The Incarnation And The Trinity

Huic enim limo terreno vim vitalem miscuit, ut in arboribus, unde surgit venustas in foliis, in floribus pulchritudo, sapor in fructibus et medicina. Nec hoc contentus, adjecit etiam vim sensibilem limo nostro, ut in pecoribus, quae non solum vitam habeant, sed et sentiant quinquepertita sensificatione vigentes. Addidit adhuc honorare limum nostrum, et ei vim rationalem immisit, ut in hominibus, qui non solum vivunt, sentiunt, sed et discernunt inter commodum et incommodum, inter bonum et malum, inter verum et falsum. Voluit quoque infirmiora nostra abundantiori gloria sublimare, et contraxit se Majestas: ut quod melius habebat, videlicet seipsum, limo nostro conjungeret, et in persona una sibi invicem unirentur Deus et limus, majestas et infirmitas, tanta vilitas et sublimitas tanta. Nihil enim Deo sublimius, nil vilius limo: et tamen tanta dignatio e Deus descendit in limum,  tantaque dignitate limus ascendit in Deum, ut quidquid in eo Deus fecit, limus fecisse credatur; quidquid limus pertulit, Deus in illo pertulisse dicatur tam ineffabili quam incomprehensibili sacramento. Et attende, quia sicut in illa singulari divinitate trinitas est in personis, unitas in substantia; sic in ista speciali commistione trinitas est in substantiis, in persona unitas: et sicut ibi personae non scindunt unitatem, unitas non minuit Trinitatem; ita et hic persona non confundit substantias, nec substantiae ipsae personae dissipant unitatem. Summa illa Trinitas hanc nobis exhibuit trinitatem, opus mirabile, opus singulare inter omnia, et super omnia opera sua! Verbum enim, et anima, et caro in unam convenere personam; et haec tria unum, 0099A et hoc unum tria, non confusione substantiae, sed unitate personae. Haec est prima et superexcellens mistura; et haec prima inter tres. Adverte homo quia limus es, et non sis superbus; quia Deo conjunctus es, et non sis ingratus. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermones De Tempore, In Vigilia Nativitatis Domini, Sermo III Source: Migne PL 183.98b-99a

For He even mixed the vital power with terrestrial mud, as with plants, from whence the beauty of leaves rises and the fairness of flowers and the sweet aromas of fruits and medicines. But do not be content with just that. Add the sensible power to our mud, as in animals, that not only have life but are empowered with the awareness of sensation. And then add honour to our mud with the mixing of the rational power in it, as in men, who not only live and sense but discern between what is fitting and unfitting, and good and evil, and true and false. Then He wished to make our infirmity yet more glorious, and He narrowed his majesty, for what was better that He had joined Himself to our mud, and in one person was unified to both God and mud, as was majesty to infirmity, and such great vileness to such great sublimity. Nothing is more sublime than God, nothing so vile as mud, and yet such dignity from God descended into mud, and mud with such dignity ascended to God, so that whatever God did mud was thought to do, and whatever mud bore God was said to bear, a most ineffable and incomprehensible mystery. And attend, because as there is one divinity in the Trinity of the persons, and there is unity in substance, so in this special mixing there is a trinity in substance, and a unity in person. So in the former the persons and are not separated in unity and unity does not diminish the Trinity, and in the latter the person does not confuse the substances, nor do the substances disturb the unity of that person. That high Trinity exhibits to us this later trinity, a wonderous work, a singular work among all things, and above all things His. For the Word and the soul and the flesh come together in one person, and these three are one, and this one is three, not to the confusion of the substances, and with the unity of the person. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons for the Year, On The vigil of The Nativity of the Lord, from the Third Sermon

Giving Life And Dying

Caro enim factus est, ut nos spiritales faceret; benigne inclinatus est, ut levaret; exiit, ut introduceret; visibilis apparuit, ut invisibilia monstraret; flagella pertulit, ut sanaret; opprobria et irrisiones sustinuit, ut ab opprobrio aeterno liberaret; mortuus est, ut vivificaret. Agamus ergo gratias vivificanti et mortuo, et ideo amplius vivificanti, quia mortuo. Unde bene salutem nostram, et passionem illius Isaias contemplatus ait: Ut faciat opus suum, alienum opus ejus; ut operetur opus suum, peregrinum est opus ejus ab eo. Opus etenim Dei est animas quas creavit colligere, et ad aeternae lucis gaudia revocare. Flagellari autem atque sputis illini, crucifigi, mori, atque sepeliri, non hoc in sua substantia opus Dei est, sed opus hominis peccatoris, qui haec omnia meruit per peccatum. Sed peccata nostra ipse pertulit in corpore suo super lignum. Et qui in natura sua manet semper incomprehensibilis, in natura nostra comprehendi dignatus est ac flagellari, quia nisi ea quae erant infirmitatis nostrae susciperet, nunquam nos ad suae fortitudinis potentiam sublevaret. Ut ergo faciat opus suum, alienum opus ejus; et ut operetur opus suum, peregrinum est opus ejus ab eo, quia incarnatus Deus, ut nos ad suam justitiam colligeret, dignatus est pro nobis tanquam peccator homo vapulare. Et alienum opus fecit ut faceret proprium, quia per hoc quod infirmans mala nostra sustinuit, nos qui creatura illius sumus, ad fortitudinis suae gloriam perduxit, in qua vivit et regnat cum Deo Patre in unitate Spiritus sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Secundus, Homilia IV Source: Migne PL 76.984a-c

He was made flesh that He might make us spiritual, He kindly came down that He might lift up, He went out that He might bring in, He appeared visibly that He might reveal things unseen, He suffered the whip that He might heal, and He sustained abuse and ridicule that He might deliver from eternal shame, and He died that He might give life. Therefore let us give thanks to the one who gives life and who died, and therefore more to the one gives life because He died. Whence Isaiah well contemplated our salvation and His passion when he said, 'So that He make a work, a strange work, and so that might accomplish a work which is alien to Him.' 1 For it is the work of God to gather the souls He created and to recall them to the joy of the eternal light. To be covered with spittle and crucified and to die and to be buried are not works consonant with the substance of God, but it is work for man the sinner, who has deserved all these things because of sin. 'But He bore our sins in His body on the cross,' 2 and He who in His nature remans incomprehensible was understood in our nature to be worthy of being whipped, because unless He took up the things of our weakness we would never have been lifted up to the power of His might. Therefore so that He might make His work, a strange work and so that might accomplish a work which is alien to him, God was incarnated, so that He might gather us to His righteousness, and worthy it was that for us he was whipped as a sinful man. And He made this foreign work so that He might perform His own, because through this, that in weakness he endured our evils, He led us who our His creations to the glory of His might, in which he lives and reigns with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, through every age forever. Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 2, from Homily 4 1 Isaiah 28.21 2 1 Pet 2.24

The Resurrection And The Seals

Flebat Joannes in Apocalypsi quia non inveniebat qui solveret septem signacula signati libri. Cum enim Joannes Baptista, qui major erat inter natos mulierum, iam se publice judicasset indignum solvere corrigiam calceamenti: perinde erat ac si diceret: Non sum dignus solvere signaculum libri. Nihil est aliud signaculum libri quam ligatura calceamenti. Unus autem de senioribus dixit ei: Ne fleveris. Dignus est Agnus, qui occisus est, accipere librum, et solvere septem signacula ejus. Hic est liber involutus, sicut in propheta legitur, scriptus digito Dei, in pergameno uteri virginalis. Liber iste in quo legunt angeli delectationes aeternas. Septem fuerunt hujus libri signacula. Deus enim gloriam suae majestis in carne abscondens, pretium nostrae redemptionis quasi in sacculo consignavit. Nonne saccus fuit carnis mortalis assumptio? Posuitisti, inquit vestimentum meum cilicium. Et iterum: Conscidisti saccum meum et circumdedisti me laetitia. In hoc sacculo attulit species pretiosas, veniam peccatorum, profectum virtutum, praemium meritorum. Haec saccum texuit divina sapientia novem mensibus: nam de illa legitur: Manum suam misit ad fortia et dirigit ejus apprehenderunt fusum. Hunc saccum in Jordane lavit, in passione torsit, in cruce siccavit. Humanitas Christi vocatur liber, quia in eo est scientia vitae et disciplinae. Fuit ergo vivum signaculum, ut non posset ejus divinitas comprehendi, dispensatio Virginis, corporis infirmitas, circumcisio, fuga in Aegyptum, fames in deserto, humilitas crucis, sepultura. Quae licet ultimum signaculum, multum tamen clausit et abscondit de gloria divinae majestatis. Haec omnia Christus hodie solvit, non rupit; nam omnibus quae ad dispensationem carnis assumptae pertinebant, obedienter impletis, hodie de miseri humanitatis resurgit in gloriam deitatis. Opportebat siquidem Christum pati, et resurgere et sic intrare in gloriam suam. Suam dico, imo et nostram. Non enim per aliud ostium intrabit caput, et per aliud membra. Volo, inquit, ut ubi ego sum, illic sit et minister meus. Petrus Blenensis, Sermo XXI, In Resurrectione Source: Migne PL 207.621a-d

In the Apocalypse John wept because he was not able to find anyone to undo the seven seals of the sealed book. 1 For when John the Baptist, compared to whom no one greater was born among woman, openly proclaimed that he was not worthy to undo a strap of His sandal, it was as if he had said, 'I am not worthy to undo a seal of the book.' 2 There is no difference between the seal of the book and the strap of the sandal. Then one of the elders said to John, 'Do not weep. The lamb who was slain is worthy to receive the book and undo the seven seals.' This is the book that is bound up, as is read in the prophet, 3 and was written by the finger of God on the parchment of the Virgin's womb. This is the book in which the angels read all the eternal joys. There were seven seals on this book. For leaving the glory of His majesty for the flesh, God consigned the reward of our redemption as if in a sack. Was this sack not the taking up of mortal flesh? 'And I made haircloth my garment.' And again, 'You have cut off my sackcloth and surrounded me with joy.' 4 In this sack He brought precious wealth, the forgiveness of sins, the perfection of virtue, the reward of merit. The Divine wisdom fashioned this sack in nine months, for concerning it we read, 'She has put her hand to strong things and her fingers have taken hold of the spindle.' 5 He washed this sack in the Jordan, He wrung it in the Passion, He dried it on the Cross. The book he speaks of is the humanity of Christ, because in it is the knowledge of life and discipline. It then had a living seal, so that it was not possible to understand His Divinity, the dispensation to the Virgin, the infirmity of the body, the circumcision, the flight into Egypt, the hunger in the desert, the humility of the cross, or the tomb. This last seal hid and obscured much of the glory of the Divine majesty. Today Christ undoes all these, and does not break them, for He obediently fulfilled everything of the dispensation of the taking up of the flesh, and today He rises from the wretchedness of humanity to the glory of Godhood. It was necessary that Christ suffer and rise and so enter into His glory. 6 His own, I say, and even ours. For it is not that the head enters through one gate and the members through another. 'I wish,' He says, 'that where I am, that there is my servant.' 7 Peter of Blois, from Sermon 21, On The Resurrection 1 Apoc 5.4 2 Lk 7.28, Lk 3.16 3 Ezek 2.9 4 Ps 68.12, Ps 29.12 5 Prov 31.19 6 Lk 24.26 7 Jn 12.26

Angelic Visitations

Attendite, fratres, medicinalis gratia lineas, divina nobis benignitate monstratas. Tunc ad Eva angleus malus accessit, ut per eam homo, quem Deus fecerat, a Deo separaretur; nunc autem ad Mariam bonus angelus venit, ut in ea humanae naturae Deus Unigenitus uniretur. Venit ad Evam diabolus, ut vitam nobis malignus auferret; venit ad Mariam Gabriel, ut vitam reddendam hominibus nuntiaret. Per primi hominis culpam coepit diabolus homini dominari, per secundi hominis gratiam coepit ab homine superari: super primum superbus, sub secundo captivus. Per illum nos captivatos tenuit, per istum nos liberatos amisit. Primus Adam nobis auctor exstitit culpae, novissimus Adam nobis auctor exstitit gratiae. Ille de limo plasmatus terrenos protulit, iste de Spiritu sancto natus coelestes effecit. Per illum perdidimus gratiam priorem, per istum recepimus ampliorem. Ille quippe nobis intulit peccati maculam, cum qua nasceremur ad supplicium; iste nobis contulit justificationis gratiam, ut renasceremur ad regnum. Per illum nos filios saeculi generatio carnalis effecit, per istum nos filios Dei generatio spiritalis exhibuit. Ille nos vitiis subdidit, iste nos florere virtutibus fecit. Ille nos per vitia dejecit, quo primus cecidit: iste nos per virtutes elevat, quo primus ascendit. Ille quippe primus cecidit in infernum, iste primus conscendit in coelum. Sanctus Fulgentius Ruspensis, Sermo II, De duplici Nativitate Christi , una aeterna ex Patre, altera temporali ex Virgine Source: Migne PL 65.728d-729b

Observe, brothers, the lineaments of medicinal grace shown to us by the Divine benevolence. Once an evil angel came to Eve so that through her the man whom God had made might be separated from God, and now a good angel comes to Mary so that in her the only begotten God might be joined to human nature. 1 The devil came to Eve so that the wicked one might take away life from us, Gabriel came to Mary to announce that life is to be restored to man. Through fault the devil began to rule over the first man, by the grace of the second man he began to be conquered by man. Over the first man the devil vaunted, beneath the second man he was made captive. By the first he took us into captivity, by the second he lost us to freedom. The first Adam was our author of fault, the second Adam was the author of our grace. The former shaped from mud made us earthly, the latter man born of the Holy Spirit made us heavenly. Through the first man we destroyed the grace that had been given, by the second we received greater grace. The former brought the stain of sin, because of which we are born to suffering, the latter brought the grace of justification so that we might be reborn to the kingdom. Through the first man carnal generation made sons of the world, through the second man spiritual generation exhibited us as sons of God. The former subdued us to the vices, the latter made us flower with the virtues. The former cast us down among faults, by which the first fell, the latter lifts us up through the virtues by which the first arose. The former was the first to fall into hell, the latter was the first to rise into heaven. Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe, from Sermon 2, On The Twofold Nativity of Christ, One Eternal from the Father, and One Temporal from the Virgin 1 Gen 3, Lk 1.26-35

Nature And Grace

Cum ergo Dominus introivit in hominem, necessario homo induit Deum. Quotquot enim baptizati estis, Christum induistis, Adam exuistis, ut deforis jam oppugnet concupiscentia, intus adjuvet gratia, sitque gratia per hanc regenerationem naturalis, sicut culpa per generationem originalis. Intus fulgeat novitate veritatis imago Dei: foris squaleat vetus adhuc similitudo carnis peccati. Itaque hinc concupiscentia hinc gratis; natura vero jam media prurit, tentat ac suggerit concupiscentia: si delectatur natura, concipit; si consentit, parit; si parit, moritur: non enim nascitur viperea proles, nisi parente disrupta. Suggerit etiam gratia, et hortatur naturam, praefert consilium, offert auxilium; si delectatur natura, concipit; si consentit, virtutem parit: virtus autem parta beatitudinem parit: ut jam audire debeat, Beati pauperes spiritu etc. Paupertas spiritus virtus est, regnum coelorum beatitudo: haec proles, illa parens. Isaac, Cisterciensis Abbas, Sermo VI In Festum Omnium Sanctorum Source: Migne PL 194.1712a-b

When the Lord entered into mankind, mankind necessarily put on God. 'As many as have been baptised have put on Christ.' 1 and cast off Adam, so that concupiscence now besieges from outside, and grace gives aid from within, for grace is now natural thanks to our rebirth, as fault was natural through our original birth. Let the image of God within shine forth in its newness and crush down the old man outside in the likeness of bodily sin. 2 So here is desire and here is grace, and nature is in the middle. Concupiscence allures and tempts and suggests, and if nature is pleased it conceives, and if nature consents it gives birth, and if it gives birth it dies, for there is no birth of such viperous offspring but the parent is torn apart. Grace also suggests and exhorts nature and brings forward its counsel and offers help, and if it delights nature it conceives, and if it consents it gives birth to virtue, and the birth of virtue gives birth to blessedness, so that now it should hear, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit...' 3 Poverty of spirit is virtue and the kingdom of heaven is blessedness; the latter is the child, the former the parent. Isaac of Stella, from Sermon Six on the Feast of All Saints 1 Galat 3.27 2 2 Cor 4.4 3 Mt 5.3

From The Beginning

Quod fuit ab initio... Hanc Epistolam beatus Apostolus Joannes de fidei et charitatis perfectione conscripsit, laudans devotionem eorum qui in unitate Ecclesiae perseverabant; porro illorum impietatem coarguens, qui Ecclesiae pacem vesano dogmate turbabant, Cerinthi maxime et Marcionis, qui Christum ante Mariam non fuisse contendebant. Propter quos etiam Evangelium suum scripsit, ibi quidem et suis et ipsius Domini verbis consubstantialem Patri Filium affirmans, hic autem quae a Domino didicit propriis sermonibus depromens, et haereticorum stultitiam apostolica auctoritate refellens. Unde mox in capite Epistolae divinitatem simul et humanitatem veram ejusdem Dei et Domini nostri Jesu Christi designat dicens: Quod fuit ab initio, quod audivimus. Fuit enim ab initio Filius Dei, sed eumdem Filium Dei in homine apparentem audierunt, et oculis viderunt discipuli, quod ipsum in Evangelio latius explicavit. Nam quod hic ait: Quod fuit ab initio, hoc est quod in Evangelio dicit: In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. Et quod hic subdidit: Quod audivimus, quod vidimus oculis nostris, hoc est quod ibi latius subdit: Et Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis, et vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi Unigeniti a Patre. Et ne parum dicere videretur in eo quod ait: Quod vidimus oculis nostris, adjunxit: Quod perspeximus, et manus nostrae contrectaverunt de Verbo vitae. Non solum quippe corporalibus oculis sicut caeteri Dominum viderunt, sed et perspexerunt, cujus divinam quoque virtutem spiritualibus oculis cernebant. Maxime illi qui eum in monte clarificatum viderunt, e quibus unus erat ipse Joannes. Quod autem ait: Et manus nostrae contrectaverunt de Verbo vitae, Manichaeorum vincit insaniam, qui Dominum veram assumpsisse carnem negant; quam apostoli veram esse dubitare non poterant, ut pote cujus veritatem non solum videndo, sed et tangendo probarent; maxime Joannes ipse, qui, in sinu ejus in coena recumbere solitus, tanto licentius ejus membra, quanto vicinius tangebat. Sed et post resurrectionem ejus a mortuis, manus eorum tractaverunt de Verbo vitae, cum veram eum recepisse carnem, quamvis jam incorruptibilem, absque ulla dubietate cognoverunt, audientes ab illo ipso: Palpate et videte, quia spiritus carnem et ossa non habet, sicut me videtis habere. Bene autem dicitur: Et manus nostrae contrectaverunt de Verbo vitae, quia cum veritatem resuscitatae carnis ejus a mortuis etiam manibus contrectando probarent, certius eum Verbum vitae, hoc est Deum verum, esse cognoverunt. Sanctus Beda, In I Epistolam Sancti Joannis, Caput I Source: Migne PL 93.85b-86b

That which was from the beginning... 1 The Apostle John wrote this letter about the perfection of faith and charity, praising the devotion of those who persevered in the unity of the Church, but disputing the impiety of those who troubled the peace of the Church with their irrational teachings, especially Cerinthus and Marcion, who contended that Christ did not exist before Mary. Indeed it was on account of them that he wrote his Gospel, and there with the very words of the Lord affirmed the consubstantiality of the Son and Father. But here in his own words he sets forth what the Lord taught and with Apostolic authority refutes the foolishness of heretics. Whence at the very beginning of the letter he designates the Divinity and true humanity of our God and Lord Jesus Christ, saying, 'That which was from the beginning, that we heard.' For the Son of God was from the beginning, but that same Son of God the disciples also heard and saw with their own eyes in the appearance of a man, which he explains more broadly in his Gospel. For as here he says, 'That which was from the beginning,' so in the Gospel he says, 'In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. In the beginning He was with God.' 2 Then here he adds, 'That we have heard and seen with our eyes,' that is, what is more broadly given in the Gospel as, 'The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father.' And lest it seems he says less here when he says, 'What we have seen with our eyes,' he adds, 'What we have perceived and our hands have  touched, the Word of Life.' They did not only see the Lord with the eyes of the body, as with other things, but they even looked on and perceived the Divine virtue with spiritual eyes, certainly those who saw Him transformed on the mountain, one of whom was John himself. 3 And saying, 'and our hands have touched, the Word of Life.' he overthrows the madness of the Manichees, who denied that the Lord had taken up the flesh, which truth the Apostles could not doubt, since they not only saw His truth, but they even proved it by touching, especially John himself, who alone reclined in His lap at the Last Supper, his members given as much freedom as a neighbour who touched. 4 But even after His resurrection from the dead, their hands touched the Word of Life, when He has received true flesh, now incorruptible, and without any doubt they knew, hearing from Him, 'Touch and see, because a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.' 5 And it is well said, 'And our hands have touched, the Word of Life,' because when by touch they proved the truth of the flesh raised up from the dead, they more certainly knew that He was the Word of Life, that is, the true God. Saint Bede, Commentary on the First Letter of Saint John, Chapter 1 1 1 Jn 1.1 2 John 1.1-2 3 Mt 17.1-8 4 Jn 13.23 5 Lk 24.39

The Word Made Flesh

Verbum caro factum est. In carne nascitur Verbum, et ecce, aeternitas temporalis; ad Galatas quarto: Ubi venit plenitudo temporis, misit Deus Filium suum factum ex muliere, factum sub Lege. Si factum: ergo temporale. Hoc est Verbum factum, de quo Lucae secundo: Transeamus usque Bethlehem et videamus hoc verbum, quod factum est etc. Videamus, inquam, Verbum secundum carnem factum, qui videre nunquam potuimus Verbum, quod secundum Divinitatem nec est factum nec creatum, sed genitura. Psalmus: Cantate, inquit, Domino, quia mirabilia fecit. Fecit enim, ut sit maiestas abiecta, et immensitas parva, aeternitas facta; quod totum memorat Evangelista, cum dicit: Verbum carofactum est. Sanctus Bonaventura, Collationes In Evangelium Ioannem, Caput I Collatio II Source: Here, p537

The Word was made flesh. 1 The Word was born in the flesh, and behold, eternity in time. In the fourth chapter of the letter to the Galatians, 'When the fullness of time had come, He sent His own Son, made from a woman, made beneath the law.' 2 If made, therefore in time. This is the Word made, concerning which it says in the second chapter of Luke, 'Let us pass over to Bethlehem and let us see this word, what has been done.' 3 Let us see, I say, the Word made flesh, we who were never able to see according to His Divinity, which is not something done, nor created, but begotten. The Psalm says, 'Sing to the Lord, because He has made miracles.' 4 For He has made His majesty abject, His greatness small, His eternity something done, which all things the Evangelist comprehends when he says, 'The Word was made flesh.' Saint Bonaventura, Observations On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 1 1 Jn 1.14 2 Galat 4.4 3 Lk 2.15 4 Ps 97.1

Words And Deeds

Ἡ δὲ Μαριὰμ πάντα συνετήρει τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα, συμβάλλουσα ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῆς... Ποῖα ῥήματα συνετήρει ἡ Παρθένος; Τινές μὲν λέγουσιν ὅτι ὅσα εἰρήκει αὐτῇ ὁ ἄγγελος , καὶ ὅσα οἱ ποιμένες εἶπον , ἐπετήρει γὰρ ταῦτα καὶ συνἐβαλλεν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῆς, τουτέστι, συνέκρινε , καὶ εὕρισκεν ἐκ πάντων μίαν σύμφωνον γνώμην, ὅτι Θεός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱὸς αὐτῆς. Ἐμοὶ δὲ δοκεῖ ῥήματα ἐνταῦθα τὰ πράγματα λέγεσθαι· ὥστε εἶναι τὸ λεγόμενον τοιοῦτον· ἡ δὲ Μαριάμ συνετήρει πάντα τὰ ῥήματα, ἤτοι τὰ πράγματα ταῦτα, ἃ νῦν ἐγὼ λέγω καὶ ποιῶ εἶναι ῥήματα· τὸ γὰρ πρᾶγμα ὅταν λεχθῇ, γίνεται ῥῆμα. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Λουκαν, Κεφαλὴ Β' Source: Migne PG 123.725a-b

And Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart... 1 What words did the Virgin keep? She kept those which the angel spoke to her and which the shepherds told, and she pondered them in herself, and she found that there was one harmonious sense in them, that her own son was God. But it seems to me that the words in this passage are also things or deeds, when such things are spoken. So 'Mary kept all these words,' means that both what I say and what I do are words, for when deeds are told they are spoken of in words. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Luke, Chapter 2 1 Lk 2.19

Birth And Witnesses

Proxima dominica dilectionem vestram admonuimus, fratres, de diei hujus adventu, in qua diximus nos natalem Domini hodie etiam mundo teste suscipere. Mundus enim testimonium perhibet, dum nascente Christo, et ipse renascitur. Renascitur enim, cum de profundis noctium tenebris partu quodam lucis eruitur. Renascitur, inquam, cum ejus defectio finitur, claritas reparatur. Atque ideo in ortu Christi oportet magis ortum saeculi nos vocare. In hac enim die ad salvanda omnia oritur. Oritur enim die hac lux mundo, defunctis resurrectio, vita mortalibus ac propterea hodie non tam Salvatoris natalis est quam salutis. Nascitur ergo salus omnium Christus, quem regem gentium prophetae testantur: nascitur ex virgine, sicut Isaias declarat dicens: Ecce virgo in utero accipiet, et pariet filium, et vocabunt nomen ejus Emmanuel, quod est interpretatum nobiscum Deus. Probat ergo veritatem Domini ordo nascendi. Concepit virgo virilis ignara consortii: impletur uterus nullo libatus amplexu, et Spiritum sanctum castus venter excepit, quem pura membra servarunt, innocens corpus gessit. Videte miraculum matris dominicae. Virgo est, cum concipit, virgo cum parturit, virgo post partum. Gloriosa virginitas, et praeclara fecunditas! Virtus mundi nascitur, et nullus est gemitus parturientis; vacuatur uterus, infans excipitur, nec virginitas violatur. Dignum enim erat ut Deo nascente meritum cresceret castitatis: nec per ejus adventum violaretur integritas, qui venerat sanare corrupta: nec per eum pudicitia corporis laederetur, per quem donatur virginitas baptismatis impudicis. Natus igitur puer ponitur in praesepio, et haec sunt Dei prima cunabula: nec regnator coeli has indignatur angustias, cui habitaculum fuit virgineus venter. Idoneum plane Maria Christo habitaculum, non pro habitu corporis, sed pro gratia originali. Ergo exonerata felici onere Maria matrem se laeta cognoscit; quae se nescit uxorem; et est gloriosa de sobole, quae est ignara de conjuge; atque infantem se genuisse miratur, cum Spiritum sanctum se suscepisse testatur; nec, quia peperit innupta, terretur, quia testimonio utitur virginitatis et sobolis. Soboles enim dominicum Patrem indicat; virginitas stupentium suspicionem excusat. Inde virginitati divinitas testimonium perhibet; hinc naturae secretum. Testimonium, inquam, perhibet divinitas partui virginali. Ut concipiatur enim Christus secundum praenuntiationem Evangelii Spiritus sancti repletur gratia; virtute Dei Patris obumbratur, sicut ad Mariam dictum est: Spiritus sanctus superveniet in te, et virtus Altissimi obumbrabit tibi, et ideo quod nascetur ex te sanctum, vocabitur Filius Dei. In nativitate ergo Salvatoris completa est illa divina sententia, quae dicit: Duobus aut tribus testibus stabit omne verbum. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia V, Ante Natale Domini Source: Migne PL 57.235b-238a

We exhorted your love for the Lord's day that is near, which is His advent, concerning which we have said that even the world is a witness of the birthday of the Lord. For the world has its witness, since when Christ was born it was reborn. For it is reborn when from the deep darkness of its nights a light shone forth on account of a certain birth. It is reborn, I say, when its defect comes to an end and brightness is restored. Therefore, with this rising of Christ, we should also declare the rising of the world. For on this day everything rose up for salvation. On this day there is light for the world, resurrection for the dead, life for mortals, and so today is not only the birth of the Saviour but of salvation. Therefore Christ, the salvation of everyone, is born, whom a prophet gives witness to as the king of the nations, born from a virgin, for so Isaiah declares, saying, 'Behold, a virgin shall conceive in her womb, and give birth to a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel,' which translated is, God is with us. 1 The arrangement of the birth proves the truth of the Lord. A virgin who did not know a consort conceived, without amorous embraces her womb was filled, that chaste womb received the Holy Spirit, which pure members guarded, and an innocent body bore. See the wonder of the mother of the Lord. A virgin when she conceived, a virgin when she gave birth, a virgin after birth. Glorious virginity, wondrous fecundity. The world's virtue is born and she who gives birth does not groan. The womb is emptied, the infant comes out, and virginity is not harmed. For it was right that with God being born the merit of chastity should grow, and the coming of the one who came to heal corruption should do no harm to integrity. Through Him there was no injury to the modesty of the body, Him through whom virginity is given to the soiled by baptism. Thus the boy who is born is placed in a manger, and this is the first cradle of God, nor is this narrowness unworthy of the ruler of heaven, who had the womb of the virgin for a little house. It was fitting indeed that Mary was the dwelling place of Christ, and not for the covering of the body, but because of original grace. Therefore Mary was adorned with a happy burden and joyfully knew herself a mother, she who did not know herself a wife, she who is glorious through her offspring, she who knew not conjugal union, and wondered at the infant she had carried, when she bore witness to the Holy Sprit she had received, and because of the witness given by virginity and children she was not aggrieved when she gave birth unmarried. For the offspring declared a lordly father and dismissed the suspicion of senselessness. Hence Divinity gives witness to virginity , a secret of nature. Divinity, I say, gives witness to the virgin birth. For as Christ was conceived according to the foretelling of the Gospel, by the Holy Spirit filling with grace and with the shadowing power of God the Father, so it was said to Mary, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most High will shadow you, and therefore what will be born from you is holy, and shall be called the Son of God.' 2 Therefore with the Divine nativity the Saviour completes the Divine sentence that says, 'With two or three witnesses confirm every word.' 3 Saint Maximus of Turin, Homily 5, Before the Nativity of the Lord 1 Isaiah 7.14 2 Lk 1.35 3 Mt 18.16, Deut 19.15

Numerous Advents

Christi nascentis diem anniversarim exspectamus; qui nobis in proximo videndus, Domino annuente, promittur. Hoc sane gaudium nostrum tale videtur exigre Scriptura, ut spiritum noster levans se super se, Christo venienti quodammodo occurere gestiat: et desiderio se extendens in anteriora, impatiensque morarum, jam videre contendat futura. Ego namque non solum ad secundum adventum, sed etiam ad primum arbitror pertinere, quod tot locis Scripturarum i monemur occurrere. Quomodo, inquis? Quia videlicet sicut secundo adventui occurremus motu et exsultatione corporisl sic et primo occurrndum est affectu et exsultatione cordis. Scitis enim quia resumptis in resurrectione corporis novis, secundum doctrinam Apostoli, rapiemur in nubibus obviam Christo in aera, et sic semper cum Domino erimus. Sic nec modo desunt nubes, quae spiritus nostros, si nimis non fuerint pigri terraeque affixi, sublevabunt ad altiora; et sic cum Domino erimus, vel hora dimidia. Agnoscit, ni fallor, experientia vestra quod loquor, cum aliquando vocem dederunt nubes, id est, sonerunt in Ecclesia prophetarum, vel apostolorum voces, ad quam sublimia sensus vestri, quasi vehiculo nubis, fuerint subvecti; et eo usque nonnunquam excesserint, ut gloriam Domini quantulumcunque mererentur speculari. Tunc, ni fallor, vobis innotuit veritas illius sermonis, qum Dominus de illa nube pluit, quam quotidie ponit ascensum vobis: Sacrificium laudis honorificabit me: et illic iter, quo ostendam illi salutare Dei. Ita ergo sit, ut ante adventum suum Dominus veniat ad vos, et antequam mundo generaliter adveniat, familiariter invisat vos. Non vos, inquit, relinquam orphanos: vado, et veniam ad vos. Et quidem pro merito cujusque, vel studio, creber est ad unumquemque iste Domini adventus, hoc tempore medio inter adventum primum et novissimum, conformans nos adventui primo, et praeparans novissimo. Ad hoc nempe venit modo in nos, ne primo adventu frustra venerit ad nos, vel ne in novissimo veniat iratus adversus nos. Hoc siquidem adventu satagit reformare sensum superbiae nostrae, configuratum sensui humilitatis suae, quam primo veniens exhibuit; ut perinde reformet corpus humilitatis nostrae, configuratum corpori claritatis suae, quam denuo rediens exhibebit. Prorsus optandus omnibus votis, et expetendus studiis adventus iste familiaris, qui nobis gratiam impertiat adventus primi, et gloriam promittat novissimi. Guerricus Ignaciensis, De Adventu Domini, Sermo II Source: Migne PL 185.15d-16d

We are waiting for the anniversary of the day of the Christ's birth, which soon we shall see, which was promised with the Lord's approval. It seems that Scripture would have us joyful, so that our spirits are lifted up, eager to hurry to the approaching Christ, and while reaching out to what is to come its desire is impatient with the delay, and seems in dispute with what is to be. I think that all the passages in Scripture which exhort us to hurry, refer not only to the first advent but even to the second. How is this, you ask? Because as at the second coming we shall run with all eagerness and joy in the body, so even at the first we should run with all happiness and exultation of heart. You know that at the resurrection, with the putting on of the new body, according to the teaching of the Apostle, we shall be taken up into the clouds to meet Christ in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord, 1 but even now there is no lack of clouds which will carry off our spirits to the heights if we are not sluggish and bound up in worldly things, and so we we will be with the Lord, if for half an hour. If I do not err, your own experience knows what I am speaking about, when sometimes the clouds thunder, that is, when in the Church the prophets or the apostles give forth their voices, and your minds are swept up to high things, as transported on clouds, and not a few have gone further, so that they have merited to look a little on the glory of the Lord. Then, if I do not err, the truth of the word is made known to you, which the Lord rains down from the cloud that he appoints to raise us up every day. 'The sacrifice of praise shall give me honour, and there is the path by which I shall show forth the salvation of God.' 2 Therefore it may be that the Lord will come to you before His advent, and before He comes to the whole world, He will come to you in particular. 'I shall not leave you orphans,' He said, 'but I go and I shall come to you.' 3 And whether for merit or for zeal, the advent of the Lord to us is not uncommon in the time between the first and the second advent, conforming us to the first and preparing us for the last. For certainly He comes to us now, lest it is in vain that He came to us in His first advent, and lest He comes against us in anger in the last. In this middle advent He comes to reform our proud minds and to shape us to the sense of His humility which He showed in His first coming, so that He may reform the body of our humility into the likeness of His own glorified body, which He shall show when He returns again. 4 The wish of all our prayers and the striving of our zeal should be this personal advent of His, which bestows on us the grace of the first advent and promises the glory of the last. Guerric of Igny, from the Second Sermon on the Advent Of the Lord 1 Thes 4.16 2 Ps 76.18, 103.3, 49.23 3 Jn 14.18 4 Phil 3.21

Life And Light

Et vita erat lux hominum. Quo verbo aperte docetur quod ipsa vitalis per quam omni disposita sunt et reguntur: non omnem creaturam, sed rationabilem tantum, ut sapere possit illuminat. Homines namque, qui ad imaginem Dei facti sunt, percipere sapientiam possunt, animalia non possunt. Sed animalis quicunque est homo, non percipit ea quae sunt Spiritus Dei. Unde bene cum dixisset: Et vita erat lux hominum, subjunxit, et de his qui ab humanae conditionis honore procul recedentes, comparati sunt jumentis insipientibus, et similes facti sunt illis, atque ideo rectae voluntatis luce privantur. Sanctus Beda, In Ioannis Evangelium Expositio, Liber I, Caput I Source: Migne PL 92.639c

And the life was the light of men. 1 With which words he openly teaches that it is through this living one that all has been arranged and is ruled, but He does not illuminate every creature but only those who are rational, that is, those who are able to know. For men, who are made according to the image of God, can all attain to wisdom, and animals cannot. Yet there is a bestial man who does not perceive the things which are of the Spirit of God. 2 Whence it is well said, 'And the light was the light of men,' which alludes to those who have withdrawn far from the honour of the human condition, comparing them to mindless beasts, and that they made like them, 3 and therefore they are deprived of the light of a good will. Saint Bede, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 1, Chapter 1 1 Jn 1.4 2 1 Cor 2.14 3 Ps 48.13

The World Did Not Know Him

Ο κόσμος δὲ, φησὶν, αὐτὸν οὐκ ἔγνω, ἀντὶ τοῦ, ὁ χυδαῖος λαὸς, ὁ τοῖς τοῦ κόσμου προστετηκώς πράγμασι. Τὸ γὰρ κόσμος όνομα σημαίνει μὲν και τὸ σύμπαν τοῦτο, καθὰ ἐνταῦθα εἴρηται, ὅτι Ὁ κόσμος δι ' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, σημαίνει δὲ καὶ τοὺς τὰ κοσμικὰ φρονοῦντας· καθὰ ἐνταῦθά φησιν ὅτι Ὁ κόσμος αὐτὸν οὐκ ἔγνω, ἀντὶ τοῦ, οἱ γήϊνοι ἄνθρωποι· ἐπεὶ οἶγε ἅγιοι πάντες καὶ οἱ προφῆται ἐπέγνωσαν. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ιὠαννὴν, Κεφαλὴ Α' Source: Migne PG 123.1152a

'The world,' it says, 'did not know Him,' 1 that is, the common run of people caught up in worldly affairs. For 'the world' means everything, since it is said here that 'the world was made through Him,' meaning even those who think of worldly things, so here it says that 'the world did not know Him,' that is worldly men, because all who were holy and the prophets did know. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 1 1 Jn 1.10

A Beginning Of Blessings

Έπεὶ ούν έμπέφυκέπως τὸ κατά τήν ἔπαρσιν πάθος παντὶ σχεδὸν τὸ κοινωνοῦντι της άνθρωπίνης φύσεως, διά τούτο έντεΰθεν τών μακαρισμών ό Κύριος άρχεται, οίον άρχέγονόν τι κακὸν έκβάλλων έκ της ἔξεως ήμών τήν ύπερηφανίαν, έν τώ συμβουλεύειν μιμήσασθαι τὸν έκουσίως πτωχεύσαντα, ὁς έστιν άληθώς μακάριος, ΐνα έν ᾡ δυνάμεθα καθώς ἂν οἴοί τε ὦμεν ὁμοιωθέντες έκ τοῦ πτωχεῦσαι κατά προαίρεσιν, καὶ τήν τοῦ μακαρισμοῦ κοινωνίαν έφελκυσώμεθα. Τούτο γάρ φρoνείσθω, φησὶν, ἐν ὑμίν, ὃ καί έν Χριστφ Ίησον· ὃς έν μορφῇ θεον ύπάρχων, οὐχ άρπαγμὸν ήγήσατο τὸ είναι ἰσα θεω· άλλ' έαυτον έκένωσε μορφών δούλον λαβών. Τί πτωχότερον έπὶ θεοῦ τῆς τοῦ δούλου μορφής; Τί ταπεινότερον έπὶ τοῦ βασιλέως τών ὂντων, ή τὸ είς κοινωνίαν της πτωχής ήμών φύσεως έλθεϊν; Ό Βασιλεύς τών βασιλευόντων, καὶ Κύριος τών κυριευόντων έθελόντως τήν της δουλείας μορφήν ύποδύεται· ὁ Κριτής τοῦ παντὸς, ὑπόφορος τοϊς δυναστεύουσι γίνεται· ό τής κτίσεως Κύριος έν σπηλαίῷ κατάγεται· ό τοΰ παντὸς περιδεδραγμένος ούχ εύρίσκει τόπον έν τώ καταλύματι, άλλ' έν τή φάτνη τών άλόγων ζώων παραρριπτεῖταί ό καθαρὸς καὶ άκήρατος. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Εἰς Τους Μακαρισμους, Logos A', Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι, ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. Source: Migne PG 44.1201b-c

Since, then, the fault of arrogance is implanted in almost everyone who partakes of human nature, the Lord begins the Beatitudes with 'Blessed are the poor in spirit,' 1 and with this beginning uproots the evil of pride from our character by counselling us to imitate Him who became poor of His own will, He who is the truly blessed, so that, as far as we are able, we may become like Him in this way, that by being poor by our own choice we are drawn to partake of His blessedness. 'Be of this mind,' as it was said, 'which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, yet emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant.' 2 What greater poverty is there for God than the form of a servant? What is more humbling for the King of all things than to partake of our poor nature? The King of kings, the Lord of lords, chooses to put on the garment of servitude, the Judge of all things becomes a subject of rulers, the Lord of creation dwells in a cave, He who encompasses everything finds no place in the inn but is cast aside into the manger of irrational beasts. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, On The Beatitudes, from the First Oration, on 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' 1 Mt 5.3 2 2 Phil 2.5-7

Questioning Paternity

Et dicebant: Nonne hic est filius Joseph? Ecce hic secundum Chrysostomum tangitur effectus Verbi Dei in indevotis Scribis et Pharisaeis. Omnes enim de populo sanctificabant eum, et testimonium illi dabant. Soli autem Scribae et Pharisaei, ut dicit Chrysostomus, similes sunt terrae arenosae, quae quanto plus pluit, tanto magis aret. Et ideo maledicti sunt: sicut dicit Apostolus, ad Hebr. VI: Terra saepe venientem super se bibens imbrem, et generans herbam opportunam illis a quibus colitur, accipit benedictionem a Deo: proferens autem spinas ac tribulos, reproba est, et maledictioni proxima: cujus consummatio in combustionem ignis. Dividitur autem haec pars in tres partes: in quarum prima Scribarum et Pharisaeorum in paucis verbis innuit contemptum: in secunda autem Christus excludit ipsorum tacitam objectionem quam fecerunt, populum a fide concepta volentes avertere: in tertia autem aperta eorum ponitur malignitas, ad quam induxerunt populum, et quam volebant Domino violenter inferre. Primum horum est valde parvum, sed praegnans magna malignitate: Et dicebant, Supple, Scribae et Pharisaei ad populum qui jam fidem et devotionem conceperat, Nonne hic est. Despectionis nota est demonslratio ejus, quem nominare non sunt dignati. Sapient. ii: Gravis est nobis etiam ad videndum. Psal. xv: Nec memor ero nominum eorum per labia mea. Filius Joseph? Minus hic dicit Evangelista quod tam Matthaeo quam a Marco plenius sciverat esse positum. Matth.xiii, Nonne hic est fabri filius? Nonne mater ejus dicitur Maria, et fratres ejus, Jacobus, et Joseph, et Simon, et Judas: et sorores ejus, nonne omnes apud nos sunt? Marc vi: Nonne hic est faber, filius Mariae, frater Jacobi, et Joseph, et Judae, et Simonis? Haec omnia despective dicta sunt. Faber enim lignarius dicitur fuisse Joseph, arte et usu manuum victum quaerens, et non in otio et deliciis panem manducans, sicut Scribae et Pharisaei fecerunt. Maria etiam quam objiciunt ei quaestuaria fuit, ut dicit Hieronymus, colo et consilio manuum victum quaerens. Fratres autem vocant hic consobrinos ejus, filios sororis Beatae Virginis ex Cleopha patre, tres Apostolos Simonem, et Judam, et Jacobum minorem. Quartus autem Joseph fuit qui justus cognominabatur: qui cum Matthia sortes habuit quis eorum in locum Judse substitueretur. Et est sensus: Hic despectae et pauperrimae nativitatis faber lignarius vocatione, non potest esse Christus Dominus quem unxit Deus. Et ideo sibi non est credendum tam rusticano et tam vili. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium In Evangelium Lucam, Caput IV Source: Here p331-332

And they said, 'Is this not the son of Joseph?' 1 Observe that according to Chrysostom this touches upon the effect the Word of God had on the disbelieving Scribes and Pharisees. 'For all the people blessed Him and bore witness to Him.' 1 Only the Scribes and the Pharisees, as Chrysostom says, are like the dust of the earth, so that the more it rains, the more they thirst. And therefore they are cursed, as the Apostle says in the sixth chapter of the letter to the Hebrews, 'The earth which drinks down the rain which comes upon it and gives birth to plants in their seasons for those who till it, receives a blessing from God, but that which brings from forth thorns and thistles is reprobate and near to a curse, whose end is to be burnt with fire.' 2 This may be divided into three parts, in which first is made known in few words the contempt of the Scribes and Pharisees, in the second part Christ rejects the tacit objection they make, choosing to point to a people conceived by faith, and in in the third part is set down their malignity, to which they had led the people, and what they wished to bring violently on the Lord. The first part is very brief but bears much wickedness, 'And they said,' Understand that the Scribes and Pharisees said 'Is this not?' to the people who had just laid hold of faith and devotion, which demonstrates their scorn of Him whom they are not worthy to name. In the second chapter of Wisdom, 'The sight of Him is burdensome to us.' In the fifteenth Psalm, 'I shall not remember their names on my lips.' 3 'The son of Joseph?' Here the Evangelist says less than Matthew who wrote more extensively about what Mark set down. In the twelfth chapter of Matthew 'Is this man not the son of a carpenter? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers, Jacob and Joseph and Simon and Judas, and do not his sisters dwell among us?' In the sixth chapter of Mark, 'Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of Jacob and Joseph and Judas and Simon?' 4 This is all said disrespectfully. Is it said that Joseph was a carpenter, seeking his living with the work of his hands, and not in leisure and pleasure eating his bread, as the Scribes and Pharisees did. Mary they object to as a woman for hire, as Jerome says, who with her spinning and counsel made her living. Those called his brothers here are his cousins, the sons of the sister of the Blessed Virgin, who had Cleophas for a father, the three Apostles Simon, Judas and James the less. Joseph, the fourth one, was surnamed the Just, who with Matthias had the lots cast for the replacement of Judas. 5 This is the sense of what they said, that the occupation of carpenter entails a base and impoverished birth and it is not possible for Him to be the Lord Christ whom God anointed, and therefore one should not believe in one so rustic and common. Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Luke, Chapter 4 1 Lk 4.22 2 Heb 6.7-8 3 Wisd 2.15, Ps 15.4 4 Mt 13.55-56, Mk 6.3 5 Acts 1.23-26

Woman And Virgin

Cum autem venit plenitudo temporis, misit Deus Filium suum, factum ex muliere, factum sub lege. Sed offendit factum ex muliere, quia natum confitemur ex Virgine. Factum non confitemur nisi hominem; Deus autem semper faciens est, fieri nescit ut sit. Fieri nescit Deus; sed fit ut aliquid alicui sit, quo modo dicitur: Domine, refugium factus es nobis; et: Dominus factus est auxiliator meus. Quanta factus, qui numquam est factus? Dominus autem Christus homo factus est, ut esset, ut qui Creator semper erat, creatura esset. Manens enim Deus, factus est homo, ut fieret quod non erat, non ut periret quod erat. Hoc ergo de Virgine quod factum est, quare ex mulier? Quod apud Hebraeos, ubi est prima lingua Scripturae, mulier nomen est significandi sexus, non amissae integritatis. Lege: quando mulier formata est, Extraxit, inquit, Deus unam e costis eius, id est viri, et aedificavit eam in mulierem. Sic mulier Maria; sic ei dictum est, antequam pareret, antequam conciperet: Beata tu inter mulieres. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo XLIX, Ut Homo Diligit Iustitiam et Misericordiam et Iudicium Paratusque sit Ambulare cum Domino Deo Suo, Fragmentum Source: Migne PL 38.257

'When came the fullness of time God sent His Son, made from a woman, made under the law.' 1 But there is a problem with 'made from a woman' because we confess that He was born from a virgin. We do not confess anything but He was made man. And God is always making, to become one knows not what. What God becomes is not known but He may become something to someone, as when it is said, 'Lord you have been made a refuge for me.' and 'The Lord was made my help.' 2 How much making for Him who was never made. But the Lord Christ was made man so that the one who was always Creator became a created thing. For remaining God He was made man so He might become what He was not, and that what He was might not perish. Therefore He was made from a virgin, but why does it say here 'made from a woman?' Because in Hebrew, which is the first tongue of Scripture, the name woman signifies the sex, not a loss of dignity. Read that when woman was formed, 'God drew out one of his ribs,' that is, the man's, 'and fashioned it into a woman.' 3 So Mary was a woman, and so it was said to her before she gave birth, and before she had conceived, 'Blessed are you among women.' 4 Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 49a, 'So that the man who loves righteousness and mercy and judgement and is prepared to walk with the Lord his God.' 1 Galat 4.4 2 Ps 89.1, Ps 29.11 3 Gen 2.21 4 Lk 2.24

A Great Mystery And Sign

Magnum mysterium, dilectissimi fratres, magnum divinae dilectionis indicium. Homo Deum contemnens a Deo discessit, Deus hominem diligens ad homines venit. Dilexit impium, ut faceret justum; dilexit infirmum, ut faceret sanum; dilexit perversum, ut faceret rectum; dilexit mortuum, ut faceret vivum. Et quid amplius dicam? quandoquidem Deus unigenitus humanam naturam tantum dilexit, ut eam non solum a potestate mali angeli liberaret, verum etiam in seipso super omnes bonos angelos in Patris dextera collocaret. Natura enim quae in primo homine a malo angelo captivata fuerat, ipsa nunc in secundo homine super omnes bonos angelos regnat. Natura quae in primo homine mundum peccato polluit, ipsa in secundo homine mundum a peccato mundavit. Primus homo de terra terrenus, secundus homo de coelo coelestis. Primum hominem mulier corrupta mente decepit, secundum hominem virgo incorrupta virginitate concepit. In primi hominis conjuge nequitia diaboli seductam depravavit mentem, in secundi autem hominis matre gratia Dei et mentem integram servavit et carnem: menti contulit firmissimam fidem, carni abstulit omnino libidinem. Quoniam igitur miserabiliter pro peccato damnatus est homo, ideo sine peccato mirabiliter natus est Deus homo. Sanctus Fulgentius Ruspensis, Sermo II, De duplici Nativitate Christi , una aeterna ex Patre, altera temporali ex Virgine Source: Migne PL 65.728b-c

It is a great mystery, brothers, it is a great sign of Divine love. Man scorning God is cut off from God, God loving men comes to men. God loved the wicked man so that he might make him righteous, He loved the sick man so that He might make him well, He loved the depraved man so that He might make him upright, he loved the dead man so that He might make him live. What more shall I say? The only begotten God loved human nature so much that not only did He liberate it from the power of the evil angel, but truly in Himself He gathered it to the right hand of the Father above all the angels. For the nature that was in the first man was made captive by the wicked angel, now by the second men rules over all the angels. The nature in the first man that befouled the world with sin, was that which in the second man cleansed the world of sin. 'The first man from earth, earthly, the second man from heaven, heavenly.' 1 The woman deceived the first man with a corrupted mind, an uncorrupted virgin conceived the second with her virginity. The wickedness of the devil depraved a seduced mind with the erring spouse of the first man, the grace of God guarded the mind and flesh of the mother of the second man, bringing firm faith to the mind and casting off all carnal desire. Because, then, man was wretchedly damned for sin, thus the God man was wonderfully born without sin. Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe, from Sermon 2, On The Twofold Nativity of Christ, One Eternal from the Father, and One Temporal from the Virgin 1 1 Cor 15.47

Bringing Forth A Son

Et pariet filium, vocabis nomen ejus Jesum. Non dixit, Pariet tibi filium, sicut ad Zachariam: Ecce Elizabeth uxor tua concipiet et pariet tibi filium: quia mulier, quae ex viro concipit, marito suo filium parit: quia magis illo est, quam de ipsa. Haec autem, quae non de viro conceperat, non filium illi peperit, sed sibi tantummodo. Vide quomodo similitudinem ipsius rei per omnia sequitur, qua facta est in Adam. Sicut enim tunc mulier gustans de ligno, sola seducta est, et peperit mortem; Adam autem non fuit particeps in seductione illius; non enim a diabolo seductus peccavit, sed quia consensit mulieri: sic et modo accipiens Maria de Spiritu sancto, sola credidit, dicens, Ecce jam nunc beatam me dicent omnes generationes. Joseph autem tunc in fide conceptionis illius nihil habuit commune, sed postea tacendo et consentidendo tantum salvatus est. Ideo et in somniis adstitit ei, non palam: ut quemadmodum dormiente Adam creavit mulierem, sic et isti dormienti divintus consignaret uxorem. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia I Source: Migne PG 56.634

And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. 1 The angel did not say to Joseph, 'She shall bear you a son,' as was said to Zachariah, 'Behold Elizabeth your wife shall conceive and bring forth a son for you,' 2 because that woman conceived from a man, and brought forth a son for her husband, but Mary, who did not conceive from a man, did not bring forth a son for Joseph, but for herself alone. See how a likeness in this follows through everything that was done in Adam. As then the woman tasted from the tree, and was alone seduced and brought forth death, and Adam did not participate in her seduction, for he did not sin by the devil's persuasion but consented to the the woman, so Mary receiving the Holy Spirit, alone believed, saying, 'Behold, now all generations shall call me blessed.' 3 And Joseph then in the faith of conception had no share, but later by his silence and consent he was saved. Therefore the angel came to him in his dreams and not openly, so that as from the sleeping Adam woman was created, so even with him asleep the Divine bore witness to his wife. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 1 1 Mt 1.21 2 Lk 1.13 3 Lk 1.48

Undoing The Sandal

Cui quantae reverentiae humilitatem debeat subdendo manifestat Cujus non sum dignus solvere corrigiam calceamenti. Mos apud veteres fuit ut si quis eam quae sibi competeret accipere uxorem nollet, ille ei calceamentum solveret qui ad hanc sponsus jure propinquitatis veniret. Quid igitur inter homines Christus, nisi sanctae Ecclesiae sponsus apparuit? De quo et idem Joannes dicit: Qui habet sponsam, sponsus est. Sed quia Joannem homines Christum esse putaverunt, quod idem Joannes negat, recte se indignum esse ad solvendam corrigiam ejus calceamenti denuntiat. Ac si aperte dicat: Ego Redemptoris nostri vestigia denudare non valeo, quia sponsi nomen mihi immerito non usurpo. Quod tamen intelligi et aliter potest. Quis enim nesciat quod calceamenta ex mortuis animalibus fiunt? Incarnatus vero Dominus veniens quasi calccatus apparuit, quia in divinitate sua morticina nostrae corruptionis assumpsit. Unde etiam per Prophetam dicit: In Idumaeam extendam calceamentum meum. Per Idumaeam quippe gentilitas, per calceamentum vero assumpta mortalitas designatur. In Idumaeam ergo Dominus calceamentum suum se extendere asserit, quia dum per carnem gentibus innotuit, quasi calceata ad nos divinitas venit. Sed hujus incarnationis mysterium humanus oculus penetrare non sufficit. Investigari etenim nullatenus potest quomodo corporatur Verbum, quomodo summus et vivificator spiritus intra uterum matris animatur, quomodo is qui initium non habet, et existit et concipitur. Corrigia ergo calceamenti est ligatura mysterii. Joannes itaque solvere corrigiam calceamenti ejus non valet, quia incarnationis ejus mysterium nec ipse investigare sufficit, qui hanc per prophetiae spiritum agnovit. Quid est ergo dicere: Non sum dignus solvere corrigiam calceamenti ejus, nisi aperte et humiliter suam ignorantiam profiteri? Ac si patenter dicat: Quid mirum si ille mihi praelatus est, quem post me quidem natum considero, sed nativitatis ejus mysterium non apprehendo? Ecce Joannes, prophetiae spiritu impletus, mira scientia emicat et tamen illud de se insinuat quod ignorat. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Homiliarum in Evangelia Liber I, Homilia VII, Habita ad populum in basilica sancti Petri apostoli, Dominica quarta in Adventu Domini Source: Migne PL 76.1101b-1102a

John the Baptist reveals how great was the humility and reverence he owed to Christ by saying, 'I am not worthy to undo the strap of His sandal.' 1 It was the custom of those of old that if someone were unwilling to take the wife he should have done, he who should have come to her as bridegroom by right of relationship would undo his sandal. 2 How, then, was Christ among men, but that He appeared as the bridegroom of the holy Church? The same John says of Him, 'He who has the bride is the bridegroom.' 3 Since men thought John was the Christ, which John denied, he was right to proclaim his unworthiness to undo the strap of Christ's sandal. As if he were openly saying, 'I am not able to lay bare the footsteps of our Redeemer, because I do not unrightfully usurp for myself the name of bridegroom.' But this can also be understood in another way. Who does not know that sandals are made from dead animals? Our Lord incarnated appeared as if in sandals because in His Divinity He took up the dead flesh of our corruption. So He says through the prophet: 'Over Edom I shall put forth my sandal.' 4 Edom is the Gentiles, and the sandal the mortality He assumed. The Lord asserts that He puts forth His sandal over Edom because when He became known through the flesh to the Gentiles it was as if Divinity came to us shod in sandals. But the human eye is not sufficient for perceiving the mystery of Christ's incarnation. There is no way we can discover how the Word took up a body, how the great and life-giving Spirit came to life in His mother's womb, and how He who has no beginning both is and is conceived. Therefore the sandal strap is the bond of a mystery. John cannot undo the strap of His sandal because even He is not able to understand the mystery of His incarnation, he who through the spirit of prophecy knew of it. What, therefore, does it mean to say, 'I am not worthy to undo the strap of His sandal,' but he openly and humbly confesses his own ignorance? As if he clearly said, 'Why is it a wonder if He has precedence over me? I see He was born after me, but I do not understand the mystery of His birth.' Behold John who was filled with the spirit of prophecy, and who shone with wondrous knowledge, and yet he implies that there is something he does not understand. Saint Gregory the Great, Homilies On The Gospels, Book 1, from Homily 7, Given to the people in the basilica of Saint Peter, on the fourth Sunday of Advent 1 Mk 1.7 Jn .1.27 2 Ruth 4.7 3 Jn 3.29 4 Ps 59.10

Saving The Lost

Venit enim Filius hominis salvare quod perierat. Venit enim filius hominis, etc. Ratio est sumpta ab utilitate et fine Incarnationis, quem vult frustrare, qui scandalizando perdit quos ille sanguine suo acquisviit: et hoc est quod dicit: Salvare quod perierat: Venit enim Filius hominis quaerere et salvum facere quod perierat: Quod perierat requiram. Quanto magis putatis deteriora mereri supplicia, qui Filium Dei conculcaverit, et sanguinem testamenti pollutum duxerit, in quo sanctificatus est, et spiritui gratiae contumeliam fecerit? Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium In Evangelium Mattheum, Caput XVIII Source: Here p321

For the Son of Man came to save what is lost. 1 'For the Son of Man came...' The reason is given for the utility and the goal of the Incarnation, which he wishes to frustrate who makes men lost with scandal, he who has thus acquired their blood. This is what He says: 'To save what is lost.' The Son of Man comes to seek and save what was lost. 'What has been lost I shall seek.' 2 'Should you not think he merits much worse punishment who has crushed down the Son of God and profaned the blood of the covenant with which He was sanctified, and has given offence to the Spirit of grace?' 3 Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Matthew, Chapter 18 1 Mt 18.11 2 Ezek 34.16 3 Heb 10.29

Removing Mountains

Ὁ παλαιῶν ὄρη καὶ οὐκ οἴδασιν ὁ καταστρέφων αὐτὰ ὀργῇ Οἶδα καὶ ἄλλα ὅρη, Μωϋσέα καὶ τοὺς προφήτας, Ἥρα τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου εἰς τὰ ὅρη. Χριστὸς παλαιοῖ τὴν πρώτην Διαθήκην, καὶ οὐκ οἴδασιν Ἰουδαῐοι, πρὸς οὔς εἴρηται· Εἰ ἐπιστεύετε Μωϋσῇ ἐπιστεύετε ἄν ἐμοί. Ὁ αὐτὸς δὲ καὶ κατέστρεψε τὰ μέχρι γράμματος ὅρη τῆς Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ τὸ ἁγίασμα· ὁ αὐτὸς δὲ καὶ τὸν ἥλιον ἀμαυροῐ τῇ ἐαυτοῦ λαμπρότητι, καὶ τοὺς ἀστέρας. Βαβαί! Οἴα λέγει ἄνθρωπος νοῶν καὶ ἐλκωμενος, ὂστρακον ἔχων, καὶ τὸν ἰχῶρα ξέων, ἄνθρωπος ἐπὶ κοπρίας καθεζόμενος. Ὁ παλαιῶν ὄρη καὶ οὐκ οἴδασι. Τίνες οὔν εἰσιν οἱ λόγοι, ἴδωεμν· καὶ περὶ ποίων ὁρεων παλαιουμένων, καὶ ὑπὸ τίνων, Καὶ οὐκ οἴδασιν. ᾜλθε Ἰησοῦς ὁ καταστρέφων τὴν κατὰ τὸ γράμμα ἐκδοχὴν, καὶ τοὺς ταύτῃ μετὰ τὴν χάριν ἐμμένοντας, περὶ ὦν φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος· Ἔφθασε δὲ ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ἡ ὀργή· τὰ πεπαλαιωμένα κατεστράφη, πεπαλαίωται τὰ τοῦ γράμματος, ἀνακεκαίνωται τὰ τοῦ πνεύματος, ὥστε δουλεύειν ἡμᾶς ἐν καινότητι πνεύματος, καὶ οὐ παλαιότητι γράμματος. Παράδοξον ὁ Ἰησοῦς πεποίηκεν ελθὼν, τοὺς αὐτοὺς προφήτας καὶ πεπαλαίωκε, καὶ ἀνεκαίνισεν. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Ἐκλογαὶ Εἰς Τον Ιὠβ Source: Migne PG 39.1141d-1444a

He who in anger removes the mountains, and they do not know it. 1 Know that there are other mountains, Moses and the prophets, 'I lifted up my eyes to the mountains,' 1 Christ set aside the previous Testament and the Jews did not notice, to whom it was said, 'If you believed in Moses, you would believe in me.' 3 According to the letter He overturns the mount of Jerusalem and the sanctuary, He who obscures the sun and the stars with his own splendour. Behold, a man who is sick and covered in ulcers and scraping his skin with a potsherd while sitting on a dung heap says such things. 'He who removes the mountains and they do not know it.' Let us see, then, what these words might mean about the removal of the mountains, concerning which it is said, 'And they did not know.' Jesus came who was expected according to the letter, and He cast down those who after grace preserved in the letter, concerning whom the Apostle says, 'But anger came upon them.' 4 for old things are set aside, which to the letter pertains to being removed, with a renewal of the things of the spirit, so that we may serve in a renewed spirit, and not in the old letter. With His coming Christ admirably and against all expectation did this, and by His renewal He made the prophets old. Didymus the Blind, On Job, Fragment 1 Job 9.5 2 Ps 120.1 3 Jn 5.46 4 1 Thes 2.16