Беседа на Божественное и спасительное Рождество Господа и Бога и Спаса нашего Иисуса Христа. Святого Григория Паламы, архиепископа Фессалоникийского

Today the memory of the virgin birth is celebrated, and therefore, of necessity, our speech will be sublime, in accordance with the greatness of the holiday: it will penetrate into the mystery, since this is achievable and permissible. Therefore, brethren, elevate your mind, so that it, visibly inspired by Divine excitement, can comprehend the light of the knowledge of the Divine. Now I see the equal honor of heaven and earth and the ascension of all earthly things, commensurate with the condescension of heaven. If there is a heaven of heavens and waters above the heavens, then there is nothing more wonderful and more precious than a cave and a manger; Of all that God has done since the beginning of the century, there is nothing more useful for everyone than the birth of Christ, which we now celebrate. And truly, the eternal, immense and omnipotent Word is now born in the flesh in a cave, laid in a manger, seen with the eyes, touched with the hands, wrapped in swaddling clothes; the incomprehensible being becomes a creature. It is not the flesh, which is soon to decompose, that comes into being - not the flesh and the spirit, combining with each other, form one rational being, but God and the flesh are seamlessly united into the being of a single Divine-Human Hypostasis, Which, having entered the virgin womb, in it and from it, by the favor of the Father and the assistance of the Spirit, is now born, keeping at the same time the signs of virginity untouched and undamaged, - is born in the same way as it was conceived, dispassionately. And the one who gave birth to Him, both at His conception, was above all passionate lust, and at His birth, above any painful illness: since before the disease had time to approach Her, She gave birth to the eternal Word, Whose not only Divinity is unsearchable, but also the form of union with the flesh is incomprehensible. So, the Divine and ineffable height of His taking on flesh exceeds all reason! And when you see Christ already born of an unskilled Virgin, and in this case He has surpassed all comparison. Handsome in kindness, they say, more than the sons of men (Ps. 45:3); it is not said: “more beautiful," but simply: red, so as not to compare incomparable things. You are anointed, O God, your God, with the oil of joy, more than your partaker (Ps. 44:8). God Himself is the anointed and the anointed. The Word is anointed from God the Father, like a man, and is anointed with the Spirit co-eternal with Him (for the oil of joy signifies the Spirit). Further, although It, as a person, receives the anointing, however, as God, it has its source in Itself, which is why the Prophet of God called all who receive the anointing from God partakers of it (since it is only God who can make His participants all who rejoice in the joy of the Holy Spirit). Such is the Child now born in a wretched den and glorified by us. Having created everything earthly and heavenly from nothing, God, seeing that His rational creatures have become extremely indecent, gives them not only something more than what they had (not equal, not close), but Himself. The culprit of evil, not wanting to be lower than any of the angels, even wanting to be like the Creator Himself in superiority, was the first to undergo a terrible fall, then he drew Adam to the abyss, deceiving him out of envy, and thus committed a fall that for Adam was difficult to correct (his miraculous birth from God, which took place today, was required for his rise), but for him, the spirit of evil, is completely irreparable (since he, being evil itself, called on those who wanted to participate in this evil). The Lord God Himself, having inexpressibly diminished Himself, descends from above to the human race and, inseparably uniting it with Himself, raises everything earthly to heaven or unites humanity and Divinity together and, thus, points to humility as the only path leading to heaven, now offering Himself as an example of such humility to both people and angels. Now the angels have learned from the Master that the path to exaltation and likeness to God is not pride, but humility; Now the culprit of evil, being himself the personification of arrogant pride, is ashamed and defeated, and has himself become an object of ridicule on the part of those who were once terribly deceived by him. With the birth of Christ, he is trampled upon by those who formerly lay under his feet: for they no longer exalt themselves, as the all-destroyer himself suggested, but humble themselves, according to the example taught to them by the Savior, and through humility acquire a premium exaltation. So, God, sitting on the cherubim, today reclines as a Child on the ground before us. God, invisible even to the six-winged seraphim, who not only cannot cognize His being, but also cannot look at the radiance of His glory (which is why they cover their faces with wings, having become flesh), is seen with sensual eyes. God, who defines the boundaries of everything and is not limited by anything, is contained in a small manger; God, who contains everything in His hand, is wrapped in small shrouds. God, who has the wealth of inexhaustible treasures, willingly dwells in the cave and, most importantly, He who is born without beginning, impassively and timelessly from God is born there. And, oh wonderful miracle! One in essence with the Most High God not only takes upon Himself a humiliated nature through birth, not only experiences extreme poverty, being born in a wretched den, but, being the Ruler of the whole world, by nature is included in the list of slaves along with others; and this proves that slavery is no more dishonorable than dominion. The Godfather Prophet David nowhere sings to God like this: Thy hands have made me, and ye shall create me: teach me, and I will learn Thy commandments (Ps. 119:73). What does it mean? - means that only the Creator is capable of truly admonishing, and an admonished person will strive to obey Him and learn from His commandments. God, having created our nature with His hand and breathed a soul into it from Himself, left it, as intelligently created, to be governed by its own reflections and move by its own will. But since she, deceived by the advice of the evil one, did not preserve her condition, but fell into an unnatural position, therefore now he not only creates her with his hand, but also encloses her in himself and, thus, not only raises her up from the fall, but is also united with her inseparably, born together by God and man - born from a wife in order to take on our nature - and from the Virgin in order to renew man. And truly, if He had been born from a seed, He would not have been a new man and, being the heir of the ancient Fall, would not have been able to take upon Himself the fullness of the undefiled Divinity and serve as an inexhaustible source of sanctification and, thus, could not only wash away the sinful defilement of the first parents with an abundance of power, but also sufficiently sanctify the representatives of the next generation. Just as for a city (especially a large one) the water standing in a vessel is not enough for constant drinking, but it is necessary to have a source, so that, thanks to this source, it will never surrender to the enemies from thirst - so for the constant sanctification of everyone, neither a person nor an angel (having sanctification by grace) was enough, but a key was needed for the creature, which has a source in itself, so that, thus, those who approach it and drink from it would remain undefeated from the onset of her congenital ailments and deprivations. For this very reason, neither an angel nor a man, but the Lord Himself came and saved us, becoming a man for us and at the same time remaining unchangeably God: for, now creating a new Jerusalem, He establishes the eternal source of grace. The all-wise and all-powerful nature unites with the nature, which through weakness is enslaved by the evil one and located in the depths of hell, with the goal of instilling in it wisdom and strength, freedom and sinless life. Pay attention to the signs of this indescribable union and to the good that results from it, extending to people living far away. The star accompanies the Magi, stopping where they stop, and moving with them as they walk, or, better yet, calls them to the path itself, preceding them and accompanying them. When they move, she serves as a guide for them, and when they stop, she herself, obeying them, remains in place, so that, having left, she would not upset them with her absence, and so that it would not seem that she had left the guide unfinished. Why did she hide when they arrived there (Jerusalem)? - In order, of course, to make them, through asking, unsuspected heralds of Christ, then born according to the flesh. And since they considered it worthy to ask the Jews where, according to sacred predictions, He was born, the Divine star again appeared to them, teaching us to never seek teaching from the Jews in what relates to the law and the prophets, but, on the contrary, to obey the teachings of God, so as not to fall away from the grace-filled illumination from above. When the wise men came out from there (from Jerusalem), she, appearing to them, again rejoiced them and, going ahead, guided them all the time until she stopped, reaching the place where the Baby was, worshiping with them this earthly and together with the heavenly Baby and bringing them as the first gift to God, who was born on earth, and through them - the entire Assyrian race, according to the saying of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 19:23–25). The Magi themselves bowed, bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh to the One who, through death (symbolized by myrrh), gave us divine life (of which incense was an image) and the divine kingdom (which was symbolized by gold offered to the Giver of eternal glory). For the One who is now born, the shepherds form a common face together with the angels and praise Him with the same song, not, of course, so that the angels took the shepherd's pipes in their hands, but so that the shepherds were surrounded by the light of the angels and found themselves in the host of the heavenly armies and learned from the angels the heavenly or, rather, the heavenly and earthly hymn. Glory, they say, is in the highest to God and on earth... (Luke 2:14): for He who dwells in the highest and Rules over the heights of heaven now has the earth as His throne and is glorified on it just as there, by His saints and angels. What is the reason for this common praise between angels and men? This gospel, they say, brings you great joy, which will be to all people (Luke 2:10). What kind of worldwide joy is this? - Listen to the angelic chant until the end and you will know: peace, good will among men. God, angry against people and subjecting them to a terrible curse, comes in the flesh to give them His peace and reconcile them with the Supreme Father. For, it is said, the Savior, who is Christ the Lord, was born not to us - angels (since we, although we see Him on earth, glorify Him as in heaven), but to you - people (that is, from you and for you), who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. What do the words mean: peace, good will among men? And before, sometimes God showed people examples of peace: since He talked with Moses as if with His friend, and He found David after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts. 13:22), and showed signs of peace to all the Jewish people, speaking to them in the midst of fire and darkness (Deuteronomy 4:11). But all this is not proof of His peace through good will: for good will in itself signifies the pleasant and perfect will of God (the good deed of the Lord, shown to some of the people or to one family, and even then not complete, does not yet prove the perfect will of God). So, just as God called many “sons” (Heb. 12:5), but one is His Son, in whom He is well pleased (Matthew 3:17; 17:5), likewise, although He often sent down His peace, nevertheless there is one peace, which includes His favor, peace through the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, as perfect and immediate, given to all who desire it. May we, brethren, preserve this peace with all our might: for it is this peace that we have received as our inheritance from our Savior who was born today, who gave us the spirit of adoption (Galatians 4:5); through this world we become heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17). Let us live in peace, doing what is pleasing to Him, practicing wisdom, fulfilling truth and righteousness, being in prayers and supplications, singing and making melody in our hearts (1 Tim. 2:1; Eph. 5:19), and not just with our lips. Let us live in peace with ourselves, subordinating the flesh to the spirit, preferring to live according to conscience and maintaining the inner peace of thoughts in a well-ordered and immaculate movement: for in this way we will destroy the rebellion within us. Let us maintain peace with each other and be forgiving to each other. And if anyone has a reproach (complaint) against another, forgiving just as Christ forgave us (Colossians 3:13), and showing mercy with mutual love, just as Christ was merciful out of love for us and condescended to us for us. Thus, by His help and grace, having been called from the Fall, we will be exalted in virtues in order to have residence in heaven, from where we, as children of the Heavenly Father, await deliverance from corruption and the acquisition of endless blessings, which God will give us in the future in the glory of the appearance of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to Him be glory forever. Amen 79. In short. See manuscript. Moscow. Synod. librarian 69–LXX, l.l. 225 rev.–228; compare "Church Guide" 1900, No. 52. You might be interested in: