Word on the Meeting of our Lord and Savior

This word in the Prologue of February 2 days is attributed to St. Cyril the Archbishop of Constantinople, and in Greek handwritten and printed books to St. Cyril of Jerusalem, but before the capture of Constantinople there was no archbishop in it, the name Cyril, but it does not belong to St. Cyril of Jerusalem because the feast of the Presentation was established already in the 6th century after the Nativity of Christ. “Rejoice greatly, daughters of Zion, preach joy, daughters of Jerusalem” (Zechariah 9:9): rejoice people, “the city of God” (Psalm 47:2): “jump up the gates and walls of Zion, and all the earth: “shout forth the mountains and the hills” (Isaiah 44:23), “jump in delight” (Psalm 113:6): “the rivers clasp your hands” (Ps 97:8), and “embrace the people of Zion” (Ps 47:13), seeing in it the coming of God. Let the inhabitants of heaven now unite their voice with those on earth, and let those on high sing with Jerusalem below: for here Christ, heavenly and earthly, dwells. Around the Heavenly, intelligent Powers, rejoice: earthly, earthly ones with the Angels, sing. For now “the God of gods will appear in Zion” (Ps 83:8): “now the glorious word has been spoken of you, the city of God” (Ps 86:3) Jerusalem “the city of the great King” (Ps 47.3). Open (Ps 23:7) the gates of Him Who opened the gates of heaven to everyone, and opened the doors of heaven to everyone opened the gates of the tomb (Matthew 27:12) on the Cross (hanging), who “crushed” (Ps. 106.16) “the eternal faiths of hell” (Job 38.17) and now shut up the gloriously virginal doors. Now He who of old conversed with Moses on Mount Sinai Godlessly (Exodus 20:1), fulfills the law, “under. being by law" (Gal. 4:4) servilely. Now "God from Teman" (Hab. 3:3) comes to Zion: now the Heavenly Bridegroom, with the chamber of the Mother of God, appears in the church. "Daughters" of Jerusalem (Song 3:11), come out to meet Him, light the lamps of the true light: spiritual vestments for the Bridegroom Christ (Matt. 25:6) decorate. With Zion, the people of tongues, carrying lamps, let us go out to the meeting: let us enter into the church, together with the Church, which is God and Christ. With the Angels, let us exclaim the song of the Angels: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts: the heavens and the earth are filled with His glory” (Isaiah 6:3): the ends of the world are full of His goodness, all creation is filled with His praise: all humanity is filled with His condescension. Heavenly, earthly and underworld are full of the essence of His mercy: full of His mercy, full of generosity, full of gifts, full of His benefits. So, “all the nations clasp their hands” (Ps 47:2): all the ends of the earth “come and see the works of God” (Ps 66:5). “Let every breath praise the Lord” (Ps 150:6), “let all the earth bow down” (Ps 65:4), and let every tongue sing, let every one sing praises, let everyone praise the Child of God, the forty-day-old and eternal: the Child of the little and the “ancient of days” (Dan 7:9): the Child of the present and the Creator of ages (Heb. 1:2). I see a baby, I know my God: a living baby, and nourishing the world: a crying baby, and giving life and joy to the world: a baby entwined, and delivering me from the swaddling clothes of sin: a baby in his mother’s arms, with the flesh, truly, and inseparably, on earth: and the same in the bosom of the Father, truly and inseparably in heaven. I see a child entering Jerusalem from Bethlehem, and never departing from Jerusalem above. According to the law, I see a child in the church offering a sacrifice on earth: and the same one in heaven receiving the pious sacrifices of all: this one in the hands of an elder according to the look, and the same one on the Cherubim thrones, God-splendid (Ps 79:2): this one being offered and being cleansed, and the same one sanctifying and cleansing everything. The gift itself, and the church itself is: the Hierarch himself, the altar itself, and the purification itself, the one who offers, the one sacrificed for the world, the tree of life and knowledge (Genesis 2:9). The Lamb Himself, and the fire Himself: The burnt offering Himself (Gen. 22:6, 7,9,10,13), The spiritual knife Himself (Eph. 6:17): Himself the Shepherd, Himself the sheep: Himself the priest, and Himself the one sacrificed: Himself offered, and Himself accepting the sacrifice: Himself the law, and Himself now under the law (Gal. 4:4). But let us hear about these days and from the Holy Gospels. For the wondrous Luke said about Christ: “For when the days of his purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, Jesus ascended into Jerusalem to set him before the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord: As every child of male sex opens his lie. He will be called holy to the Lord" (Luke 2:22, 23). Although Samuel, and Isaac, and together Jacob, also Joseph, and others, who were born from barrenness beyond hope, and who opened the barren wombs of their mothers, were called holy of the Lord: but Christ, the One (of the One Father, the Only Begotten Son) born of the One Virgin, and who did not open the Virgin Gates, is not only “Holy of the Lord, but the Holy of Holies” (Dan 9:24), “and the Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15), and the God of gods, and the Firstborn of the firstborn, and the Prince of princes, and the King of kings (Rev 19:16), and will be called, and will be confessed by faith, and will be worshiped, and now in the Church from Simeon will be preached. “There was,” says the Evangelist, “a man in Jerusalem, his name was Simeon: And this man was righteous, and the Spirit of God was Holy in him. And he was promised by the Holy Spirit not to see death, before even seeing Christ the Lord. And he came by the Spirit to the church: and when he brought in the parent of the Child Jesus, he did it according to the lawful custom concerning Him, and she (Simeon) received Him in her hand yours, and bless God, and say: now let thy servant go in peace, according to thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all men: a light unto a revelation, and the glory of thy people Israel” (Luke 2:25-32). 105:2)? Contain “the whole earth” (Isa. 40:12), the hand is contained in the arms of an old man: and he carries “all things with the word of His power” (Heb. 1:3). Let Adam rejoice, who through Simeon said to Christ: “Now you release Your servant, O Master, according to Your word in peace” (Luke 2:29): now You release me from eternal bonds: Now You release me from corruption: Now You release me from death: Now You release me from sorrow, O my Son and God! This in the church Simeon, taking him in his arms, and preaching the wonderful sight of the mystery to all tongues and Jews, plays and rejoices: and with a bright and clear voice, crying out for Him, he says: This is He, and before He, and co-existent with the Father: the Only Begotten, the One Throne, the One Glorious, the One-Powered, the Equally Powerful, the Omnipotent, Beginningless, Uncreated, Unchangeable, Indescribable, Invisible, Ineffable, Incomprehensible, Intangible, Inconceivable, Unlimited. This is the Father's "splendor of glory" (Heb. 1:3): This is the mark of the essence of all things. This Light of lights, shining from the Fatherly depths. This is the “God of gods” (Ps. 49:1) and from God is the knowable God. This is the “fountain of life” (Ps 35:10), coming from the source, the life of the Father. This is the “river of God” (Ps. 64:10), flowing from the abyss of God, but not being separated. This is the treasure of the Father's goodness and endless bliss. This is the water of “life” (John 4:14), and gives life to the world. This is an uncreated ray; born from the primeval Sun, but unstoppable. This is “God the Word” (John 1:1), the one word from non-being into being who made up all things. This is the star, before the star, who organized the disembodied Forces of Heaven, incorporeal (Job 38:7), invisible armies and ranks. This one is “one who stretches out the heavens” (Job 9:8), and walks on the sea as on earth. This is the one who covered the abyss with darkness (Job 38:9). This is the one who “founded the earth on the waters” (Ps 135:6). This is the one who fenced the sea with sand (Job 38:10, 11). This is the One who divided the light from the darkness (Gen. 1:4). This is the One who made the circles of the stars. This is the One who created the entire world, visible and mental, through wisdom. This is He who, with hands not made by hands, formed clay and formed the image of a man (Gen. 2:7). This is the One who created us in the “image of God,” and now Himself in our image became man. Man, but at the same time God. A visible man, all like myself, and with the parts that make me up, in order to cleanse me and save me: God is understood, having a perfect Being from a perfect Father. Even in the “form of God” the Lady “is” (Phil 2:6, 7), now my “form” has “taken on the form of a slave”: not diminishing the dignity of the Divinity, but sanctifying the confusion of my nature. Woe is all, and so long is all the same knowable: grief was born without flight, and so long without seed. The Creator on high is like God, and the creature on low is like man. “Hear this, all the nations” (Psalm 48:2): Hear unto Israel: This is the Lord thy God, whom I, thy Priest Simeon, carrying in my arms, preach with a great voice, testifying to the people in the church. Therefore, “My people, give ear to My word, incline your ears to the words of My mouth” (Ps 77:1). This Child is about Whom Isaiah foretold, saying: “For a Child was born unto us, a son, and was given unto us, and is called by His name the great Council ("Father") Angel: Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Ruler, ("Israel!") Prince of Peace, Father of the Age to Come" (Isaiah 9:6). And if “God is strong” is this Child, then it is clear that David said about Him: “The God of gods will appear in Zion” (Ps 83:8). About this Revelation Jeremiah cries out: “For God appeared on earth, and began to live with men” (Bar.3:38). This is the Child who split the sea of ​​old for Israel (Exodus 14:21), and drowned Pharaoh: and gave the law to the Israelites, and rained down manna, and led the Jewish race with a pillar of fire, and opened up the stone (Numbers 20:8), and kept the bush from the fiery flame without burning (Exodus 3:2). This Child made fourty-year-old Moses the destroyer of the Egyptian people (Exodus 2:11), and for fourty years showed him to be a Shepherd of the sheep (Exodus 3:1) and for fourty years made him the leader of Israel, and strengthened him to fast for fourty days (Exodus 24:18): just as this Child himself, after baptism, fasted for fourty days (Matthew 4:2), and after fourty days of His Resurrection from the dead (Acts 1:3, 9:11), He ascended into the heavenly Jerusalem: and after forty days of His birth from the Virgin, now He descended into earthly Jerusalem. About this Childhood Habakkuk, foreshadowing, said: “God is from Teman,” that is, “he will come from the South” (Hab 3:3). For from the southern countries, from Bethlehem now to Zion. Moses testified to this Revelation to you, saying: “For the Lord God will raise up for you a Prophet from your brethren: and whoever does not listen to Him, his soul will be cut off” (Deut. 18:15, 20; Acts 3:22). The Prophet David prayed about this Childhood, saying: “Sit on the Cherubim, appearing: ... raise up Your power, and come to save us” (Ps 79:2-3). And again: “Let Your tender mercies soon precede us, O Lord” (Ps 78:8). And again: “Lord, bow down the heavens and come down” (Ps 143:5). And again: “Thou art the Lord, the God of hosts: behold, thou shalt visit all languages” (Ps. 58:6). For this reason, “understand the Gentiles and repent” (Isaiah 8:9). Jews see and believe, as the Angels sing of this Youth: the Archangels worship this: the Powers tremble at this: the Powers glorify this: the Cherubim serve this: the Seraphim theologize. For this the sun works: For this the moon serves: For this the elements obey: For this the springs obey. Having seen this, the gates of hell were crushed: the gates of heaven were opened (Job 38:17), and hell, seeing it, trembled. This Child abolished death, put the devil to shame: resolved an oath: stopped sorrow: erased the serpent (Gen. 3:15): destroyed the “mediastinum” (Eph. 2:14): tore apart the opposing handwriting of sins (Col. 2:14): trampled sin: devastated flattery: restored the creation. This delivered the Child of Adam: it recreated Eve: it called upon tongues: it enlightened the world. So, come, you too, Christ-lovers and God-lovers, to meet the Lord and Master, let us go out with joy and in purity: not in a legal rite, but spiritually: not working with sweets, but playing in the spirit: not drunk with wine, but “burning in the Spirit” (Rom. 12:11). So today, being bright, let us decorate the lamps with light: so, like the sons of light (John 12:36): let us bring lamps to the true Light of Christ: since “light was revealed in the tongue” (Luke 2:32) to the world. Why, like the light of the light, “purified more than snow, enlightened more than milk, more than sapphire stone” we shine (Lamentations 4:7): more than pure “doves” (Isaiah 60:8) flying up into heaven, thus we will go out to the meeting of the Lord. All now, and always, celebratory songs cry out: with the Angels let us rejoice (Luke 2:13); with the Shepherds let us be illuminated with light (Luke 2:9): with the Magi let us worship (Matthew 2:2): with Bethlehem let us celebrate; with Zion we meet (Song 3:11): with the church let us sanctify; with the Virgin we magnify, let us rejoice (Luke 1:46, 47): with Joseph we will bring, like “two turtle doves” (Luke 2:24), soul and body: with Simeon we accept Christ into the arms, and with Anna we confess (Luke 2:28, 38): so let us enter into the enjoyment of heavenly blessings, by the grace, bounty, and love of mankind of the Lord, and our God and Savior Jesus Christ: To whom be glory and dominion, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen. You might be interested in: