Слово на Рождество Христово. Св. Григория Чудотворца, епископа Неокесарийского 39

We, brothers, are now seeing a great and wonderful mystery. Shepherds, with joyful exclamations, are messengers to the sons of men, not talking with their flocks on the hills of the field, and not playing with sheep in the field, but singing spiritual songs in the city of David, Bethlehem. In the highest, angels sing, archangels proclaim hymns: heavenly cherubim and seraphim sing praises to the glory of God: “holy, holy”... Everyone celebrates a joyful holiday together, seeing God on earth and man lifted up to heaven. Those who are low are raised to the highest by the Divine apparition; those who are high, out of God’s love for people, bow down to those who are low, for the Most High, in His humility, has lifted up the humble. On this day of great triumph, Bethlehem becomes like the sky, instead of shining stars it receives angels singing glory, and instead of the visible sun - the boundless and immeasurable Sun of Truth, creating all things. But who will dare to explore such a great mystery? Wherever God wills, the order of nature is overcome, and nature cannot interfere. So, not involved in the weaknesses of people, God wanted and condescended, accomplishing the salvation of people, for in the will of God is the life of all people. On a truly joyful day, God came to be born; on this day of the great coming, God became what he was not: being God, he became a man, so to speak, renounced the Divinity (although he did not strip away His nature); Having become a man, he remained God. For although He grew and prospered, it was not as if He achieved Divinity by human power and became God from man; but just as he was the Word, alien to suffering, so he became incarnate and appeared unchanged, without becoming different, without losing the nature that he had previously possessed. A new King was born in Judea; but this new and wonderful birth, in which the pagans believed, was rejected by the Jews. The Pharisees did not understand the law and the prophets correctly; whatever in them contradicted them was interpreted incorrectly. Herod tried to recognize the new birth, full of mystery, but not in order to honor the born King, but in order to take away His very life. On this great day we see great signs: kings, having taken off their crowns, bow with greetings to the King who descended from heaven, who came from righteous kings (according to the flesh) and became a baby, who leads the highest secrets, who is warmed in his mother’s embrace. He who left angels, archangels, thrones, dominions, powers, the ever-sleeping and fiery spirits of all, alone, walking a new path, comes from the virgin womb undisturbed by the seed. The Creator of all comes to enlighten the world, and, not leaving the angels orphans, He will also appear as a man who originated from the Divine. The King of Heaven is surrounded by kings with glory and honor. The soldiers bring prayers and praises to the leader of the armies, the wives honor the Son of the woman in fear, for He has become the joy of women; the virgins glorify the Virgin, through whom virginity received the blessing, and in wonder they say to Mary: “Where did You get your milk, flowing abundantly by itself, marvelously from the virgin abundant streams of the nourishing Youth?” With a new song the Youths praise the Youth, drying up the mother’s milk; for (it is said) from the mouth of a child and He made praise of those who pissed (Ps. 8:3). One- and two-year-old babies bless the Child, for Whom they became martyrs, out of the anger and envy of Herod, who, being overwhelmed by rage, killed the babies (of Bethlehem). People who have reached old age glorify God, who became man - God, who with His goodness healed the ulcers of Adam; shepherds glorify the mighty Shepherd, who came to seek the lost and freed those bound by Satan, the Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep (John 10:2). The priests praise the priest according to the order of Melchizedek, who entered the Holy of Holies; slaves glorify the one who took on the form of a slave and was found in the image of a man (Phil. 2:17), so that he will free us from slavery; the fishermen praise the Fisherman of fishers, who made the fishers chosen from among the people fishers of men; the publicans praise him who transformed the publicans into evangelists; sinners glorify the one who forgave their sins and accepted the tears of a harlot. And although I do not see with the Born One either a trumpet (or other musical instrument), or a sword, or bodily ornaments, or lamps, or accompanying lamps, seeing the choir of Christ from the voiceless and ill-born, I am moved to praise Him. I see dumb animals, and choirs of youths, like a kind of trumpet, sounding songs, as if taking the place of lamps, and as if illuminating the Lord. But what am I talking about lamps? He is hope and life itself, salvation itself, goodness itself, the guarantee of the kingdom of heaven. I will bring Him myself, in order to follow the power of the words of the heavenly angels: glory to God in the highest, and with the Bethlehem shepherds to pronounce the joyful news: and on earth peace, good will to men! Born of the Father, impassive in His face and in His being, now, in an impassive and incomprehensible way, is born for us. The pre-eternal birth, the dispassionate one, is known only by the one who was born; birth - the real supernatural is known only by the grace of the Holy Spirit; but the first birth is also true, and the present birth, in humiliation, is real and immutable. God was born from God, but He is also a man who received flesh from the Virgin. In the highest from the one Father, the one, only begotten Son of the one Father: in humiliation, the only one from the only Virgin, the one Virgin, the only begotten Son. God did not experience suffering when giving birth to God according to Divinity; and the Virgin did not suffer damage, for in a spiritual way she gave birth to a spiritual one. The first birth is inexplicable, and the second is unsearchable; the first birth did not take place through passion, and the second did not involve uncleanness... We know that the Virgin has now given birth, and we believe that she has given birth to the One who was born of the Father from eternity. But I don’t hope to explain what the manner of birth is; I did not try to say this in words, nor do I dare to touch it with a thought, for the nature of the Divine is not subject to observation, does not touch thought, is not comprehended by a poor mind; one must only believe in the power of His works. The laws of physical nature are known: a married wife conceives and gives birth to a son according to the law of marriage; but when a virgin without art gives birth to a son miraculously, and after birth remains a virgin, this is a phenomenon higher than the nature of the body. We comprehend what happens according to the laws of physical nature, but before that which is above the laws of nature, we remain silent, not out of fear, but because it is infallible: we must remain silent in order to honor honorable virtue with silence, and, without going beyond the proper limits (words), to be honored with heavenly gifts. What river and what will I say? Should we talk more about the Virgin Mother? Should we still talk about a new wonderful birth? One can only marvel by contemplating a wondrous birth, for the order of nature and the ordinary laws of things are overcome. It is not enough to say about the wondrous works (of God) that they are more wondrous than the works of nature, for nature cannot produce anything of its own will, even if it were free to do so: all the works of the Lord are wondrous, and theirs will arise. Oh, immaculate and inexplicable mystery; He Who, before the creation of the world, was the Only Begotten, incomparable, simple, incorporeal, incarnates, descends (into the world), puts on a mortal body in order to appear visible to all. For if He were not visible, how would He teach us to preserve His teaching and lead us to the invisible? Thus, for this purpose He Himself became openly visible, in order to raise the visible to the invisible. since people, considering the eyes to be more faithful witnesses than they can assure what they see, and doubt what they do not see, God wanted to become visible in the body in order to resolve and overthrow the doubts of unbelievers. He wanted to be born from the Virgin not in order to arrange an undue work out of Her, for the Virgin did not know the reason for things, and the sacrament of his birth is an immaculate act of virtue, which is why the Virgin Herself asked Gabriel: how this will happen, since I don’t know my husband, to which she received the answer: the Holy Spirit will come upon You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You (Luke 1:34-35). But how did the Word, which was from God, then come from the Virgin? This is an unsearchable miracle. Just as a goldsmith, having mined the metal, makes a thing out of it according to the need: so did Christ; Finding the Virgin immaculate in spirit and body, he took from Her a spiritualized body, in accordance with His advice, and put on it like clothing. On this wondrous day of Christmas, the Word was not afraid and was not ashamed to come from the womb of the maidens, did not consider Himself unworthy to take flesh from His creation, so that the creation, having become the robe of the Creator, would be worthy of glory, and so that mercy would become known when it was revealed from where God descended in His goodness. Just as it would have been impossible for a vessel to appear from the earth before the clay had been in the hands of the artist, so it was impossible to restore a damaged vessel (of human nature) except by making it the robe of the Creator, Who clothed himself in it. What more river, what shall I say? New miracles strike me with fear. The old man became a child to make people children of God. He who sits in glory in heaven, for the sake of love for people, rests in the manger of dumb animals. The dispassionate, incorporeal, incomprehensible is dragged by human hands in order to trample on the cruelties of sinners and lawless people and break bonds, wraps himself in swaddling clothes, feeds on the knees of a woman, in order to turn shame into honor, bring dishonor to glory, and give a crown instead of thorns. He takes on my body so that I become capable of containing His spirit within myself; He assimilates (my nature) to Himself, dresses in my body, and gives me His spirit, so that I, by giving and receiving back, may acquire the treasures of life. What will I say and what will I say? Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel, as we say, God is with us (Matthew 1:23). We are not talking about the future here, so that we can learn hope, but we must narrate what has already happened and be amazed at what has already happened. Previously there was a speech to the Jews, because now this has come true among them, and among us it has come true and become a real event, for we understood (this prophecy), and accepted it and believed. The Prophet says to the Jews: “Behold, the Virgin will conceive” (Is. 7:14), but to Christians he speaks about the event itself, which was actually fulfilled and full of treasures. The Virgin gave birth in Judea, but all the countries of the world accepted Her Son. There is the root of the vineyard; here is the vine of truth. The Jews harvested the grapes, the pagans tasted the mysterious blood: they sowed grain of grain, these reaped the ears of grain by faith. The Jews are stung to death by thorns, the pagans are filled with gifts; those sat under the withered tree, these at the foot of the tree of life; Those who explained the decrees of the law, the pagans reap spiritual fruits. “Behold, the Virgin will receive with child.”... Explain to me, Jew, who did the Virgin give birth to? Go ahead and say it as you told Herod. But I know that you will not dare and will not tell the truth, for you are not worthy (to tell it). You advised Herod to kill the Child, and you shun me, for I honor the Child... So, who did the Virgin give birth to? Lords of bodily nature, although you reject it, all creation testifies to this. The Virgin gave birth not of Her own accord, but as He who was to be born desired. God did not act in the physical image, did not submit to the law of the flesh, but showed Himself as the Lord of bodily nature in order to reveal to the world a miraculous birth, to reveal His power and show that, having become a man, He is not born as a man, but that God is made a man, since nothing is difficult for His will. On this great day He was born of the Virgin, having conquered the order of nature. He is above marriage and free from corruption. It is enough for Him who was the teacher of purity to shine gloriously, coming from a pure and undamaged womb. For He is the One who first created Adam from virgin soil, and from Adam without a woman brought forth his wife Eve. And just as Adam without a wife, before he had a wife, brought the first woman into the world, so on this day the Virgin gave birth without a husband to the One about whom the Prophet said: “He is a man, but who knows Him?” The man Christ, for he is clearly visible to people, born of God, since the female race had to do the same for the male race, which was done by the male race for the female. And just as a wife was taken from Adam, without damaging or diminishing his masculine nature, so from a woman a man had to come forth without a husband, in the likeness of the work of Eve, so that Adam would not be proud of the fact that he produced a woman without a wife. That is why the Virgin, without cohabitation with her husband, gave birth to God the Word, who became man, so that in equal measure, by an equal miracle, equal honor would be given to both sexes - husband and wife. And just as the wife was taken from Adam without diminishing him, so the body (born by Her) was taken from the Virgin: but the Virgin did not suffer diminishment, and Her virginity did not suffer destruction. Adam remained healthy and intact when a rib was taken from him: so the Virgin remained without blemish when she produced God the Word from Herself. For this reason, from the Virgin, and not from the Virgin, the Word received His flesh and His (bodily) clothing, so that Adam’s sin would not be considered innocent. Since man, wounded by sin, became a vessel and instrument of evil, Christ took upon Himself this receptacle of sin into His flesh, so that, uniting with the body of the Creator, it would be freed from the filth of the enemy, and man would put on an eternal body, which can neither be destroyed nor upset forever. However, the Incarnate One is not born in the same way as a person is usually born. – He is born as God, becoming man, thereby revealing all His (divine) power, for if He were born according to the general laws of nature, the Word would seem to have done something imperfect. Therefore, he was born from the Virgin and shone forth, - therefore, having been born, he preserved the virgin’s womb intact, so that the unheard-of image of birth would be for us a sign of the great sacrament. Jews are in the habit of asking pagans: “Is Christ God?” It is clear that we should answer: “Christ is God by nature, but did not become man by nature.” So we affirm and truly believe, calling upon the seal of the integrity of virginity as testimony: the Almighty, Creator of the womb and virginity, He chose a shameless way of birth and became a man as He willed. Tell me, Jew: Has the virgin given birth or not? For if She gave birth, then believe in a new, wonderful birth: if not, then why did you deceive Herod when he asked you: “Where is Christ born?” You told him: “in Bethlehem of Judea.” It was not I myself who recognized the place and city of birth! And how would I have known the image of his birth, if the Prophet had not already spoken about it? And Isaiah specifically calls him God: “Behold,” he says, a Virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and you will call His name Immanuel," which, translated, means "God." So, if the prophecy itself has come true, you must believe: by fighting against the truth, you yourself voluntarily testify to it. The scribes and Pharisees, who knew the law well, did not they teach us that which convicts you? You gave us your law and prophets, explained them and taught us. What else do we learn from them, if not that both before and after birth, the Virgin remained a virgin? Didn’t you yourself, when Herod asked you, refer to the words of the prophet Micah: and you, Bethlehem, city of Judah, are no less than the other cities of Judah: for from you will come a leader who will shepherd my people - Israel (Mic. 5:2; Matt. 2:6)? The Prophet said correctly: more will come from you: it came from you, but withdrew from you and was accepted with faith in the rest of the world. Who is He, who appears but does not remain? This is the One who abides before the ages and to the ages. – Who is the true God, who appears throughout the world. On this great day, now celebrated, God appeared as a man, as the shepherd of the people of Israel, who revived the entire universe with His goodness. Oh, dear warriors, glorious fighters for man, who preached Bethlehem as the place of the Epiphany and the birth of God the Son, who made known to the whole world the Lord of all, reclining in a manger, and showed God sitting in a cramped den! Unwittingly and against their will, they became benefactors. They do well, although wickedly, not keeping vows: for while some hid, others, although they did not believe, revealed it. Look how simple-minded scientists teach what they themselves do not know: they themselves die of hunger, and feed others; they themselves thirst, and give others drink... So, let us now joyfully glorify the holiday of years. From now on, the laws of celebrations are as new as the laws of birth are marvelous. On the great day now celebrated, the shackles were broken, Satan was put to shame, all demons were put to flight, the all-destroying death was replaced by life, paradise was opened to the thief, curses were turned into blessings, all sins were forgiven, evil was driven out, the truth came, speeches filled with piety and love for God were announced to the whole world, pure and immaculate rights were planted, virtue was established on earth, angels entered into communication with people and people dare to talk with angels. Why and for what purpose did all this happen? Because God descended into the world and humanity was raised to heaven. A certain confusion of everything took place: the perfect God descended to earth, although by nature he was completely in heaven, even at a time when he was entirely on earth. He was God and became man, without denying His Divinity: He did not become God, since He always was one by His very nature, but became flesh in order to be visible to everything corporeal. He, whom the inhabitants of heaven cannot see, chose a manger as His abode, and when He came, everything around Him fell silent. And for no other reason did He lie down in the manger than so that, while giving food to everyone, He Himself could extract the food of babies from the mother’s breasts and thereby bless the marriage. On this great day, people, leaving their stern and strict government, go to glorify the heavens, recognizing by the brilliance of the star that the Lord has descended to earth to save His creation. The Lord, sitting on a light cloud, enters Egypt in the flesh (Isa. 19:1), apparently fleeing from Herod, but in fact - may what was spoken by Isaiah be fulfilled: on that day Israel will be third among the Egyptians (- 19:24). The Assyrians were the first and became the firstborn, since they were the first to honor the newborn King through the Magi. The Egyptians should be placed after the Assyrians, since they saw the same King fleeing to them from the murderer Herod. And “they will come running from the house of Jerusalem and receive Him afterwards.” This was fulfilled at the time when Jesus retired beyond the Jordan, and when those who learned about Him from the apostles came to Him... Jesus entered Egypt, setting in motion and overthrowing idols, just as He Himself once shut the doors of the houses of the Egyptians, destroying their firstborn. The Firstborn came into the world to drive away sadness and sorrow from it, and so that, having resolved the mortal bonds of those firstborn, he would call them back to life. And that Christ Himself was the firstborn is evidenced by the Evangelist Luke, who writes: He gave birth to His firstborn Son, and gave birth to Him, and laid Him in a manger: for there was no place for them in the monastery (Luke 2:7). People entered the cave without consulting at all before, and it stood as a holy church for them. God entered Egypt to bring joy instead of ancient sadness, and to shed the light of salvation instead of darkness. The water of the Nile was spoiled and harmful after infants died in it at one time to a premature death. The One who once turned water into blood appeared in Egypt and transformed those waters into sources of saving water of rebirth, cleansing sins and transgressions with the grace of the Holy Spirit. The Egyptians once suffered punishment because, as lost ones, they denied God. Jesus now entered Egypt and sowed piety in it for God, so that, having diverted the souls of the Egyptians from error, he would make them friends of God. He made the river waters worthy to clothe His head like a crown. In order not to unduly lengthen our speech, and to briefly conclude what has been said, let us ask: how did the Word, not involved in suffering, become flesh and become visible, remaining unchanged in His Divine nature? But what is the river and what will I say? I see a carpenter and a manger, a baby and a virgin mother, abandoned by everyone, oppressed by poverty and deprivation. Look to what degree of humiliation the greatness of God has descended. For the sake of our poverty, he is rich (2 Cor. 8:9): he is placed in miserable swaddling clothes, not on a soft bed. O poverty, the source of all exaltation! Oh, poverty that reveals all kinds of treasures! He is poor and makes the poor rich; He reclines in the animal’s manger and sets the whole world in motion with His word. He is covered with shrouds of rubble and destroys the bonds of sinners, calling the whole world into existence with one word of His. What else will I say and what will I say? I see a Child, wrapped in swaddling clothes and reclining in a manger: Mary, the Virgin Mother, stands with Joseph, her chosen husband. He was called Her husband, and She was called His wife, names appropriate to marriage, although in fact they were not spouses; She was betrothed to Joseph, but the Holy Spirit came upon Her, as the Evangelist speaks about this: The Holy Spirit will come upon You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You: in the same way, what is born is holy (Luke 1:35) and from the seed of heaven. Joseph did not dare to contradict and the righteous husband did not want to defame the Holy Virgin, did not want to believe in sin and utter blasphemous words against the Holy Virgin: but he did not want to recognize the Son who was to be born as his own, for he knew that He was not from him. And while he was doubting and wondering who the Child was, and was reasoning about it with himself, he had a heavenly vision, an angel appeared to him and encouraged him with the words: “Do not be afraid, Joseph, son of David: the one who will be born of Mary will be holy and will be called the Son of God. That is, the Holy Spirit will come upon the immaculate Virgin, and the power of the Most High will overshadow Her” (Matt. 1:20, 21; Luke 1:35). - Truly, he will be born of a Virgin, keeping Her virginity intact. Just as the first virgin fell, deceived by Satan, so now Gabriel brings a new message to the Virgin Mary, so that the virgin corresponds to the Virgin, birth to birth. Carried away by seduction, Eve uttered the once disastrous words; Mary, having accepted the message, gave birth to the incorporeal and life-giving Word. Because of Eve's words, Adam was expelled from paradise; The Word, born of the Virgin, opened the cross from which the thief entered Adam's paradise. Since neither the pagans, nor the Jews, nor the high priests believed that a son could be born from God without suffering and without a husband, now He is born in a body capable of enduring suffering, keeping the body of the Virgin intact. Thus He demonstrated His omnipotence by being born of a Virgin, preserving the virginity of the virgin inviolable, just as He was born of God without any effort, sorrow, evil or division, leaving the Divine being unchanged, being born as God from God. since people left God in order to honor the carved idols of people instead of Him, then God the Word took on the image of man, so that, having expelled error and restored the truth, he could consign the veneration of idols to oblivion, and Himself receive Divine honor, since all glory and honor is due to Him forever and ever. Amen 40. Pitra Analecta sacra, spicilegio solismensi parato, volume IV. Romae. 1884; compare “The Wanderer”, 1894, vol. III. countries 619–635. You might be interested in: