother of God) has now become the fruit of marriage. Elders! Show the attitude appropriate to old age in thoughts and actions, and do not behave like young men, thinking according to the flesh and living according to the flesh. Young men! Imitate such elders, honoring them and learning from them, and learn what honest old age is, and how youth is not inferior to chaste old age; and if you do not know, then ask the wise Solomon and you will hear from him that gray hair is the wisdom of man, and the age of old age is undefiled living (Wis. 4:9). Whoever of you has any excess in earthly, fleeting and impermanent things, let him give it to another, and then he will acquire eternal life for himself. Those of you who do not have what you need, enrich yourself with patience and thanksgiving to God, so that, being numbered among the poor favored by the Lord, you may inherit the kingdom of heaven. Bosses! Judge the court fairly and do not abuse your power over your subordinates, for this is unfair: on the contrary, show them fatherly care, taking into account your affinity with them and co-service with God; Do not consider yourself unworthy to submit to the Church and its teachings, since all this serves to strengthen the power of those who want to be good leaders. Subordinates! It is your duty to trust your superiors, for this does not deprive you of the promised hope of the kingdom of heaven. Now bring everything together to the Virgin we celebrate, as the most pleasant and fitting gift, your sanctification, the purity of your body through abstinence and prayer. Pay all your attention to the fact that chastity, fasting and prayer, combined with contrition, made Joachim and Anna the parents of the Divine vessel, a vessel so chosen that this vessel (the Blessed Virgin) bore not only the Divine name, but also His Himself - the Lord, Whose name alone is full of miracles. Therefore, if we succeed together with other virtues and in prayers, prudently approaching the church of God, that is, the Mother of God, then we will find that purity of heart, like an inner treasure, reveals God to us. For the prophet Isaiah calls this purity and the spiritual mood towards God that comes from it internal in the womb, a saving spirit, exclaiming to God: for Thy fear, O Lord, in the womb I received, and was sick, and gave birth to the spirit of Thy salvation, which I created on earth (Is. 26:18). You see how barren and childless souls become mothers of beautiful children. To the above words the Prophet adds the following: we will not fall, but all who live on earth will fall, that is, those who indulge in passions on earthly objects. If we, brethren, wish to inhabit not only the earth, but also heaven, and not fall into the earth and into sin, which attracted us to humiliation, and, on the contrary, continuously reach the Divine heights, let us flee from evil, fear God, return to Him with good deeds; Through abstinence and prayer, let us hasten to erase the bad prejudices in ourselves, and transform our inner thoughts for the better, and, according to the words of the Prophet, give birth in illness to the spirit of our own salvation. As our Helper, let us call on the One Who was now given to Her parents for prayer and a godly life, Who turned the sorrow of those who gave birth to Her into joy, and resolved the curse of the ancestors, and stopped the illnesses of the foremother, painlessly giving birth to Christ in virginity. To Him belongs all glory and worship with His beginningless Father and the All-Holy and Good Life-giving Spirit now and ever and ever. Amen 205. See Rukop. Moscow Synodal bibliot, 69–LXX, pp. 157–160; Wed Church Led. 1900, No. 36. You might be interested in: