Birth And Sanctity

Ideoque, et quod nascetur ex te sanctum, vocabitur Filius Dei. Ad distinctionem nostrae santitatis, Jesus singulariter sanctus nasciturus asseritur. Nos quippe et si sancti efficimur, non tamen nascimur, quia ipsa naturae corruptibilis conditione constringimur. Ut merito cum Propheta gementes singuli dicamus: Ecce enim in inquitatibus conceptus sum, et in delictis peperit me mater mea. Ille autem solus veraciter sanctus est qui, ut ipsam conditionem naturae corruptibilis vinceret, ex commistione carnalis copulae conceptus non est. Sanctum, inquit, vocabitur Filius Dei. Quid hic dicis, Nestorinae, qui beatam Mariam Dei negans esse genitricem, apertam niteris impugnare veritatem? Ecce Deum dixit superventurum, Dei Filium nasciturum. Quomodo ergo aut Dei Filius non est, aut quae Deum edidit, quomodo Θεοτόκος, id est, Dei genitrix non esse potest? Sanctus Beda,In Lucae Evangelium Expositio, Liber Primus Source: Migne PL 92.319a-b

Therefore since what will be born of you is holy, He shall be called the Son of God. 1 In distinction to our sanctity, it is asserted that Jesus alone shall be born holy. For we, even if we are made holy, are not born so, because we are constrained by the condition of our corruptible nature. So rightly, groaning with the Prophet, each one of us may say, 'Behold, I was conceived in iniquity and in sin my mother birthed me.' 2 He alone is truly holy who, that He conquer that condition of corruptible nature, was not conceived by the mixing of carnal copulation. 'Holy,' he says, 'He shall be called the Son of God.' And what do you say, Nestorian, who denying the blessed Mary to be mother, endeavour to impugn the manifest truth? Behold, he said, God shall come, the Son of God shall be born. How, then, is He not the Son of God, or how can it be that she from whom God came forth, is not Theotokos, that is, the Mother of God? Saint Bede, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Luke, Book 1 1 Lk 1.35 2 Ps 50.7

Similarity And Difference

Τίς ὁ μετασχὼν παραπλησίως ἡμῖν αἵματος καὶ σαρκός; ἄνθρωπος γὰρ ψιλὸς σὰρξ καὶ αἵμα τυγχάνων, οὐ μετέχειν λέγεται σαρκὸς καὶ αἵματος· εἰ κατὰ πάντα ἡμῖν ὡμοιώθη, τίς ὁ ὁμοιωθείς; Τὸ γὰρ πᾶσιν ὁμοιούμενον, εἴναι πάντως ἀνάγκῃ διαφορον. Άγιος Ιωάννης ο Δαμασκηνός, Κατὰ τῆς Αἱρεσεως Των Νεστοριανών Source: Migne PG 95.189d-192a

Who is He who: 'participating in flesh and blood, was made similar to us?' 1 For man alone is just flesh and blood and is not said to 'participate' in flesh and blood. If He was made similar to us in everything, 2 who is He who was made similar? For being made similar in all things, it is necessary there was quite some difference. Saint John of Damascus, Against the Nestorian Heretics. 1 Heb 2.14 2 Heb 4.15

Mothers And Children

Οὐκοῦν οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι παντες, ὡς ἔφην, εἴεν ἄν καὶ μάλα εἰκότως δια τὸ κεχρίσθαι χριστοὶ, μόνος δὲ χριστὸς Θεὸς ἁληθινὸς ὁ Ἐμμανουήλ. Καὶ οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοι τάλαηθοῦς, εἴ τις ἂν ἔλοιτο λέγειν ὡς αἱ τῶν ἄλλων μητέρες χριστοτόκοι μὲν, οὐ μὴν ἔτι καὶ θεοτόκοι. Μόνη δὲ παρ' ἐκείνας ἡ ἁγία Παρθένος χριστοτόκος τε ὁμοῦ αὶ Θεοτόκος νοεῖται τε καὶ λέγεται· γεγέννηκε γὰρ οὐ ψιλὸν ἄνθρωπον, καθ' ἡμᾶς, σαρκωθέντα δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ ἐνανθρωπήσαντα τὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς Λόγον. Ὤνομάσμεθα μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἡμεῖς κατὰ χάριν θεοῖ· πλὴν οὐχ οὕτως Θεὸς ὁ Υἱὸς φύσει δὲ μᾰλλον καὶ ἀληθείᾳ κἂν εἰ γέγονε σάρξ. Ἀλλα' ἴσως ἐκεῖνο ἐρεῖς· Ἄρ οὖν, εἰπέ μοι, θεότητος μήτηρ γέγονεν ἡ Παρθένος; Καὶ πρός γε τοῦτό φαμεν ὅτι γεγέννηται μὲν ὁμολογουμένως ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ Πατρὸς ὁ ζῶν τε καὶ ἐνυπόστατος Λόγος αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἄναρχον ἐν χρόνῳ τὴν ὕπαρξιν ἔχει, ἀεὶ συνυφεστηκὼς τᾡ γεγεννηκότι, ἐν αὐτῷ τε καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ συνυπάρχων καὶ συννοούμενος· ἐν ἐσχάτοις δὲ τοῦ αἰῶνος καιροῖς, ἐπειδὴ γέγονε σὰρξ, τουτέστιν ἡνώθη σαρκὶ ψυχὴν ἐχούσῃ τὴν λογικὴν, γεγεννῆσθαι λέγεται καὶ σαρκικῶς διὰ γυναικός. Ἔοικε δέ πως τῷ καθ' ἡμᾶς τόκῳ τὸ ἐπ' αὐτῷ μυστήριον. Αἱ μὲν γὰρ τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς μητέρες ὑπηρετοῦσαι τῇ φύσει πρὸς γέννησιν, ἔχουσι μὲν ἐν μήτρᾳ πηγυμένην κατὰ βραχὴ τὴν σάρκα, καὶ ἀφράστοις τισὶν ἐνεργρείαις Θεοῦ προῖοῦσαν καὶ τελειουμένην εἰς εἴδος τὸ ἀνθρώπινον· ἐνίησι δὲ τῷ ζώῳ τὸ πνεῦμα ὁ Θεὸς, καθ' ὄν οἶδε τρόπον· Πλάττει γὰρ τὸ πνεῦμα ἀνθρώπου ἐν αὐτῷ, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ προφήτου φωνὴν. Ἕτερος δὲ σαρκὸς, καὶ ὁμοίως ἕτερος ὁ ψυχῆς ἐστι λόγος. Ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ γεγόνασι μόνον αὗται τῶν ἀπὸ γης σωμάτων μητέρες, ἀλλ' οὖν ὅλον ἀποτεκοῦσαι τὸ ζῶον, τὸ ἐκ ψυχῆς δὴ λέγω καὶ σώματος, οὐχὶ μέρος λέγονται τεκεῖν.Οὐδ' ἂν εἴποι τις, φέρε εἰπεῖν, τὴν Ἐλισάβετ σαρκοτόκον μὲν, οὐ μὴν ἔτι καὶ ψυχοτόκον· ἐκτέτοκε γὰρ ψυχωθέντα τὸν Βαπτιστὴν, καὶ ὡς ἔν ἐξ ἀμφοῖν, τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ψυχῆς δὴ λέγω καὶ σώματος· τοιοῦτόν τι πεπρᾶχθαι παρδεξόμεθα καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ γεννήσει τοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ. Γεγέννηται μὲν γὰρ, ὡς ἔφην, ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς οὐσίας ὁ μονογενὴς αὐτοῦ Λόγος· ἐπειδὴ δὲ σάρκα λαβὼν καὶ ἰδίαν αὐτὴν ποιησάμενος, κεχρημάτικε καὶ Υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου, καὶ γέγονε καθ' ἡμᾶς, οὐδὲν, οἴμαι, τὶ ἄτοπον εἰπεῖν, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἀναγκαῖον ὁμολογεῖν ὅτι καὶ γεγέννηται κατὰ σάρκα διὰ γυναικὸς. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐπιστoλή Α' Source:Migne PG 77.20d-21c

So all other children may be, as Nestorius says, indeed 'christs' on account of an anointing , but only Emmanuel is Christ the true God. Whence he would not err who called other mothers 'bearers of christ' but in no way are they bearers of God. For only she among all women, the Blessed Virgin, is to be thought and named both bearer of Christ and bearer of God, for she bore not a mere man, as we are, but rather the Incarnate Word of God the Father made man. Now we also on account of the grace of God may be named 'gods', 1 but not at all 'God the Son' which He is by nature and in truth, even if being flesh. But perhaps you ask, 'Tell me, do you think the Virgin was made the mother of His Divinity?' To this we say that it should be understood that the Word was born from her of the very substance of God Himself, and is the living and substantial Word of the Father without beginning in time, eternally coexisting with Him, always being in Him and with Him, but in these recent times made flesh, that is united to flesh with a rational soul, according to which flesh he was born of woman. As the mothers of earthly children impart to them their nature in generation which gradually grows in time, so in this work of mystery the Creator took up, He grew bit by bit to the perfection of the human form, but God gives the spirit, as He knows how, in the animal, 'He forms the spirt of man in him,' 2 as the Prophet says. For the flesh is one thing and the rational soul is another. But though these are mothers of the earthly body only, when they give birth, they are said to give birth to the whole, that is, to both the body and soul, and not merely a part. For no one, for sake of example, would say that Elisabeth gave birth to the flesh only and not the soul, but she birthed the Baptist as a creature with soul and a man, as one thing from two, that is, flesh and soul. So do we think it to have happened in the birth of Emmanuel. For the only begotten Word of God was generated from the substance of His Father; but after He took on flesh, making it His own, and was made the Son of Man, endowed with our nature; and so, I think, without any absurdity it is necessary to confess that He was born of a woman according to the flesh. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, from the First Letter 1 Ps 81.6 2 Zachar 12.1

Son Of Man And God

Sed dicas forsitan gratiam hanc Domini nostri Iesu Christi, de qua Apostolus scribit, non cum ipso natam, sed postea ei illapsu divinitatis infusam; quia et homo ipse a te Dominus noster Iesus Christus, quem solitarium dicis, non cum Deo natus, sed postea a Deo dicatur assumptus, ac per hoc totum, homini illi gratiam quando et divinitatem datam? Neque nos aliud dicimus quam quod divina gratia cum divinitate descenderit, quia et divina gratia Dei sit et largitio quodammodo ipsius divinitatis ac donum munificentia gratiarum. Temporis ergo inter nos forsitan putetur magis quam rei esse distantia, quia divinitatem quam nos cum Domino Iesu Christo natam, tu postea dicas infusam. Sed illud est quod natam cum Domino divinitatem negans, nec postea fideliter confiteri potes, quia non potest una eademque res in parte esse impia, et in parte probari pia, et eadem in portione fidei et in portione esse perfidiae. Primum ergo illud a te requiro: Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum, qui ex Maria virgine natus est, hominis tantum filium, an etiam Dei dicas Filium? Nos enim, id est, catholicorum omnium fides, nos, inquam, omnes utrumque hoc et credimus, et intelligimus, et scimus, et confitemur, quod et hominis est filius, quia ex homine natus est, et Dei Filius, quia ex Divinitate conceptus. Tu ergo utrumque hoc, id est Dei Filium atque hominis, an tantum hominis esse asseris? Si tantum hominis, reclamant tibi apostoli, reclamant prophetae, reclamat denique ipse per quem est facta conceptio Spiritus sanctus. Obruitur impudentissimum os tuum cunctis divinorum apicum testimoniis; obruitur sacris voluminibus sanctis testibus; obruitur denique ipso Dei Evangelio, quasi divina manu. Et Gabriel ille magnus, qui in Zacharia vocem incredulam virtute verbi sui coercuit, multo magis in te blasphemam atque impiam suo ipso ore damnavit, dicens ad Mariam virginem Dei matrem: Spiritus, inquit, sanctus veniet in te, et virtus Altissimi obumbrabit tibi. Ideo et quod nascetur ex te sanctum, vocabitur Filius Dei. Vides quod ut secundum carnem hominis fieret filius Iesus Christus, ante est Filius Dei praedicatus? Paritura enim Dominum virgo Maria, sancto in se Spiritu descendente et virtute Altissimi cooperante concepit. Ac per hoc intelligis quod Domini Salvatorisque nostri inde est origo, unde conceptus; et cum descendente in Virginem totius Divinitatis plenitudine natus sit, filius esse hominis non poterat, nisi prius Dei Filius fuisset, et ideo missus ad annuntiandam sacri ortus nativitatem angelus Dei, cum sacramentum conceptionis ante dixisset, partui ipsi nomen imposuit, dicens: Ideo et quod nascetur ex te sanctum, vocabitur Filius Dei (hoc est, illius Filius nuncupabitur quo generante est generatus). Dei ergo Filius Iesus Christus, quia et a divinitate genitus, et a divinitate conceptus. Si autem Dei Filius, ergo indubitanter Deus; si autem Deus, ergo gratia Dei non carens, neque enim ea re umquam caruit quam ipse fecit. Gratia enim et veritas per Iesum Christum facta est. Sanctus Ioannes Cassianus, De Incarnatione Christi, Contra Nestorium Haereticum, Liber II, Caput VI Source: Migne PL 50.43b-47a

But perhaps you will say this grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, of which the Apostle writes, was not born with Him, but was afterwards infused into Him by the descent of Divinity, because the man Jesus Christ our Lord, whom you alone call a mere man, was not born with God, but afterwards was assumed by God, and by this alone grace was given to the man, at the same time as the Divinity. We do not say anything else but that Divine grace descended with the Divinity, for the Divine grace of God is a certain bestowal of actual Divinity and a gift of the abundance of graces. Perhaps then it may be thought that the difference between us is a matter of time rather than of something essential, because you say that the Divinity which for us was born with Jesus Christ was infused afterwards. But denying that Divinity was born with the Lord you cannot afterwards make a confession according to the faith, for it is not possible that one and the same thing be adjudged in part impious and in part pious, and for the same thing to have a share in faith and a share in faithlessness. Firstly then I ask you: Do you say that our Lord Jesus Christ, who was born of the Virgin Mary is only the Son of man, or that He is the Son of God as well? For we, that is, all who hold the Catholic faith, we, I say, all believe and understand and know and confess that He is both, that He is Son of man because He is born of mankind and Son of God because conceived of Divinity. Do you then admit both, that is, Son of God and Son of man, or only of man? If only of man then the Apostles cry out against you, the Prophets cry out, and finally the Holy Spirit Himself, by whom the conception was performed. That most shameless mouth of yours is stopped by all the witnesses of the Divine decrees, it is stopped by the sacred writings of holy witnesses, it is stopped by the very Gospel of God, as by a Divine hand. And great Gabriel who restrained the incredulous voice of Zacharias by the power of his word, 1 much more strongly has condemned the blasphemy and impiety in you by his own mouth saying to the Virgin Mary, the mother of God: 'The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you, therefore that which is holy which shall be born of you, shall be called the Son of God.' 2 Do you see how Jesus Christ, that He might be of man according to the flesh, is first proclaimed to be the Son of God? For that the Virgin Mary bring forth the Lord she conceived by the descent of the Holy Spirit upon her and the cooperation of the power of the Most High. And by this you should see that the origin of our Lord and Saviour is from there, where He was conceived, and since He was born by the descent of the fullness of the whole Divinity upon the Virgin, He could not be the Son of man unless He was first the Son of God. And thus the angel of God sent to announce the nativity of the sacred birth, when he had spoken of the mystery of the conception, added a word about His birth, saying: 'therefore that which is holy, which shall be born of you, shall be called the Son of God,' that is, He shall be called the Son of Him from whom He was begotten. Therefore Jesus Christ is the Son of God, because He was begotten by the Divinity and conceived by Him. And if He is the Son of God, then undoubtedly He is God, and if God, then He does not lack the grace of God, nor indeed was He ever lacking in that which He Himself made. For grace and truth were made through Jesus Christ. Saint John Cassian, On the Incarnation Of Christ, Against Nestorius, Book 2, Chap 6 1 Lk 1.18-20 2 Lk 1.35