My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND SHALL EVER BE.
ON THE 25TH OF DECEMBER, OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHURCH COMMEMORATES
THE HOLY NATIVITY OF OUR LORD AND GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.
The Holy Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord is celebrated in its kontakion hymn, composed by Saint Romanos the Melodist, through the blessing and aid of the Virgin itself: "Today the Virgin giveth birth to Him Who is Supra-essential; and the earth presenteth a cave to Him Who is Unapproachable. Angels with shepherds give glory; with a star, the Magi journey; for our sakes a young Child is born, Who is Pre-eternal God." "What Mysteries beyond mind and speech! God, in His compassion, is born on earth, putting on the form of a servant that He may snatch from servitude to the enemy those who with fervent love cry out: ‘Blessed art Thou, O Savior, Who lovest mankind."
THE PREACHING OF THE PROPHETS HAS REACHED ITS FULFILLMENT
Saint Ancrew of Crete comments, "Of thee, O Mary, all interpreters of the Spirit sang." Nowhere in the Divinely inspired Scripture can one look without seeing some allusion to her, "Rejoice, Mediatress of the law and of grace, Seal of the Old and New Testaments, clear fulfillment of the whole of prophecy, of the Truth of Scripture inspired by God, the living and Most Pure Book of God and the Logos/Word in which, without voice or writing, the Writer Himself, God and Logos/Word, is everyday read." Saint Gregory Palamas thought that "All Divinely inspired Scripture was written because of the Virgin who brought forth God Incarnate."
Saint John of Damascus interprets the BURNING BUSH [Exodus 3:1-8] AS AN IMAGE OF THE VIRGIN BIRTH WHEN HE CHANTS: "Plainly foreshadowed by the burning bush that WAS NOT CONSUMED [Exodos 3:2], a hallowed womb has borne the Logos/Word. God is mingled with the form of mortal men, and so looses the unhappy womb of Eve from the bitter curse of old" [Genesis 3:16]. And, "That which was revealed to Moses in the bush, we see accomplished here in a strange manner. The Virgin bore Fire within her, yet was not consumed, when she gave birth to the Benefactor Who brings us Light."
Saint Andrew of Crete also chants elsewhere that "as Thou art one of the Trinity, Thou wast seen to become flesh, not changing Thine Essence, O Lord. Neither didst, Thou burn the incorrupt womb of her that bore Thee, since Thou art wholly God and Fire."
The burning bush was traditionally interpreted as a type of the Virgin. Saint Gregory of Nyssa is insistent on the virginitas in partu. From the image of the burning bush seen by Moses in Sinai, "We also learn the Mystery of the Virgin: THE LIGHT OF DIVINITY, which through birth shone from her into human life, did not wither the flower of virginity, just as the burning bush was not consumed."
THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAH
"Isaiah, as he watched by night, beheld the Light that knows no evening, the Light of Thy Theophany, O Christ, that came to pass from tender love for us, and he cries aloud, ‘Behold, the Virgin shall conceive in the womb’ [Isaiah 7:14], and shall bear the incarnate Logos, and all those on earth shall rejoice exceedingly.’ Saint Kosmas the Poet also chants of this Virgin: "Lo, the Virgin, as it was said in the day of old [Isaiah 7:14], has conceived in her womb and brought forth God made Man, and she has remained a virgin. Reconciled to God through her, let us sinners sing her praises, for she is verily the Theotokos."
MARY AS PROPHETESS
In another prophecy, Isaiah states: "And I went in to the prophetess and she conceived, and bore a son. And the Lord said to me, ‘Call His name, "Spoil quickly, plunder speedily. For before the Child shall know His father or His mother, He shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians" [Isaiah 8:3-4]. The Persian sage, monk and bishop, Saint Aphrahat {4th Century), speaks of Mary as a "Prophetess." Saint Basil, too, consider Mary, a "Prophetess," because of the Magnificat [Luke 1:46-55] that she uttered.
ROD OF THE ROOT OF JESSE
Here again, Saint Kosmas composes hymns by weaving in Old Testament prophecies, showing the Virgin as the rod and the overshadowed mountain: "Rod of the root of Jesse [Isaiah 11:1] , and flower that blossomed from his stem, O Christ, Thou hast sprung from the Virgin. From the mountain overshadowed by the forest Thou hast come [Habbakuk 3:3] , made flesh from her that knew not wedlock, O God, Who art not formed from matter. Saint Andrew also speaks of the Virgin as the rod and Christ as the Flower: "Let Jesse rejoice and let David dance, for behold the Virgin, the rod planted by God hath blossomed forth the Flower, even the Everlasting Christ."
CREATION IS RENEWED AND LED TO ITS FORMER BEAUTY
Saint Kyril of Alexandria writes that "She bore Emmanuel, Who is truly God. "And the Logos/Word became flesh" [John 1:14] and was born according to the flesh so that we might be found to be brothers of Him Who is above all creation." He also writes in another letter about Him Who was ineffably begotten of the Father before all ages and finally born as man from a woman, that He is one person and not two."
Orthodox theology of the Incarnation is clear in the Church’s hymnology. Saint Joseph the Hymnographer chants: "The Son of the Father…has appeared to us…to give light to those in darkness and to gather the dispersed. Therefore, the far-famed Theotokos do we magnify. This hymnographer also writes that Mary Theotokos ushered in our renewal , thus: "Like a lily, like a fragrant rose, like a divine scent ded the All-Divine Logos find thee, O All-Pure Bride of God; and He made His abode within thy womb, making fragrant our nature which had been full of fetor through sin." Thus, "in the fulness of time, He raised up man who of old had grievously fallen, leading him up to his pristine beauty." (Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church)
(To be continued)
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 