Слово на Рождество Пресвятой Богородицы. Из Четьих–Миней св. Димитрия, митрополита Ростовского

The Lord, who lives in heaven, desiring to appear on earth and live with people, first prepared on it a place for the settlement of His glory - His Most Pure Mother: for it is the custom of kings, when they want to come to any city, to prepare a chamber for themselves in it to stay. And just as the chambers of earthly kings are created by the most skillful craftsmen from the most precious objects, on the most elevated place, more beautiful and spacious than all other human dwellings, so the chamber of glory of the Heavenly King was created. In the Old Testament, when God wanted to live in Jerusalem, Solomon created a church for Him (1 Kings 5–7) through the most skillful builder Hiram (1 Kings 7:13–40), who was filled with the artistry of reason and knowledge for every task. Solomon created a church from the most precious substances, from excellent stone (1 Kings 5:17-18), from fragrant trees - cedar and cypress (2 Kings 6:9-10), brought from Lebanon, and from pure gold, on an elevated place, on Mount Moriah. The church was all the more beautiful because on its walls there were also carved images of cherubim, various trees and fruits (1 Kings 6:18-35; 7:18-22, 29-42). The church was so large in space that it could accommodate the entire multitude of the people of Israel without crowding, and the glory of the Lord descended on it in fire and cloud (1 Kings 8:10–11). However, this church was not sufficient to contain the Incontainable God. Solomon created a church for Him, but the Most High does not live in churches made by hands. What church will you build for Me, says the Lord, or what place will I rest for Me (Acts 7:49)? And so, God deigned that at the beginning of New Testament grace a church not made by hands was created - the Most Pure, Most Blessed Virgin Mary. What kind of builder created that church? – Truly, the wisest, by the Wisdom of God itself, as the Scripture says: Wisdom created for herself a house (Prov. 9:1), and everything created by the Wisdom of God is beautiful and perfect. And since the Wisdom of God created the animated chamber of the Word, therefore a perfect church was created for the perfect God, a bright chamber for the bright King, a most pure and undefiled palace for the most pure and undefiled Bridegroom, an immaculate village for the immaculate Lamb. To this is a faithful witness in heaven, speaking to Her: You are all good, my neighbor, and there is no vice in you (Song. 4:7). And Saint Damascus writes: “everything is the palace of the Spirit, everything is the city of God, a sea of ​​graces, everything is good, everything is close to God” (Word for the Birth of the Most Holy Bogor.). What substances was this chamber made of? Truly, from the most precious: for she came, as from a precious stone, from the royal family, from David, who, with a stone put into a sling, prefiguring the Stone - Christ, struck Goliath (1 Sam. 17:39-51); and as from fragrant trees - cedar and cypress, the Virgin Mary was born from a line of bishops who offered fragrant sacrifices to God. Her father, holy righteous Joachim, was the son of Varpathir, who descended from David’s son Nathan, and Her mother, holy righteous Anna, was the daughter of the priest Matthan from the tribe of Aaron; Thus, the Most Pure Virgin was of the royal family on her father’s side, and a bishop’s family on her mother’s side. Oh, from how many precious substances - I mean the most honorable origin - the animated chamber was created for the King of Glory! And just as in Solomon’s Temple, stone and wooden buildings acquired special value from the pure gold with which they were gilded: so at the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, the nobility of the royal and bishop’s origins earned even more respect from the chastity of Her holy parents, which is more valuable than gold and silver treasures; the most honorable stones are valuable stones, but anything honest is unworthy of it (Prov. 3:14–15). For the Most Holy Virgin was born of chaste parents, which is beyond all nobility. About this, Saint Damascus, turning to the holy righteous Godfathers, says this: “Oh, blessed spouses, Joachim and Anna! Truly, by the fruit of your womb you were found blameless according to the word of the Lord: by their fruit you will know them (Matthew 7:16, 20). You have arranged your life in a way pleasing to God and as worthy of the One born of you. For, living chastely and righteously, you have grown the treasure of virginity, I mean the Virgin: before the birth of the Virgin, at the birth of the Virgin, after the birth of the Virgin, and always the Virgin, the only one ever virgin in mind, soul, and body. It was fitting that virginity, born of chastity, should be offered in the flesh to the Only Begotten Light Himself. Oh, two of the purest verbal turtledoves, Joachim and Anna! Having chastely observed the law of nature, you were divinely granted supernatural gifts and gave birth to the world the Virgin Mother of God. You, having lived piously and righteously in human nature, produced a Daughter who is higher than the angels and who now rules over the angels. O most beautiful and sweetest Daughter! Oh, krin, who grew in the midst of thorns from the noblest royal root! The kingdom of the priesthood has been enriched by you” (Word of St. John of Damascus on the Birth of St. Theotokos). With these words, Saint Damascene clearly shows from what kind of parents the Mother of God was born, and with how many precious substances the chamber of the Heavenly King was built. Where was this animated chamber located? – Truly, on the highest, for the Church gives the following testimony about her: truly you are above all, a pure Virgin (From the service for the Introduction of the Most Holy Bogor. Canon, irmos 9); but higher – not by place, but by virtues and the height of God’s gifts. The place where the most blessed Virgin was born was a small city in the land of Galilee, called Nazareth, dependent on the larger city of Capernaum, and its inhabitants were despised, which is why it was said about Christ: can anything good come from Nazareth (John 1:46)? But the Lord, who lives on high and looks upon the humble (Ps. 112:5-6), deigned that His Most Pure Mother should be born not in Capernaum, which in its pride ascended to the sky, but in humble Nazareth, for what is high in men is an abomination before God (Luke 16:15), but the despised and what they despise is high and precious with Him. The very name of Nazareth depicts the height of the virtues of the Most Pure Virgin. For just as in His Nativity the Lord through Bethlehem, which means “house of bread,” secretly symbolized that He is the bread that came down from heaven to revive and strengthen people: so in the Nativity of His Most Pure Mother He depicts sublime objects through Nazareth: since the name “Nazareth” means a blooming, fenced, crowned and hidden place; and all this clearly represents the Blessed Virgin. She is a color that has vegetated from the barren and old womb of a dry tree, an unfading color, ever blooming with virginity, a fragrant color that gives birth to the fragrance of the One King, - a color that bears fruit - Christ God. She is sanctified by the grace of the Holy Spirit who came upon Her and overshadowed Her and is the most holy of all saints, as she gave birth to all saints, the Most Holy Word. She is excluded from the number of sinful earthly beings, as pure and uncorrupted, and not only is She herself alien to sin, but she also leads sinners away from iniquities, just as the Church calls to Her: Rejoice, taking away bad deeds (Akathist, Ikos 5). She is crowned with glory and honor: crowned with glory, for she grew from the royal root; crowned honestly, because she came from the bishop’s tribe. Crowned with glory because she came from chaste parents; crowned with honor, because she is honored by the annunciation and the ministry of the archangel. Crowned with glory as the Mother of God: for what could be more glorious than giving birth to God? Crowned with honor as an Ever-Virgin: for what could be more honorable than to remain a Virgin after Christmas? The most glorious seraphim is crowned with glory, as the seraphim who loved God. The most honorable cherub is crowned with honor, as having surpassed the cherubim in wisdom and knowledge of the Divine: glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good (Rom. 2:10), says the Apostle. But is there anyone on earth more virtuous than the Most Pure Virgin? She kept all the commandments of the Lord, fulfilled all the will of the Lord, kept all His instructions, hid all His words in Her heart, and showed all acts of mercy to her neighbors. Therefore She is crowned worthily, as one who does all good. She is also a kind of repository: for she preserved the treasure of Her virgin chastity so carefully that she did not even want to entrust it to an angel, because when she saw the angel, She was embarrassed by his words and wondered what this greeting would mean (Luke 1:29). Nazareth symbolized all this in the Most Pure Virgin by its name. And who will not say how highly that chamber of Christ was erected according to the virtues and gifts of God? She is high, for she was given from heaven, although she was born on earth from earthly ones: from heaven, for, as some of the God-enlightened men say, the Archangel Gabriel, who announced the birth of John to Zechariah, announced to Joachim and Anna about the conception of the Most Holy Theotokos and brought Her the most blessed name from heaven, saying to the barren mother: “Anna, Anna! You will give birth to a most blessed daughter, and her name will be called Mary.” So, She, without a doubt, can be called the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven from God (Rev. 21:2), the tabernacle of God. High is this tabernacle of God: for, having given birth to the King Christ, She was exalted above the seraphim. O height, inconceivable for human thoughts! And what is the beauty of that mental chamber of Christ - about this, listen to the same sweet-tongued John of Damascus, who broadcasts the following about Her: “She was brought to God, the King of all, clothed in the splendor of virtues, as if with a golden robe, adorned with the grace of the Holy Spirit, and Her glory is within Her: for as for every woman her glory is a husband coming from without, so the glory of the Mother of God is within Her, that is, the fruit of Her womb” (Word for the Birth of Bogor.). And Damascene also says, turning to Her: “Oh, God-gracious Virgin, the holy Church of God, which Solomon (the All-Wise Creator of the world) who created the world spiritually created and dwelt in Her! She is not decorated with gold, not with soulless stones, but, instead of gold, she shines with the Spirit, instead of expensive stones she has valuable beads - Christ” (Word for the Nativity of the Virgin Mary). Such is the decoration of that chamber, much more beautiful than that in Solomon's temple, in which the likenesses of cherubim, trees and flowers were depicted. But even in this animated Church, in the Most Pure Virgin, the image of the Cherubim is clearly visible: for with Her Cherubic life She not only equaled the Cherubim, but also surpassed them. If the Church is in the habit of calling other saints cherubim, chanting: “What shall we call you saints? cherubim, because Christ rested on you,” then all the more so is the Virgin Mother of God a cherub, for in Her Christ rested His body, and in Her most pure hands God sat as on a throne: the Virgin became the throne of the Cherubim. She has in Herself the likeness of fruitful trees, having spiritually become a fruitful olive tree in the house of God and a flowering date, which is why it is now called the life-giving garden, when the Church sings: from the barren root the garden of life-giving grows for us, His Mother, God who is like miracles (Service for the Birth of the Theotokos, 1st stichera on the Lord I cried). All this is said about Her spiritual beauty. But She was not deprived of bodily beauty, as many church teachers testify that in all the sunflowers there was not and will not be such a beautiful virgin as the Virgin Mother of God, having seen Whom, Saint Dionysius the Areopagite would have wanted to call God, if he had not known the God born of Her. For the Divine grace with which She was filled inside also shone on Her bright face. The Heavenly King prepared such a chamber for Himself on earth - a chamber beautiful in soul and body, like a bride adorned for her husband (Rev. 21:2), - moreover, a spacious chamber: Her womb was made more spacious than the heavens, and the incontainable Christ God was contained in Her. Royal chambers are usually built large, so that they can accommodate not only the king, but also the many servants who come to him and people coming to him from everywhere. The vast village of the Word, the Most Pure Virgin, is spacious not only for God the Word as King, but also for us, the servants of God who flow to Him who dwells in Her: He contains God in the womb, and us in His benevolence. The chosen vessel of God, the holy Apostle Paul, moved by love, spoke to his beloved children: our heart is expanded: it does not fit into us too closely (2 Cor. 6:11, 12). But which of the saints can find such extensive compassion for God as Mary’s for God? The chaste can fit here, and the sinner is not cramped here. The repentant has his place in Her, and for the despairing and unrepentant, She is an unforbidden refuge, just as Noah’s Ark served as a refuge not only for clean, but also for unclean animals. In Her benevolent womb, all those who grieve, the offended, the hungry, the wandering, the overwhelmed, the sick are accommodated without crowding: for that womb that gave birth to us the good God cannot but be merciful. The chambers of the kings of the earth are guarded by many armed guards, who do not let in everyone who wants to enter them, but hold them back, carefully investigating where they are coming from and why. And the animated chamber of Christ, although surrounded by cherubim and seraphim and countless faces of angels and all the saints, nevertheless, no one prevents anyone from entering the door of Her gracious mercy, if anyone so desired: neither the guards push away, nor the soldiers drive away and do not investigate why anyone is coming; but everyone enters them without hindrance with prayer and accepts the gift according to a gracious request. So, let us resort to the mercy of the One born from a barren womb, with the following greeting: “Rejoice, all immaculate chamber of the King of all! Rejoice, village of God and the Word, to Whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and to You, Daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son, Bride of the Holy Spirit, may there be honor and glory from us mortals forever.” Amen 208. See Menaion–Cheti in Russian. Book one. Moscow 1902, countries. 174–183. You might be interested in: