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all the nations will hope. Concerning this gate, the prophet also speaks clearly and plainly in the Song of Songs, crying out: A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed. The holy and august maiden Mary remained in her virginity, the luminous cloud, holding within her the God Logos; to whom the loud-voiced Isaiah says: Behold a light cloud, and it shall come into Egypt; the uncut mountain, holding the cornerstone, Christ, concerning which the most wise Daniel says: A stone was cut out of a mountain without hands; that is, without a man the Virgin bore the solid rock, Christ, the uncompounded temple, holding the heavenly stone, Christ, the thunderous cloud, who bore the lightning within her womb; and the divine Scripture bears witness to my word, saying, Your belly is like a heap of wheat set about with lilies; the uncultivated land, which received the Word as a grain of wheat and brought forth the sheaf, the spiritual furnace, holding the fire and the bread of life; the holy mother of the Savior, 43.493 who bore the Word of the Father incarnate of you, to whom Isaiah says: Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name, Emmanuel. O holy Virgin, holy mother of the Lord; blessed bride of the indivisible Trinity; blessed are you among women, who bore on earth as a babe the God and creator of all; blessed are you among women, who alone on earth conceived the heavenly God; blessed are you among women, whose breasts He who nourishes all things suckled; blessed are you among women, who have now given birth to the one who once formed Adam from clay in paradise, O holy virgin Mary, Theotokos. For you are the Theotokos, who bore the Word made incarnate from you; you are the Theotokos who conceived the God Logos in the form of a servant; you are the Theotokos, because having received the God Logos made incarnate, you gave birth; you are the Theotokos who alone gave birth to the only-begotten Son of the one God; not giving birth to a temporal God, but to the eternal God who was before you and all things, made incarnate of you; the spotless sheep, who bore the lamb, Christ; the unyoked heifer, who gave birth to the calf; the spiritual table of faith, who has provided the bread of life to the world. What shall I say? And what shall I speak of the deep-rooted glory? Concerning this holy maid, ever a child and virgin, God says through the prophet, saying: From you shall he come forth for me, who is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore he will give them up, until the time that she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the sons of Israel. And he shall stand and see, and his flock by the strength of the Lord. O holy Virgin, being the mother of eternal light; of the light that illuminated the hosts of angels in the heavens; of the light that illuminated the unspeakable eye of the seraphim; of the light that illuminated the sun with brilliant lamps; of the light that illuminated the ends of the world with the Trinity; of the light that said: I am the light of the world; of the light that said: I have come as a light into the world; of the light that was taken up and illuminated all things in heaven and on earth. O all-holy Virgin, who astonished the hosts of angels! For it is a strange wonder in heaven, a woman bearing the light in her arms; a strange wonder in heaven, another cherubic throne; a strange wonder in heaven, the son of a woman, being her father and the father of the ages; a strange wonder in heaven, the chamber of the Virgin, having the Son of God, God the bridegroom, Christ; a strange wonder in heaven, the infant of the Virgin, is by nature the Lord of angels. O all-holy Virgin, mother of the Savior, who gave birth to the unoriginate Word, the Son enthroned with the Father, consubstantial with the Father and the Holy Spirit, pre-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, who vaulted the heavens, who established the earth. Hail, all-holy Virgin, who, like a spiritual bush, held the fire of the Godhead 43.496 unburnt, the spiritual furnace, who brought the fire and the warm bread of life to the world for food; concerning whom he says

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ἐλπιοῦσι πάντα τὰ ἔθνη. Περὶ ταύτης τῆς πύλης καὶ ἐν τοῖς Ἄσμασι τῇ λέξει ὁ προφήτης τρανῶς καὶ σαφῶς καταλέγεται κεκραγώς· Κῆπος κεκλεισμένος, ἀδελφή μου, νύμφη· κῆπος κεκλεισμένος, πηγὴ ἐσφραγισμένη. Ἔμεινεν ἐν τῇ παρθενίᾳ ἡ ἁγία καὶ σεμνὴ κόρη Μαρία, ἡ φωτεινὴ νεφέλη, ἡ ἔνδον ἔχουσα τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον· πρὸς ἣν ὁ μεγαλόφωνος Ἡσαΐας· Ἰδοὺ νεφέλη κούφη, καὶ ἥξει εἰς Αἴγυπτον· τὸ ἀλατόμητον ὄρος, ἡ τὴν ἀκρότομον ἔχουσα πέτραν Χριστὸν, περὶ ἧς ὁ σοφώτατος ∆ανιὴλ λέγει· Ἀπετμήθη λίθος ἐξ ὄρους ἄνευ χειρῶν· τουτέστιν, ἄνευ ἀνδρὸς τὴν στερεὰν πέτραν Χριστὸν ἔτεκεν ἡ Παρθένος, ὁ ἀσύνθετος ναὸς, ἡ τὸν οὐράνιον ἔχουσα λίθον Χριστὸν, ἡ βροντοειδὴς νεφέλη, ἡ τὴν ἀστραπὴν ἔνδον κοιλιοφόρως βαστάσασα· καὶ μαρτυρεῖ μοι τῷ λόγῳ ἡ θεία Γραφὴ λέγουσα, Κοιλία σου θημωνία σίτου πεφραγμένη ἐν κρίνοις· ἡ ἀγεώργητος χώρα, ἡ τὸν Λόγον ὡς κόκκον σίτου δεξαμένη, καὶ τὸ δράγμα βλαστήσασα, ἡ νοερὰ κλίβανος, ἡ τὸ πῦρ καὶ τὸν ἄρτον τῆς ζωῆς ἔχουσα· ἡ ὁσία μήτηρ τοῦ Σωτῆρος, 43.493 ἡ τὸν Λόγον τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐκ σοῦ σαρκωθέντα τεκοῦσα, πρὸς ἣν Ἡσαΐας· Ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει, καὶ τέξεται υἱὸν, καὶ καλέσουσι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, Ἐμμανουήλ. Ὦ Παρθένος ἁγία, ἁγία μήτηρ Κυρίου· μακαρία νύμφη Τριάδος ἀχωρίστου· μακαρία σὺ ἐν γυναιξὶν, ἡ τεκοῦσα ἐπὶ γῆς ὡς βρέφος τὸν πάντων κτίστην Θεόν· μακαρία σὺ ἐν γυναιξὶν, ἡ μόνη ἐπὶ γῆς κυήσασα τὸν οὐράνιον Θεόν· μακαρία σὺ ἐν γυναιξὶν, ἧς μασθοὺς ἐθήλασεν ὁ τρέφων τὰ σύμπαντα· μακαρία σὺ ἐν γυναιξὶν, ἡ νῦν γεννήσασα τὸν ποτὲ πλάσαντα πηλῷ τὸν Ἀδὰμ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ, Θεοτόκε ἁγία παρθένε Μαρία. Θεοτόκος γὰρ ὑπάρχεις, ἡ τὸν Λόγον ἐκ σοῦ σαρκωθέντα τεκοῦσα· Θεοτόκος ὑπάρχεις ἡ τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον ἐν μορφῇ δούλου κυήσασα· Θεοτόκος ὑπάρχεις, ὅτι Θεὸν Λόγον δεξαμένη σαρκωθέντα ἔτεκες· Θεοτόκος ὑπάρχεις ἡ μόνη τοῦ μόνου μονογενῆ Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ γεννήσασα· οὐ πρόσκαιρον Θεὸν γεννήσασα, ἀλλ' αἰώνιον τὸν πρὸ σοῦ καὶ πάντων Θεὸν, ἐκ σοῦ σαρκωθέντα· τὸ ἄσπιλον πρόβατον, ἡ τὸν ἀμνὸν τεκοῦσα Χριστόν· ἡ δάμαλις ἡ ἀπειρόζυγος, ἡ τὸν μόσχον γεννήσασα· ἡ νοερὰ τῆς πίστεως τράπεζα, ἡ τὸν ἄρτον τῆς ζωῆς τῷ κόσμῳ χορηγήσασα. Τί εἴπω; καὶ τί λαλήσω τὴν ὁλόῤῥιζον δόξαν; Περὶ ταύτης τῆς ὁσίας κόρης τῆς ἀείπαιδος καὶ παρθένου, διὰ τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος ὁ Θεός φησιν· Ἐκ σοῦ μοι ἐξελεύσεται ἡγούμενος, τοῦ εἶναι εἰς ἄρχοντα ἐν τῷ Ἰσραήλ· καὶ ἔξοδοι αὐτοῦ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς ἐξ ἡμερῶν αἰῶνος. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο δώσει αὐτοὺς ἕως καιροῦ τικτούσης, τέξεται, καὶ οἱ ἐπίλοιποι τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ ἐπιστρέψουσιν ἐπὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραήλ· καὶ στήσεται, καὶ ὄψεται, καὶ ποίμνιον αὐτοῦ ἐν ἰσχύϊ Κύριος. Ὦ Παρθένε ἁγία, φωτὸς αἰωνίου ὑπάρχουσα μήτηρ· φωτὸς τοῦ φωτίσαντος ἐν οὐρανοῖς τὰς τῶν ἀγγέλων στρατιάς· φωτὸς τοῦ φωτίσαντος τῶν σεραφεὶμ τὸ ἀνεκλάλητον ὄμμα· φωτὸς τοῦ φωτίσαντος λαμπραῖς λαμπάσι τὸν ἥλιον· φωτὸς τοῦ φωτίσαντος τὰ πέρατα τῆς οἰκουμένης τῇ Τριάδι· φωτὸς τοῦ εἰπόντος· Ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου· φωτὸς τοῦ εἰρηκότος· Ἐγὼ φῶς εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἐλήλυθα· φωτὸς τοῦ ἀναληφθέντος καὶ φωτίσαντος ἐν οὐρανοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς τὰ σύμπαντα. Ὦ παναγία Παρθένε, ἡ στρατιὰς ἀγγέλων ξενίσασα! Ξένον γὰρ θαῦμα ἐν οὐρανοῖς, γυνὴ τὸ φῶς ἐν ἀγκάλαις βαστάσασα· ξένον θαῦμα ἐν οὐρανοῖς, χερουβικὸς θρόνος ἕτερος· ξένον θαῦμα ἐν οὐρανοῖς, γυναικὸς υἱὸς, αὐτῆς καὶ τῶν αἰώνων πατὴρ ὑπάρχων· ξένον θαῦμα ἐν οὐρανοῖς, Παρθένου θάλαμος, Υἱὸν Θεοῦ, Θεὸν νυμφίον ἔχουσα Χριστόν· ξένον θαῦμα ἐν οὐρανοῖς, τὸ βρέφος τῆς Παρθένου, ∆εσπότης τῶν ἀγγέλων πέφυκεν. Ὦ παναγία Παρθένε, μήτηρ τοῦ Σωτῆρος, ἡ τὸν ἄναρχον γεννήσασα Λόγον, τὸν τοῦ Πατρὸς σύνθρονον Υἱὸν, τὸν ὁμοούσιον τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, τὸν προαιώνιον σὺν Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, τὸν τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καμαρώσαντα, τὸν τὴν γῆν ἑδράσαντα. Χαῖρε, παναγία Παρθένε, ἡ τὸ πῦρ τῆς θεότητος 43.496 ἀφλέκτως, ὡς νοερὰ βάτος, κατέχουσα, ἡ νοερὰ κλίβανος, ἡ τὸ πῦρ καὶ τὸν ἄρτον τῆς ζωῆς θερμὸν τῷ κόσμῳ πρὸς βρῶσιν ἐνέγκασα· περὶ οὗ λέγει ὁ