Беседа на Благовещение Пресвятой Богородицы. Святейшего Фотия, патриарха Константинопольского

If Your village is beloved, O Lord of hosts (Psalm 83:1), I will exclaim at this time along with the prophet David, seeing the church courts overflowing with a host of intelligent sheep, gathered in multi-colored decoration and variety. Truly, how good are your houses to Jacob, and your tabernacles to Israel? Like overshadowing oak groves, and like gardens by the rivers, and like the tabernacles that the Lord has set up, and like cedar trees by the waters (Num. 24:5–6). The Prophet portrayed this well and fairly, although he prophesied about our situation while outside our court. And I, seeing with joy that the divinely inspired verbs spoken in ancient times are now being fully realized in practice, I myself now loudly and joyfully proclaim them at the beginning of my words, for indeed the tabernacles of the new Jacob, honored to see God in the flesh, are pleasant to contemplate and are quite sufficient to lift to the heights of Divine love the souls of those whose attention, aroused by sights beautiful to the bodily gaze, can to be directed towards spiritual and Divine beauty. Why did you, the people of God, with such zeal and so solemnly decorate this sacred and Divine church? what is the reason for your present confluence, and what is your joy? what kind of solemn meeting? Of course, you came here to glorify the Annunciation of the Daughter of the human race and rejoice in the joy of the Mother of the Word - you, as your beautiful and majestic decoration shows, compete with each other in celebrating the beginning of the Divine foundation of our common salvation. For, truly, the Annunciation of the Ever-Virgin is the basis of our salvation, which does not support the roof of any one building, going up into the heights, and serves as solid ground not for a village or any city located on earth, but corrects, renews and strengthens our entire human nature, affected by great sin. And just as after laying a good and solid foundation for a house, joy and gladness fill the souls of all those people who have the hope of settling in this house, and relieve them from previous anxieties: so after the Creator - the Word, wisely and God-decently laid the foundation of our salvation and created for us the beginning of joy and triumph, human nature is renewed and, having been delivered from the punishment for disobedience, that is, from the disease that led to death, it acquires immortality, as your new image. So, human nature rightly inherits joy, since the grace of God-likeness is established in it, and it, having been delivered from the sinful attraction to wickedness, as from the sting of the demon, is brought to its One Bridegroom, Creator and Maker. Rightly, human nature triumphs, since it receives the news that one of his daughters has been appointed as the chosen bride for the Creator; rightly, human nature is exalted, for it has received the news of reconciliation with the Lord and throws off the hated yoke of slavery. So, the present triumph is the beginning of all celebrations, since it serves for us as a guarantee of heavenly enrichment and supplies everything with the incorruptible wealth of the appearance of the Lord among us, purifies our nature and gives us the enjoyment of eternal blessings. A host of prophets joyfully participates in this celebration, strengthened by the gift of vision of God and overshadowed by the wing of immaterial life, which, although they spent this mortal life, they understood better than life according to human nature, and, loudly proclaiming the truth of the prophecies, they are preparing the bridal chamber of the Lord. The assembly of the apostles also flocks here, who, having passed the ends of the universe and having announced them with a sermon about the saving Word, with clean hands show the wealth of the Virgin Bride. Choirs of martyrs gather for this celebration and decorate the purple of the royal palace with their blood, shed during their exploits and sufferings. The ranks of ethereal Powers are also present here and, chanting together with the Archangel Gabriel, the presence of the Lord among people, they convey His condescension, and earthly life turns into the heavenly world. Now the Virgin, on behalf of the entire human race, becomes the Bride of the common Lord, and human nature, having rejected the union of lust and slavish sin, again, after a long time, turns to marital and friendly virtue and prudently, and together with joy, acquires love for such cohabitation. Now the Virgin is offered from people to the Lord as the firstfruits, and in a miraculous way the great and eternal mystery of human regeneration is accomplished. Now the daughter of Adam, having been saved from the fall of her foremother Eve and remaining pure from the filth that arises from this, appears before the Creator as beautiful and flourishing and arranges salvation for the human race. Now the Archangel of the ethereal Powers, having flown down from the heavenly circles, appears to Mary and, announcing to the Virgin the good news of the coming of the Lord, he begins it with the majestic word: Rejoice, full of grace: the Lord is with You (Luke 1:28), and through her all creation is filled with joy. The Archangel appears to Mary, the fragrant and sinless branch from the line of David, to the glorious, great and God-created adornment of human nature. For this Virgin, so to speak, from the first days of Her life turned to virtue and, succeeding in it, led an unearthly life on earth and, having opened the gates of the path to virtue, made this path impossible for those who have an undying love to reach the heavenly palace to follow. Who, even from childhood, is so abstinent in relation to pleasures? Of course, not those wives who, having despised the bonds of marriage, strive only for their own pleasures, or, while preserving the written laws, are nevertheless carried away by the currents of life and direct all their thoughts to entertainment. But the blessed Virgin did not allow Her thoughts to be inclined to any one in these deeds, but was completely devoted to Divine love and with this, as well as with all of Her other deeds, showed and proclaimed that She, truly, was doomed to be the bride of the Creator of all, even before Her birth. And He bound His very heart, like some terrible beast, with the dispassion of mind, as if with inextricable bonds. By the strength of Her thoughts, She made Her entire soul a sacred church of meekness and never showed signs of arrogance, never became proud, and did not even utter a single word of reproach or indignation during the suffering of the Lord, at which She was present, whereas mothers, during similar sufferings of their children, usually express their grief. Such strength is sufficient evidence of reason and, from the beginning, the patience and good direction of thoughts inherent in Virgo. And the strength of Her soul created a wonderful fruit: with deeds and words of correct understanding and pure thought, She received such a gift, through which She easily and in many ways resisted all the disturbances and trials of life that were raised by the power of evil spirits, and even for a short time did not allow the action of evil to come to her. Thus, when the Virgin, with the assistance of the indicated means, turned out to be worthy of the heavenly palaces and with Her beauty covered our ugly nature, which was desecrated by the sin of our ancestors, then Gabriel, the herald of the mystery of the appearance of the King, appeared before Her, and freely and with a loud voice exclaimed: Rejoice, full of grace: with you is the Lord, who through you delivers the entire human race from ancient sorrow and death. Therefore, the forefather David, having taken the spiritual harp, rejoices in spirit at the goodness of his Daughter and, striking the sonorous strings with his prophetic fingers, begins to play a joyful song, worthy of the virgin palace and saving for the whole world. Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father’s house: and the king will desire your kindness, for my sake is your Lord (Psalm 44:11-12) and all of us, and we and all creation reverently worship Him as the common Lord and Creator of all. Hear, Daughters, and incline Your ear to the words of Gabriel, for through his most pure gospel to You we have been delivered from the sin of disobedience, which the advice of the serpent, which reached the ears of Eve, poured out like poison on the entire human race, and now we can listen and obey only the commands of the One who created us. Hear, Daughters, and humbly accept the gospel of conception, since the constant and co-eternal Word of the Father, without losing his own essence and without changing into the very flesh (for this would be an extreme insult to the Divine being and is inconvenient for human nature), but unmerging and inseparably preserving both natures that came into unity, in a God-appropriate manner chose to remain in You for my re-creation and He kindly opened heavenly abodes for us to live in. What could be more pleasant than this joy? What is more solemn than a real celebration? What is higher than the current celebration? We are removed from the earth and ascended to heaven, we are delivered from corruption and put on incorruption, we escape the toils and thorns of the curse and are enriched with the good fruits of blessing. But, having been enriched by the benefits of Divine grace, let us bear fruit in our own life: let our soul be adorned with the adornment of marriage and shine with splendor, not being carried away by any work of adultery and darkness and not darkening the luster of the body with our own impurity. Often cities share their glory with other neighboring cities, and individual families enter into marriage alliances with each other and call to themselves all who are related to them, and everyone joyfully flocks to the marriage celebration, although they have no benefit from this marriage: for what benefit can it be for them if others marry in order to have children who do not yet exist? However, everyone with great readiness brings marriage gifts to the bride, one gold, another silver, another a necklace of pearls, and others what they have suitable for decoration and enrichment. But to what can I compare something that is incomparable with nothing? How to depict something for which there has been no example since centuries? Or should I not be afraid of anything and should not be amazed at all, although I have no such example? For God, who was pleased to live among people, Himself lovingly gave me the opportunity to cite this as an example. So, when a citizen is given in marriage, her fellow citizens bring her gifts, and in addition they light lamps, sometimes sing a wedding song, clap their hands, accompany the newlyweds and do everything that is pleasant and pleasing to those who invited them to the marriage. We, the entire totality of the human race, - since the immaculate Bride, the Ever-Virgin Mary, the pure daughter of our race, is the only one chosen as the Bride of the All-King and Lord of all, and moreover, not from one city and not from one people, but from all the virgins of the entire universe - what can we do worthy of this marriage union? What gift can we bring that is befitting a real celebration? - You want to know, and - I will tell you, but let no one justify himself by the difficulty: any advice may be painful for careless people, but not the command to fulfill, to the extent possible for a person, what is announced and commanded from above; Therefore, the upcoming speech is not mine, but is based on the teaching of the Holy Spirit. So, those who have not entered into marriage, let them bring their virginity as a gift to the Virgin: since nothing can be as pleasing and pleasing to the Ever-Virgin as virginity. Let those who are married bring experience of life, which they should pass on to their children, chastity, which contributes to salvation (1 Tim. 2:15), and leniency towards those who have entered into a second marriage: for chastity, although far removed from virginity, is related to it, both because it fulfills God’s blessing regarding the birth of children, and because it protects a person from uncontrollability. Let those who have fallen in one of these (in virginity and chastity) bring repentance for their deeds, tears, forgiveness for debtors and mercy towards the poor, because all this is a wonderful gift to the Lord. Let others bring justice and mercy to enemies: for why try to do to your neighbors what makes you cry and groan, when another oppresses and torments you? Let others bear patience and courage in adversity, for even such a feat is not left without reward. Let others bring the gift of meekness and hospitality, since this also serves as the reason for Divine condescension towards us. In general, let each of all who have gathered in this heavenly and royal bridal chamber bring a gift pleasing to the Virgin and worthy of such a great Bride: for no matter how many gifts are brought to Her, the Bridegroom and our God will rejoice in them. And whoever did not bring anything in honor of the Bride, as someone who insulted the Groom, will be strictly expelled from the bridal chamber. If you pay attention to the Archangel Gabriel, the minister of the mystery of the Virgin, the evangelist and explainer of salvation, and if you understand that he oversees every gift sent by the Lord to everyone, then it will become clear to all of you that a considerable struggle lies ahead of us and a considerable feat lies ahead of everyone in caring for the soul. He numbers and examines all those gathered for the celebration: and those who bring gifts, he recognizes as worthy of the bridal chamber and the sacred secret, and those who bring nothing, he removes and expels. So, I am very afraid and trembling that he, having now found himself among us (for it is impossible for the minister of the Divine marriage not to be present at this celebration) and having appeared to observe and test all of us, will recognize some as worthy of the bridal chamber, and will drive others far from its doors. Fearing for you and for myself, I, as before often inspired you to be ready, and now I do not shy away from the admonitions that are characteristic and available to me. And since I myself do not have any worthy gift prepared, I decided to resort to a marriage hymn in honor of the Ever-Virgin, whose teacher and inspirer I honor as a participant in this great holiday and a witness to the triumph. Perhaps, while he sings in honor of the Virgin and everyone’s attention is turned to him, he will spare me and will not remove me, will not imprison me as an insult to the royal celebration, and will not punish the guilty, but will count me among the host of those who bring gifts. For a philanthropic Judge, it is quite possible for those who do not have a gift to offer a sincere desire to replace it, even if they have not done anything worthy of their intention. Therefore, with great fear and love, I cry with my mind and lips: Rejoice, Virgin, refuge of my weakness and poverty. Rejoice, full of grace, by whom disease is healed, destruction is abolished, the author of death is killed, the devil is cast down and trampled under foot. Rejoice, full of grace: for the cruel condemnation of the human race is destroyed by the sweetness of Your gospel, and we, freed from the evil consequences of crime, crown ourselves with ornaments created by the Manifestation of God that came from You. Rejoice, full of grace, reasonable and God-created mirror of the secret knowledge of the divinely inspired prophets, in which they mysteriously contemplated the condescension of the Word to us and, like trumpets inspired by the Holy Spirit, announced to all the ends of the earth about Your conception and birth. Rejoice, full of grace, refuge of the joy of the whole world, in whom the condemnation of the first punishment was overthrown and great joy was created through You. Rejoice, full of grace, whose kindness, which preserved the soul, body and thoughts in purity, was desired by the King of all to renew and recreate the image that had become dilapidated as a result of the deceit and various attacks of the evil one. And to this face of Thy rich people will pray (Psalm 44:13), who through You have been enriched in piety and have been delivered from the ugly vices of their former image. Rejoice, who gave flesh to the Creator, who freed us from poverty, who did not lose the keys of virginity, and who destroyed the handwriting of sin (Colossians 2:14). Rejoice, animated ark of God, in which the second Noah settled and saved our human nature, almost all of which was flooded by the waves of sin, and gave us images and examples of a different, Divine life. Rejoice, God-made cave, in which the Creator, having purified our nature with the purest virgin mixture, delivered us from that disastrous, painful old age, recreating man into a new creation. But why strive to express in detail in words what even the angels cannot explain, before which the power of speech weakens, every order of praise turns out to be insufficient, every mind is confused at the very beginning of reflection, refuses to continue it and realizes its powerlessness? Therefore, it is better to honor the present sacrament with reverent silence than with bold words. Already, the Bridegroom, having prepared the time of the general feast and having called to the mysterious and immortality meal those who, due to their deeds, are not fully worthy of it, in His love for mankind, gives the opportunity to our humility to carry out the sacred service of God, calling for the performance of the sacrament, which without judgment may we all be worthy of, through the intercession of the Ever-Virgin and the Mother of God. Through her prayers, Christ our true God, born of Her in a way incomprehensible to our minds, who showed our pious and faithful king terrible for enemies, may he show Him dear to the people and may he be honored with us in the heavenly palace, for His is the kingdom and to Him we send up glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen 149. This discourse was delivered by the famous Greek-Eastern Church on March 25, 870 in the Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, in the presence of the Byzantine Emperor Basil the Macedonian. The Greek text of the conversation was published in the magazine “Ἐκκλησιαστικη Ἀλἡϑεια” for 1883 (No. 21, pp. 308–312), and from this text a real translation of the conversation into Russian was made; compare "Church Guide" 1900, No. 11, countries. 419–426. You might be interested in: