On the Annunciation of our glorious Lady Theotokos

1. Again joyful gospels, again announcements of freedom, again a recall, again a return, again a voice of joy, again liberation from slavery: the angel talks with the Virgin, just as the serpent talked with his wife. “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God... to a virgin betrothed to her husband” (Luke 1:26–27). Gabriel was sent to announce worldwide salvation; Gabriel was sent, bringing Adam the promise of return from captivity; Gabriel was sent to the Virgin to change the dishonor of the female sex into honor; Gabriel was sent to prepare a worthy palace for the pure Bridegroom; Gabriel was sent to betroth the creature to the Creator; Gabriel was sent to the animated palace of the King of Angels; Gabriel was sent to the Virgin, betrothed to Joseph, but reserved for the Son; a disembodied slave was sent to the pure Virgin; was sent free from sin to the one who did not allow corruption; a lamp was sent to point to the Sun of righteousness; the morning was sent, running ahead of the light of day; Gabriel was sent, showing Him who is in the bosom of the Father and in the arms of the Mother; Gabriel was sent, pointing to the One who is on the throne and in the den; a warrior was sent, crying out for the sacrament of the King, a sacrament known by faith, not explored by excessive curiosity, a sacrament worshiped, not weighed, as it were, on a scale, a sacrament confessed, not measured. In the sixth month Gabriel was sent to the Virgin. What sixth month is it talking about? Which one? From when did Elizabeth receive the gospel, from when did John conceive. How is this clear? Let the archangel himself explain, speaking to the Virgin: “Behold...,” he says, “Elizabeth, your relative, who is called barren, and she has conceived a son..., and she is already in her sixth month” (Luke 1:36). In the sixth month. The sixth month of John’s conception. It was necessary that the warrior should come first, it was necessary that the bodyguard should appear first, paved the way for the herald of the Lord's coming. “In the sixth... month the angel Gabriel was sent... to a virgin who had not entered into marriage; although she was betrothed, she was kept. So that the thief would not quickly learn about the sacrament, the evil one knew, because he himself heard the words of Isaiah: “Behold, the virgin will receive” ( Is.7:14); and naturally he guarded everything separately that was predicted about the Virgin, so that when he noticed that this sacrament was being fulfilled, he would prepare blasphemy. Therefore, the Lord came through the medium of the betrothed woman, who had already accepted the obligation. In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent to the betrothed Virgin to a man whose name was Joseph. Listen to what the prophet says about this man and Virgo. “Let a sealed book be given to a man who knows how to read” (Is. 29:11). What kind of a sealed book is this, unless, of course, a pure Virgin? From whom will it be given? It is clear that from the priests. To whom will it be given? To Joseph the carpenter. This Joseph, who previously lived in an honest marriage and gave birth to sons, lost his wife and the rest of the time lived in chastity, raising his children in the teaching and instruction of the Lord. After all, It is known that the Apostle Paul, having come to preach and finding one of his sons, writes, saying: “I have not seen another of the apostles... except James, the brother of the Lord” (Gal. 1:19), not as born of the Virgin Mary, but of Joseph. So, as the priests combined Mary with the chaste Joseph, and offered her to him, waiting for a convenient time for marriage, then he, having accepted, should have. keep Virgo intact. The prophet predicted this much earlier: “Let there be,” he says, “a book, sealed, for a man who knows how to read,” that is, for a married man, and he will say: I can’t read. Why can’t you, Joseph? I can’t, he says, read, because the book is sealed. For whom is it kept? It is kept in a dwelling for the Creator of all things. But let us return to the subject. In the sixth month, Gabriel was quickly sent to the Virgin, of course, having received such Listen - says - the angel, be a servant of the terrible mystery, serve the hidden miracle, My compassionate feelings compel Me to condescend to search for the lost Adam. Sin has made old the creation of My hands, darkened the beauty that I created; the wolf owns My cattle; and the place of pleasure is locked. I show compassion to the one who is attacked, and wish to catch the enemy. I want this to be hidden from all the powers in heaven, I only confide the secret to you alone; go to the Virgin Mary, go to the animated gates, about which the prophet speaks: “Glorious things are proclaimed about you, city of God!” (Ps. 86:3). Go to My paradise, endowed with reason; go to the eastern city; go to a dwelling worthy of My Word; go to the second heaven on earth; go to the light cloud; announce to him the rain of My appearance; go to the sanctuary prepared for Me; go to the palace of My incarnation; go to the pure bridal chamber of My carnal birth; speak into the ears of the intelligent ark, prepare for me the vestibule of hearing; but do not confuse, do not upset the soul of the Virgin; present yourself humbly to the sanctuary; First of all, shout to her with a voice of joy; say to Mary: “Hail, full of grace” (Luke 1:28), so that I may show compassion to the suffering Eve. The angel heard this and, as naturally, thought to himself: an extraordinary thing is a word that surpasses thought; terrible for the cherubim, on whom the seraphim cannot gaze, incomprehensible to all angelic powers, about which circumstance it proclaims! He announces to the Virgin the presence of His Face in her, or better yet: he promises her entry through hearing! And he who condemned Eve hastens to glorify her Daughter so much and says: prepare for Me entrances of hearing! And can the womb contain the Inconceivable? Truly a terrible mystery! When the angel was thinking about this, the Lord said to him: Why are you embarrassed and amazed, Gabriel? Were you not recently sent by Me to the priest Zechariah? Did you not give him good news regarding the birth of John? Did you not impose the punishment of silence on the unbelieving priest? Didn't you condemn the old man to lose his voice? Didn't you proclaim it, didn't I establish it? Has not action followed your gospel? Has the barren woman conceived? Did the womb disobey? Has the infertility disease subsided? Has the inaction of nature escaped? Isn’t she now bearing fruit, who before did not bear fruit? Will “what word remain powerless” with Me, the Creator (Luke 1:37)? So why are you filled with doubt? What about the angel again? Lord, to heal the shortcomings of nature, to stop the storm of suffering, to call the deadness of the members to life-giving power, to command nature to manifest the power of procreation, to destroy barrenness in the members that are already outdated, to transform an aged stalk into a green state, to suddenly show a barren field as a mother of ears, all this is the work of Your power, usually accomplished, and is testified by Sarah and after her Rebekah, and again Anna, subordinates slavery to the painful disease of infertility, and then those who received freedom from You. And for a virgin to give birth who has not entered into intercourse with her husband, this is beyond the laws of nature. But You also announce Your coming to the Maiden. The limits of heaven and earth do not contain You; and how will a virgin’s womb contain You? And the Lord says: How did Abraham’s tent contain Me? The angel says: because he possessed the fullness of hospitality. Then think, Lord, there You appeared to the patriarch in a tent located near the road, and You, who fill everything, passed by. How will Mary endure the fire of the deity? Your Throne is aflame, illuminated by radiance, and can the Virgin really carry You without fear? Yes, of course, if the fire in the desert had harmed the bush (Ex. 3:2), then My presence would undoubtedly have harmed Mary as well; if that fire, which depicted the appearance of divine fire from heaven, only watered the bush and did not burn it, then what could you say about the truth descending not in fiery fire, but in the form of rain? Then finally, the angel fulfilled what he was commanded, and, coming to the Virgin and entering, he exclaimed to Her, saying: “Rejoice, full of grace! The Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28). The devil is no longer against You, because where the enemy previously inflicted a wound, there the doctor applies a plaster; from where death received the beginning of the attack, from there life built the entrance of life. Evil flows through a wife, good things flow through a wife. "Rejoice, O Blessed One"; do not be ashamed as the author of condemnation, because You become the Mother of the One who condemned. "Rejoice, O Blessed One"; Rejoice, immaculate, giving birth to the Bridegroom to a widowed world. “Rejoice, O Blessed One,” who drowned death in the mother’s womb; Rejoice, animated church of God; Rejoice at the dwelling, equal in value to heaven and earth; Rejoice, spacious container of incontainable nature. In this situation, the doctor proceeds to the weak, the sun of truth is sitting in darkness, the overwhelmed - an anchor and a harbor safe from the sea waves, the slaves, irreconcilably hated, were born an Ambassador and the union of peace, the captives were visited by the Deliverer, those subject to attack by enemies - a strong Veil of ineffable joy and love. “For He is our peace” (Eph. 2:14), as the divine apostle says, peace which, oh, that we would continually enjoy, through the grace of Christ himself and our God, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. This conversation in the Minya edition belongs to the category of Spuria, that is, unfoundedly attributed to St. I. Chrysostom. Also attributed to St. Gregory the Wonderworker.