Поучение в день Благовещения Пресвятой Девы Марии. (Девство достохвально; надлежит усильно блюсти девство, памятуя о том, как враг воюет против него). Преподобного Феодора, игумена Студийского и исповедника

On the day of the Annunciation, I will try to tell you something a little about the Annunciation, namely to show how great the vow of virginity is... In fact, to whom did Archangel Gabriel say: Rejoice, full of grace: the Lord is with you (Luke 1:28)? Isn't it the Blessed Virgin Mary? And from whom, having become incarnate, did God and the Word Himself become man? Is it not from this blessed Virgin? So, this virginity raised the Life of everyone. Virginity is the queen of virtues; virginity is the Bride and Bridesmaid of Christ. And if you wish, let us listen to what blessed Paul says: he who is not married cares for the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord; but he who is married cares about the things of the world, how to please his wife. The wife and the virgin are separated: the one who has not violated cares about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord, that she may be holy in both body and spirit: but the one who has committed the same cares about the things of the world, how to please her husband (1 Cor. 7:32–34). Do you see the power of the word - that marriage does not give you time to worry about pleasing God, but about worldly things? – Thus, virginity, as an inheritance, is entrusted with the good part. And in the kingdom of heaven, virginity is given primacy, for in the Apocalypse of St. John it is written: these are the ones who have not defiled themselves with their wives, they are virgins: these will follow the Lamb, even if he goes (Apoc. 14:4). This is the advantage that those who have chosen and preserved virginity are awarded with! They follow Christ and rejoice with Him. Let us not forget, however, that the higher and more supernatural this matter is, the more strongly the destroyer of our life, the devil, strains to overthrow us, more than other passions, by the passion opposite to it. And who can count how many he has overthrown since the beginning of time? And what could be more pitiful than this?.. We will keep our soul, like the apple of our eye, pure for the Bridegroom Christ, without betraying the treasure of virginity entrusted to us; and let us not allow ourselves to suffer as the fish suffer, which, having been deceived by the bait, swallow the bait and find death. And in fact, the sweetness of the flesh is a thing that corrupts, and not nourishes, is deadly, and not life-giving, from which may we be delivered by the power of God, and for the future may we remain pure and without stumbling, as long as there is breath in our nostrils, so that, having settled from here victorious, we may gain the kingdom of heaven in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen 146. See 126 taught. Rev. Theodore Studite entitled: “Small Catechism” – manuscript. (X century) Moscow. Synod. librarian (374–CCCLXI). l.l. 151–152; compare “Philokalia”, in Russian. translation. Edition 1889 Moscow. Volume IV, countries. 542–543. You might be interested in: