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a lyre for me. Therefore, I come bearing these very things, so that by their power, having received strength for my words, I may say with the angels: Glory to God in the highest; and with the shepherds, And on earth peace, good will toward men. Today, He who was ineffably begotten of the Father is born of a virgin, indescribably for my sake. But then, indeed, He was begotten of the Father before the ages according to nature, as the Begetter knows; but today, again, He was born contrary to nature, as the grace of the Holy Spirit understands. And His begetting from above is true, and His birth below is without falsehood; and truly God was begotten of God, and truly the same was born man of a virgin. Above, the Only-begotten, alone from the only One; below, the same Only-begotten, alone from a virgin alone. For just as it is impious to conceive of a mother in His begetting from above, so it is blasphemous to suppose a father in His birth below. The Father begot without flux, and the virgin bore without corruption; for neither did God undergo flux in begetting—for He begot in a manner befitting God—nor did the virgin undergo corruption in bearing—for she bore spiritually.

Wherefore, neither does His begetting from above have an explanation, nor does His procession in 56.388 later times endure to be meddled with. For that the virgin gave birth, I know today, and that God begot timelessly, I believe; but the manner of the birth I have learned to honor with silence, and not to meddle with through words have I received. For in the case of God, one must not pay attention to the nature of things, but must believe in the power of the One who acts. For it is a law of nature when a woman who has been joined in marriage gives birth; but when a virgin inexperienced in marriage gives birth and then appears as a virgin again, the event is above nature. Let what is according to nature, therefore, be investigated, but let what is above nature be honored with silence, not as something to be shunned, but as something ineffable and worthy of being honored with silence. But grant me pardon, I beseech you, for wishing to stop the discourse in the preliminaries. For being timid towards the investigation of greater things, I do not know how or where to turn the rudders of my words. For what shall I say, or what shall I speak? I see the one who gave birth, I behold the one who was born, but the manner of the birth I do not comprehend; for nature is overcome, and the boundary of order is overcome, wherever God wills. For the event did not happen according to nature, but the miracle was above nature; for nature was inactive, and the will of the Master was active. O indescribable grace! The Only-begotten before the ages, the intangible, and simple, and bodiless, has entered my corruptible and visible body. Why? So that being seen, He might teach, and having taught, He might lead by the hand to what is not seen. For since men consider the eye more trustworthy than the ear, and what they do not see, they doubt, for this reason He deigned to provide the sight of Himself through the body to the eyes, that He might resolve the dispute. And He is born of a virgin who is ignorant of the event; for she neither co-operated with what was happening, nor did she contribute to what was being done, but was a mere instrument of His ineffable power, knowing only what she learned from Gabriel when she asked, 'How shall this be to me, since I know not a man?' And he says: Do you wish to learn this? The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you. And how was He with her, and a little later from her?

Just as an artisan, having found most useful material, fashions a most beautiful vessel; so also Christ, having found the body and soul of the virgin holy, adorned for Himself a living temple, having fashioned man in the virgin in the manner He wished, and having put him on, today He came forth, not being ashamed of the uncomeliness of our nature. For it brought Him no shame to wear His own work; and His creation, for its part, reaped the greatest glory, becoming the garment of the artisan. For just as in the first creation it was impossible for man to be formed before the clay came into His hands; so also the corrupted vessel was impossible to be refashioned, unless it had become the garment of the one who made it. 56.389 But what shall I say, or what shall I speak? For the wonder astounds me. The Ancient of days has become a child, He who is upon a throne high and

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μοι κιθάρα. ∆ιὸ καὶ αὐτὰ ἔρχομαι φέρων, ἵνα τῇ αὐτῶν δυνάμει ἰσχὺν λόγων λαβὼν μετ' ἀγγέλων εἴπω· ∆όξα ἐν ὑψίστοις Θεῷ· μετὰ δὲ ποιμένων, Καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς εἰρήνη, ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκία. Σήμερον ὁ γεννηθεὶς ἀῤῥήτως ἐκ Πατρὸς, ἐκ παρθένου τίκτεται, ἀφράστως δι' ἐμέ. Ἀλλὰ τότε μὲν κατὰ φύσιν ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς πρὸ αἰώνων ἐγεννήθη, ὡς ὁ γεννήσας οἶδε· σήμερον δὲ πάλιν παρὰ φύσιν ἐτέχθη, ὡς ἡ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἐπίσταται χάρις. Καὶ ἡ ἄνω αὐτοῦ γέννησις ἀληθὴς, καὶ ἡ κάτω γέννησις ἀψευδὴς, καὶ ἀληθῶς Θεὸς ἐκ Θεοῦ ἐγεννήθη, καὶ ἀληθῶς ἄνθρωπος ὁ αὐτὸς ἐκ παρθένου ἐτέχθη. Ἄνω μόνος ἐκ μόνου Μονογενὴς, κάτω μόνος ἐκ παρθένου μόνης Μονογενὴς ὁ αὐτός. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς ἄνω γεννήσεως ἀσεβὲς ἐννοῆσαι μητέρα· οὕτω βλάσφημόν ἐστιν ὑπολαβεῖν καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς κάτω γεννήσεως πατέρα. Ὁ Πατὴρ ἀῤῥεύστως ἐγέννησε, καὶ ἡ παρθένος ἀφθόρως ἔτεκεν· οὔτε γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς ῥεῦσιν ὑπέμεινε γεννήσας· θεοπρεπῶς γὰρ ἐγέννησεν· οὔτε ἡ παρθένος φθορὰν ὑπέμεινε τεκοῦσα· πνευματικῶς γὰρ ἔτεκεν.

Ὅθεν οὔτε ἡ ἄνω αὐτοῦ γέννησις ἐξήγησιν ἔχει, οὔτε ἡ ἐν 56.388 ὑστέροις καιροῖς πρόοδος πολυπραγμονεῖσθαι ἀνέχεται. Ὅτι μὲν γὰρ ἔτεκεν ἡ παρθένος, σήμερον οἶδα, καὶ ὅτι ἐγέννησεν ὁ Θεὸς ἀχρόνως, πιστεύω· τὸν δὲ τρόπον τῆς γεννήσεως σιωπῇ τιμᾷν μεμάθηκα, καὶ οὐ διὰ λόγων πολυπραγμονεῖν παρέλαβον. Ἐπὶ γὰρ Θεοῦ οὐ δεῖ τῇ φύσει τῶν πραγμάτων προσέχειν, ἀλλὰ τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ ἐνεργοῦντος πιστεύειν. Φύσεως γάρ ἐστι νόμος, ὅταν γυνὴ προσομιλήσασα γάμοις τέκῃ· ὅταν δὲ παρθένος ἀπειρόγαμος τεκοῦσα πάλιν παρθένος φανείη, ὑπὲρ φύσιν τὸ πρᾶγμα. Τὸ οὖν κατὰ φύσιν ζητείσθω, τὸ δὲ ὑπὲρ φύσιν σιγῇ τιμάσθω, οὐχ ὡς φευκτὸν, ἀλλ' ὡς ἀπόῤῥητον, καὶ σιωπῇ τιμᾶσθαι ἄξιον. Ἀλλ' ἀπονείματέ μοι συγγνώμην, παρακαλῶ, ἐν προοιμίοις καταπαῦσαι τὸν λόγον βουλομένῳ. ∆ειλὸς γὰρ ὢν πρὸς τὴν τῶν κρειττόνων ἔρευναν, πῶς ἢ ποῦ τρέψω τῶν λόγων τὰ πηδάλια οὐχ ἔχω. Τί γὰρ εἴπω, ἢ τί λαλήσω; Τὴν τεκοῦσαν ὁρῶ, τὸν τεχθέντα βλέπω, τὸν δὲ τρόπον τῆς γεννήσεως οὐ συνορῶ· νικᾶται γὰρ φύσις, νικᾶται καὶ τάξεως ὅρος, ὅπου Θεὸς βούλεται. Οὐ γὰρ κατὰ φύσιν γέγονε τὸ πρᾶγμα· ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ φύσιν τὸ θαῦμα· ἤργησε γὰρ ἡ φύσις, καὶ ἐνήργησε τοῦ ∆εσπότου τὸ βούλημα. Ὢ χάριτος ἀφράστου! Ὁ πρὸ αἰώνων Μονογενὴς, ὁ ἀναφὴς, καὶ ἁπλοῦς, καὶ ἀσώματος, ὑπεισῆλθέ μου τὸ φθαρτὸν καὶ ὁρατὸν σῶμα. ∆ιὰ τί; Ἵνα βλεπόμενος διδάξῃ, διδάξας δὲ πρὸς τὸ μὴ βλεπόμενον χειραγωγήσῃ. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οἱ ἄνθρωποι τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν τῆς ἀκοῆς πιστότερον ποιοῦσιν, ὃ δὲ μὴ βλέπουσιν ἀμφιβάλλουσι, διὰ τοῦτο ἠνείχετο καὶ ὀφθαλμοῖς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ θέαν διὰ τοῦ σώματος παρασχεῖν, ἵνα λύσῃ τὴν ἀμφισβήτησιν. Καὶ τίκτεται ἐκ παρθένου ἀγνοούσης τὸ πρᾶγμα· οὔτε γὰρ συνήργησε πρὸς τὸ γινόμενον, οὔτε συνεβάλλετο πρὸς τὸ πραττόμενον, ἀλλ' ἦν ψιλὸν ὄργανον τῆς ἀποῤῥήτου αὐτοῦ δυνάμεως, μόνον εἰδυῖα, ὃ παρὰ τοῦ Γαβριὴλ ἐρομένη ἔμαθεν, ὅτι Πῶς ἔσται μοι τοῦτο, ἐπεὶ ἄνδρα οὐ γινώσκω; Καί φησι· Τοῦτο βούλει μαθεῖν; Πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπὶ σὲ, καὶ δύναμις Ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει σοι. Καὶ πῶς ἦν μετ' αὐτῆς, καὶ μικρὸν ὕστερον ἐξ αὐτῆς;

Ὥσπερ τεχνίτης εὑρὼν ὕλην χρησιμωτάτην, κάλλιστον ἀπεργάζεται σκεῦος· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς εὑρὼν τῆς παρθένου ἅγιον καὶ τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν, ἔμψυχον ἑαυτῷ κατεκόσμησε ναὸν, ὃν ἐβουλήθη τρόπον πλάσας τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐν τῇ παρθένῳ, καὶ ἐνδυσάμενος αὐτὸν, σήμερον προῆλθεν, οὐκ αἰδεσθεὶς τὸ δυσειδὲς τῆς φύσεως. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ὕβριν ἔφερεν αὐτῷ, φορέσαι τὸ ἴδιον ἔργον· καὶ τὸ πλάσμα δὲ μεγίστην ἐκαρποῦτο δόξαν, ἔνδυμα τοῦ τεχνίτου γινόμενον. Ὥσπερ γὰρ παρὰ τὴν πρώτην πλάσιν ἀδύνατον ἦν συνεστάναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον, πρὶν ἢ τὸν πηλὸν εἰς τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ ἐλθεῖν· οὕτω καὶ τὸ φθαρὲν σκεῦος ἀδύνατον μεταποιηθῆναι, εἰ μὴ γέγονεν ἔνδυμα τοῦ ποιήσαντος. 56.389 Ἀλλὰ τί εἴπω, ἢ τί λαλήσω; Ἐκπλήττει γάρ με τὸ θαῦμα. Ὁ Παλαιὸς ἡμερῶν παιδίον γέγονεν, ὁ ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ