Беседа на Благовещение Преславной Владычицы нашей Богородицы. Св. Иоанна Златоустого, архиепископа Константинопольского

Again joyful gospels, again announcements of freedom, again a recall, again a return, again a voice of joy, again liberation from slavery: the angel talks with the Virgin, just as the serpent talked with the wife. In the sixth month, it is said, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to the Virgin betrothed to her husband (Luke 1:26, 27). Gabriel was sent to announce worldwide salvation; Gabriel was sent, bringing Adam the promise of return from captivity; Gabriel was sent to the Virgin to change the dishonor of the female sex into honor; Gabriel was sent to prepare a worthy palace for the pure Bridegroom; Gabriel was sent to the animated palace of the King of Angels; Gabriel was sent to the Virgin, betrothed to Joseph, but reserved for the Son; a disembodied slave was sent to the pure Virgin; was sent free from sin to the one who did not allow corruption; a lamp was sent to point to the Sun of righteousness; the morning was sent, running ahead of the light of day; Gabriel was sent, showing Him who is in the bosom of the Father and in the arms of the Mother; Gabriel was sent, pointing to the One who is on the throne and in the den; a warrior was sent, crying out for the sacrament of the King, a sacrament known by faith, not explored by excessive curiosity, a sacrament worshiped, not weighed, as it were, on a scale, a sacrament confessed, not measured. In the sixth month Gabriel was sent to the Virgin. What sixth month is it talking about? about which one? - about when Elizabeth received the gospel, from when John was conceived. How is this clear? Let the archangel himself explain, saying to the Virgin: behold, he says, Elizabeth is your daughter, and she has conceived a son: and this sixth month is called her unfruitful month (Luke 1:36). In the sixth month: the sixth month of John's conception. It was necessary for the warrior to come first; it was necessary for the bodyguard to appear first; it was necessary that the herald of the Lord's coming should first pave the way. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent to the Virgin betrothed to her husband, who had not entered into marriage - although betrothed, she was preserved. Why - engaged? - so that the robber does not quickly find out about the sacrament. The evil one knew that the King would come with the help of the Virgin, because he himself heard the words of Isaiah: behold, the Virgin will conceive in her womb (Is. 7:14); and naturally he guarded everything separately that was predicted about the Virgin, so that, noticing that this sacrament was being fulfilled, he would prepare blasphemy. Therefore, the Lord came through the betrothed woman, who had already accepted the obligation. In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent to the betrothed Virgin to a man whose name was Joseph. Listen to what the Prophet says about this man and Virgo. The book sealed will be given to the man who knows the Scriptures (Isa. 29:11). What kind of book is this sealed, if, of course, not the pure Virgin? From whom is it given? - it is clear that from the priests. To whom will it be given? - Joseph the treemaker. This Joseph, who had previously lived in an honest marriage and gave birth to sons, lost his wife and lived the rest of the time in chastity, raising his children in the teaching and admonition of the Lord. After all, it is known that the Apostle Paul, having come to preach and finding one of his sons, writes, saying: the apostle saw no other, except James, the brother of the Lord (Galat. 1:19), not as born of the Virgin Mary, but of Joseph. So, since the priests combined Mary with the chaste Joseph, and offered Her to him, waiting for a convenient time for marriage, he, having accepted, had to keep the Virgin intact. This was predicted by the Prophet much earlier: a book, he said, would be given that was sealed to a person who knew the Scriptures, that is, someone who was married, and he would say: “I can’t read it.” Why can’t you, Joseph? “I can’t read it,” he says, because the book is sealed.” For whom is it being preserved? – it is being preserved in a dwelling for the Creator of all things... But let’s return to the subject. In the sixth month, Gabriel was quickly sent to the Virgin, of course, having received such orders. "Listen (it is said), angel, be a servant of the terrible mystery, serve the hidden miracle. My compassionate feelings compel Me to condescend to search for the lost Adam. Sin has made the one created in My image old, has spoiled the creation of My hands, has darkened the beauty that I created; the wolf owns My cattle; the paradise dwelling is empty. The tree of life is guarded by a fiery sword, and the place of pleasure is locked. I show compassion to the one who was attacked, and I want to catch the enemy. But I want this to be hidden from all the Powers in heaven, and to you alone I entrust the secret; go to the Virgin Mary, go to the animated gates, about which the Prophet speaks: the glorious one spoke about you, the city of God (Psalm 87:3). Go to My paradise, endowed with reason; go to the eastern city; go to a dwelling worthy of My Word; go to the second heaven on earth; go to the light cloud; announce to him the rain of My appearance; go to the sanctuary prepared for Me; go to the palace of My incarnation; go to the pure bridal chamber of My carnal birth; speak into the ears of the intelligent ark, prepare for Me a vestibule of hearing; but do not confuse, do not upset the soul of the Virgin; present yourself humbly to the sanctuary; first of all, shout to Her with a voice of joy; say to Mary: Hail, full of grace (Luke 1:28), so that I may show compassion to the suffering Eve - the Angel heard this and, as naturally, thought to himself: “an extraordinary thing is a word that surpasses thought. Terrible for the cherubim, on whom the seraphim cannot gaze, incomprehensible to all the angelic Powers, which he proclaims.” circumstance! Announces to the Virgin the presence of His Face in Her, or better yet: promises Her entry through hearing! And he who condemned Eve hastens to glorify her Daughter so much and says: “Prepare for Me the entrances of hearing!” And can the womb contain the Inconceivable? Truly, a terrible sacrament! When the angel was thinking about this, the Lord said to him: "Why are you embarrassed and amazed, Gabriel? Weren't you recently sent by Me to the priest Zechariah? Didn't you give him good news regarding the birth of John? Didn't you impose the punishment of silence on the unbelieving priest? Didn't you condemn the old man to be deprived of his voice? Didn't you proclaim it? Didn't I confirm? Didn't the matter follow yours?" Has the barren woman not conceived? Has not the disease of infertility receded? Has not the inactivity of nature now brought forth fruit? Is it possible that every word in Me, the Creator, fails (Luke 1:37)? “Lord, to heal the shortcomings of nature, to stop the storm of suffering, to call the deadness of the members to life-giving power, to command nature to manifest the power of procreation, to destroy barrenness in members that are already outdated, to transform an aged stalk into a green state, to suddenly show a barren field as the mother of ears - all this is the work of Your power, usually accomplished; Sarah and after her Rebekah testify to this, and again “Anna, who were subject to the slavery of the painful disease of infertility, and then received freedom from You. And for a virgin to give birth, who has not entered into intercourse with her husband, this is beyond the laws of nature; and You proclaim Your coming to the Virgin; the limits of heaven and earth cannot contain You; how can a virgin’s womb contain You?” And the Lord says: “How did Abraham’s tent accommodate Me?” The angel answers: “Because he possessed the fullness of hospitality. Then think, Lord: there You appeared to the patriarch in a tent located near the road, and You, who fill everything, passed by. But how will Mary endure the fire of the Divinity? Your Throne is aflame, illuminated by radiance, and can the Virgin really carry You without horror? “Yes, of course, if fire in the desert had harmed the bush (Ex. 3:2), then, undoubtedly, My presence would have harmed Mary; but if that fire, depicting the appearance of Divine fire from heaven, only watered the bush and did not burn it: then what could you say about the truth that descends not in fiery fire, but in the form of rain"? Then, finally, the angel fulfilled what he was commanded, and, coming to the Virgin, he exclaimed to Her, saying: Rejoice, full of grace: the Lord is with you (Luke 1:28). "The devil is no longer against You, because where before the enemy inflicted a wound, there the Physician applies a plaster - from where death received the beginning of the attack, from there Life built the entrance of life. Evil is poured through a woman, good things flow through a Woman. Rejoice, full of grace: do not be ashamed as the culprit of condemnation, because You become the Mother of the One who condemned. Rejoice, full of grace. : Rejoice, immaculate, giving birth to the Bridegroom to the widowed world. Rejoice, full of grace, drowning death in the womb of the mother; rejoice, the animate church of God, equal in value to heaven and earth; In this situation, the Physician comes to the weak, the Sun of Truth appears to those sitting in the darkness, the overwhelmed is an anchor and a harbor safe from the waves of the sea, for the irreconcilably hated slaves, an Ambassador and a union of peace was born, the Redeemer visited the captives, those subject to attack by enemies are a strong Veil of ineffable joy and love. This is our peace (Eph. 2:14), as the divine Apostle says, peace, which, oh, that we would continually enjoy, by the grace of Christ Himself and our God, to whom be glory forever and ever! Amen 134. See Full. collection created St. Chrysostom in Russian transl., volume II, 1896, countries. 854–857. In the publication Migne this conversation is classified as spuria. Comp. with this conversation St. Chrysostom's now cited (627–631 pp.) conversation with St. Gregory the Wonderworker, Bishop of Neocaesarea. You might be interested in: