Слово на Благовещение Пресвятой Богородицы. Св. Григория Чудотворца, епископа Неокесарийского

Now the angelic faces sing the glory of the Divine, and the light of Christ’s coming shines upon the faithful. Now is a joyful spring for us: the Sun of Truth - Christ has enlightened us with radiant radiance and illuminated the minds of the faithful. Now Adam is renewed and ascended to heaven triumphs with the Angels. Now the whole universe is filled with joy due to the descent of the Holy Spirit on people. Now Divine grace has appeared, the hope of unseen blessings, and has clearly revealed to us miracles that surpass the mind, a mystery hidden from the ages. Now crowns are intertwined for constancy in virtue. Now God, wishing to crown the sacred heads of people who are obedient and observe holidays, calls the keepers of the faith called and heirs, and carefully invites those who are wise in heaven to take part in the Divine service of the disembodied faces into the heavenly kingdom. Today the word of David has been fulfilled: let the heavens rejoice and the earth rejoice. The fields and everything in them will rejoice: then all the trees of the grove will rejoice at the presence of the Lord, as if he is coming (Psalm 95:11-13). David speaks about trees: The Forerunner of the Lord, at the time of His very coming, already speaks of trees bearing fruits worthy of repentance (Matthew 3:8). And our Lord Jesus Christ Himself proclaims everlasting joy for all who believe in Him: for He says: I will see you, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you (John 16:22). Thus is now preached to us the glorious and ineffable mystery of Christians who have sealed their trust in Christ with holiness and piety. Now Gabriel, standing before God, comes to the Most Pure Virgin and preaches to Her: Rejoice, full of grace (Luke 1:28)! And when She began to ponder within Herself what kind of greeting this would be, the Angel immediately added: The Lord is with You! Do not be afraid Mariam: for you have found grace with God. And behold, you conceived in your womb, and gave birth to a Son, and called His name Jesus. This one will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God will give him the throne of His father David: and he will reign in the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end (Luke 1:29-33). Miriam said to the Angel: How will this happen if I don’t know where my husband is? that is, will I remain a virgin, or will the dignity of virginity be taken away? When the Holy Virgin thought about this with surprise, the Angel in brief words expressed to Her the essence of his speech: The Holy Spirit will come upon You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You: in the same way, the Holy One who will be born will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:34-35). that is, what It is is what it will really be called. So, grace worthily chose from all generations one Holy Mary. She was truly wise in everything and in all generations there was never anyone like Her. She acted differently than the virgin Eve, who, walking alone in the Garden of Eden, with an absent-minded mind, carelessly heeded the word of the serpent, the author of evil, and thus corrupted her mind, and through her the flattering enemy poured out poison and introduced death into the whole world (which is why the disasters that befell the saints occurred): this fall was rewarded only by the Holy Virgin. The saint did not accept the gift until she learned who had sent it, what kind of gift it was, and who was bringing it. Reasoning with Herself in bewilderment, She seemed to say to the Angel: "Where did you bring us such a blessing? From what treasuries was this pearl of the word sent to us? Where does such a promise come from? You came down from heaven, but walk on the earth; you appear in human form and, however, shine with the brilliance of light. " When the Saint thought about this in Herself, the Archangel resolved Her bewilderment with the following words: Spirit The Holy One will come upon Thee, and the power of the Most High will overshadow Thee: likewise, the holy thing to be born will be called the Son of God. Do not be afraid, Mariam: I did not come to strike You with fear, but to remove the cause of fear from You. Do not be afraid Mariam: for you have found grace with God; not thoughts about grace according to what is in nature: for grace is not in the least subject to the laws of nature. Maria! You learned what was hidden from the patriarchs and prophets. Virgo! You have comprehended what hitherto remained unknown to the Angels themselves. Holy! You heard what the host of God-bearing men did not deserve to hear. Moses, David, Isaiah and Daniel and all the prophets, although they preached about this, did not comprehend the method of doing it. Only You alone, Most Holy Virgin, now receive the sacraments, unknown to them all, and understand the manner of their accomplishment. Where the Holy Spirit is, everything happens quickly; where there is Divine grace, there everything is possible for God: the Holy Spirit will come upon You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You: in the same way, what will be born Holy will be called the Son of God; if the Son of God, then, without a doubt, God, co-natural, co-eternal with the Father, in Whom all the greatness of the Father is manifested. He is the image of the Hypostasis and the radiance of the glory of the Father. Just as rivers flow from an abundant source, so from this eternal and ever-living Source flows the eternal and true Light of the world - Christ our God. The prophets also cried out about this: the river’s aspirations make glad the city of God (Psalm 45:5). He brings joy not only to one city, but to all, and like one city, to the whole universe. The Archangel first of all said the following to the Holy Virgin Mary: Rejoice, full of grace! The Lord is with You, precisely because all the treasure of grace rested in Her. Of all the generations this one Virgin was found, holy in body and spirit, and alone bears Him who bears all things with the word (Heb. 1:3). What is surprising about Her is not only her physical grace, but also Her spiritual virtues. That is why the Archangel first exclaimed to Her: Rejoice, O Blessed One! The Lord is with You, that is, not an earthly bridegroom, but the Lord Himself of holiness, the father of purity, the author of incorruption, the giver of freedom, the guarantor of salvation, the keeper of the true world, the One who created man from virgin soil, and from his rib formed Eve. This very Lord is with You and from You! So, beloved, imitating the angelic voice of praise, let us joyfully fulfill our debt of gratitude, calling (to Mary): Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you. Truly, it is natural for You to rejoice, because Divine grace is with You: it has entered into You in a way known to it. With the servant is the King of glory, with the most splendid is He who sanctifies all things, more beautiful than all the sons of men, with the undefiled is united! With You is God and perfect man, in whom lives all the fulfillment of the Divine (Colossians 2:9). Rejoice, O Blessed One! the source of Light that enlightens all who believe in Him. Rejoice, O Blessed One! the east of the smart Sun and the pure color of life. Rejoice, O Blessed One! fragrant meadow. Rejoice, O Blessed One! an ever-blooming branch that delights souls who glorify You. Rejoice, O Blessed One! an unearthed field that bore abundant fruits. Although You carried in your womb according to the ordinary laws of nature and our custom: but this was also above nature, because God the Word descended into You from above and recreated Adam in Your most pure wombs; what was born in the Holy Virgin was from the Holy Spirit, and true flesh was borrowed from Her flesh. Just as a pearl, in a certain way, is composed of two principles, lightning and water: so our Lord Jesus Christ unfused and invariably comes from the pure, immaculate, undefiled and holy Virgin Mary - being perfect God, he is also made perfect man - in everything like the Father, in everything he is also natural to us, excluding sin. Many of the holy forefathers, patriarchs and prophets wanted to see him, but could not. True, some of them contemplated Him figuratively in visions and, as it were, in fortune telling; some listened to the Divine voice in the pillar of cloud, and saw the holy Angels; but the Archangel came to the holy Virgin Mary alone in the light with the gospel: Rejoice, full of grace! She accepted the word and, according to the fulfillment of time, produced a priceless pearl. Come, you too, beloved, and let us sing the foretold words to the psalms of the Inspired David; arise, Lord, into Thy rest, Thou and the ark of Thy holiness (Ps. 131:8). Truly, the Holy Virgin is an ark, gilded inside and out and having received into Herself all the treasure of sanctification. Rise, Lord, into Your rest. Come, Lord, from the bosom of the Father, in order to restore the fallen race of the ancestor. Sending out such a prayer and in a prophetic spirit turning to the vine that is about to produce the flower of the most beautiful fruit, David says: hear, daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father’s house: and the king will desire your kindness, for that is your Lord, and worship Him (Psalm 44:11, 12). Hear, Daughters, what is predicted about You and contemplate the matter itself with your own eyes. Hear me, the Archangel who preaches the gospel to You, who clearly announces to You the greatest mystery. Come, beloved, and we, renewing the past in memory, will glorify, please and magnify the branch of Jesse, which supernaturally produced for us the rod (of Christ). Luke in the Divine Gospel, testifying not only about Joseph, but also about the Mother of God Mary, tells of Her family union with David. Joseph went up from Galilee, he says, 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. And it came to pass, while she was there, that the days of giving birth to her were fulfilled: and she gave birth to her firstborn Son, and gave birth to him, and laid him in a manger; There was no place for them in the monastery before (Luke 2:4–7). (Mary) wrapped in swaddling clothes the One who is clothed with light, like a robe (Ps. 103:2), - she wrapped in swaddling clothes the One who created all creation, - she laid in a manger the One who sits on the Cherubim, and Whom countless hosts of Angels praise. The Word of God rested in the manger of dumb animals in order to give meaning to people who had become unreasonable by their own free will. At the animal meal, heavenly bread is offered in order to make people, hardened like animals, participants in the mysterious meal. There would be no place for them in the monastery. He who created heaven and earth with words had no place on earth; and this is because He is rich, having impoverished us for our sake (2 Cor. 8:9), and out of His kindness to us, He chose the most extreme humiliation for the salvation of our nature. The One who fulfilled in all accuracy the advice of the economy (of God), laid down in heaven, in the bosom of the Father, lay down in the den, in the mother’s womb and in the manger. Hosts of Angels surrounded Him, singing glory in heaven and peace on earth. He sat in heaven at the right hand of the Father, and at the same time rested in a manger, as if on the Cherubim. But, truly, here too was then the throne of the Cherubim, the royal throne, the Holy of Holies, the only glorious throne on earth, the most holy: on it Christ our God rested. To him be glory, honor and power with the beginningless Father, with the Holy and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen 130. See Curs. Compl. Patrolog. Migne, series graeca, vol. X, col. 1145–1156; compare Christ. Read 1837, part 1, countries. 249–262; “Selected words of the holy fathers in honor and glory of the Most Holy Theotokos.” Moscow, 1886 edition, pp. 81–87. You might be interested in: