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with the undefiled one, the one who sanctifies all things, with the beautiful one, the one beautiful in loveliness beyond the sons of men, so that he might save man, whom he made in his image, in whose divine faith and grace we rejoice and are illuminated by a thrice-holy light. Roses and lilies and fragrances of spiritual sweet scents; Christ, our ineffable spring, has come, the delightful and most beautiful paradise of the churches has filled the three parts of our soul with divine perfumes and heavenly graces. Let us therefore approach with a pure heart and we shall find the golden-gleaming one and the fruits of immortality fragrant upon her. For from the incorruptible Mary blossomed for us the ever-living tree of grace, for the blessed one among all generations was completely filled with spiritual wisdom .... In the all-pure ever-virgin Mary alone did the plant of life blossom for us, for she alone was pure in soul and body and with a courageous mind she conversed with the angel: "Whence is this greeting? And how shall this be for me, I wish to learn; how does the magnificent power become subject to the same sufferings as our poverty? how does he who has the authority of the power of the heavens take on the image of our lowliness and the pre-eternal God intend to become a child and be enfleshed, he who puts on light as a garment?". And the angel says to her: "Yes, thus he has been pleased, in order to save his own creation". Such an incomprehensible mystery the holy virgin sought and became a receptacle of the divine mysteries, when the Holy Spirit overshadowed her. And the truth of the body was assumed and wisdom built a house; the word became flesh and dwelt among us, that is, in that very body which he took from a human being and which he animated with the spirit of a rational soul. And the unchangeable God took upon himself the form of a servant, so that to the unbelievers he might be thought of as a man, but to the faithful he might be revealed as God; for being the son of God and God before the ages, he deigned to become the son of a holy woman, and the invisible is seen, and the rich one for our sakes becomes poor, and the impassible and immortal suffers as a man. He was united to a body and was not changed in spirit; the uncontainable one has been contained in a mortal body, so that he might make it immortal, making it co-immortal with his divinity. A light came into the world, Christ our God, illuminating all things with eternal light, the voice of the invisible Father bearing witness: "This is my Son and Word, who exists before the ages".

And Mary was fortified by the word of the angel, and considered the birth of the master, encountering things beyond the comparison of human reasonings; at one time being led up to the height of the divinity, at another considering the lowliness of the humanity. And while the scale of her thought was borne on both sides, then she was deemed worthy of the precise inclination of God. For he who kept the pure workshop of her virginity unharmed, also made the discernment of her heart unswerving. The holy one, therefore, was filled with joy from within, on account of him who took flesh from her. Grace has come to us, Christ the son of God, who was ineffably born of the virgin Mary; by grace he who created all things saves us. The whole creation dances, Christ having been born in the world, and we therefore, while still in the body, will strive to propitiate God with angelic hymns, let us faithfully sow in our minds the truth of the divine dogmas in a scrutinized manner. For the mystery is incomprehensible and invisible, unchangeable and indescribable; worshipped in silence and amazing to the mind. For the holy one also marveled at the manner, how the radiance of the light becomes the offspring of a woman; she embraced the treasure of life and pondered the greeting of the angel, until she brought to fruition the fruit of salvation. Here, then, the beautifully formed flowers of Christ's teaching offer the fruits of blessing; here all purity and sweet fragrance offers the incense of prayer to God with a pure conscience; here virginity and prudence

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μετὰ τῆς ἀμιάντου ὁ ἁγιάζων τὰ σύμπαντα, μετὰ τῆς ὡραίας ὁ ὡραῖος κάλλει παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἵνα σώσῃ ὃν κατεικόνα ἐποίησεν ἄνθρωπον, οὗ θείας πίστεως καὶ χάριτος εὐφραινόμεθα καὶ φωτὶ τρισηλίῳ καταυγαζόμεθα. Ῥόδα καὶ κρίνα καὶ εὐωδίας νοητῆς μυρίσματα· τὸ ἄφραστον ἡμῶν ἔαρ Χριστὸς παραγέγονε, ὁ τερπνὸς καὶ περικαλλὴς τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν παράδεισος ἐκ τῶν θείων ἀρωμάτων καὶ οὐρανίων χαρισμάτων τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν τριμερὲς ἐπλήρωσεν. Καρδίᾳ τοίνυν καθαρᾷ προσέλθωμεν καὶ εὑρήσωμεν τὴν χρυσαυγοῦσαν καὶ καρποὺς ἀθανασίας ἐπ' αὐτῇ ἀρωματίζοντας. Ἐκ γὰρ τῆς ἀφθόρου Μαρίας ἐβλάστησεν ἡμῖν τὸ ἀείζωον δένδρον τῆς χάριτος, σοφίας γὰρ πνευματικῆς κατὰ πάντα ἐπεπλήρωτο ἡ μακαρία ἐκ πασῶν τῶν γενεῶν .... Ἐν μόνῃ τῇ ἀχράντῳ ἀειπαρθένῳ Μαρίᾳ τὸ φυτὸν τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῖν ἤνθησεν, αὕτη γὰρ μόνη ἁγνὴ ψυχῇ καὶ σώματι γέγονε καὶ θαρσαλέῳ φρονήματι τὸν ἄγγελον προσδιελέγετο· "Πόθεν ὁ ἀσπασμὸς οὗτος; καὶ πῶς ἔσται μοι τοῦτο μαθεῖν ἐθέλῳ· πῶς ἡ μεγαλοπρεπὲς ἐξουσία ὁμοιοπαθεὶς γίνεται τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ πτωχείᾳ; πῶς ὁ ἔχων τῆς δυνάμεως οὐρανῶν τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἀναλαμβάνει εἰκόνα τῆς ἡμετέρας εὐτελείας καὶ ὁ προαιώνιον ὑπάρχων θεὸς μέλλει παιδίον γίνεσθαι καὶ σαρκοῦσθαι ὁ ἀναβαλλόμενος φῶς ὡς ἱμάτιον;". Καὶ ὁ ἄγγελος πρὸς αὐτὴν λέγει· "Ναὶ ταῦτα οὕτως εὐδόκησεν, ἵνα σώσῃ τὸ πλάσμα τὸ ἴδιον". Τοιοῦτον μυστήριον ἡ ἁγία παρθένος ἐζήτει τὸ ἀκατάληπτον καὶ τῶν θείων μυστηρίων δοχεῖον γέγονε, τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἐπισκιάσαντος. Καὶ προσελήφθη ἡ ἀλήθεια τοῦ σώματος καὶ ἡ σοφία ᾠκοδόμησεν οἶκον· ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ σώματι ὅπερ ἔλαβεν ἐξ ἀνθρώπου καὶ πνεῦμα ψυχῆς λογικῆς ἐψύχωσεν. Καὶ ὁ ἀναλλοίωτος θεὸς τὴν τοῦ δούλου μορφὴν ἀνεδέξατο, ἵνα τοῖς μὲν ἀπίστοις νομισθῇ ὡς ἄνθρωπος, τοῖς δὲ πιστοῖς φανερωθῇ ὡς θεός· υἱὸς γὰρ θεοῦ καὶ θεὸς προαιώνων ὑπάρχων, υἱὸς γυναικὸς ἁγίας κατηξίωσεν γενέσθαι καὶ ἀόρατος ὁρᾶται καὶ ὁ πλούσιος δι' ἡμᾶς πτωχεύει καὶ ὁ ἀπαθὴς καὶ ἀθάνατος πάσχει ὡς ἄνθρωπος. Ἡνώθη σώματι καὶ οὐκ ἠλλοιώθη πνεύματι· εἰς θνητὸν σῶμα κεχώρηκεν ὁ ἀχώρητος, ἵνα αὐτῷ ποιήσῃ ἀθάνατον συνεξαθανατήσας αὐτὸν τῇ θεότητι. Φῶς ἦλθεν ἐν κόσμῳ Χριστὸς ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν, φωτίζων τὰ πάντα φωτὶ ἀεννάῳ, φωνῆς πατρὸς ἀοράτου μαρτυρούσης· "Οὗτος ὁ υἱός μου καὶ λόγος πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων ὑπάρχει".

Ἡ δὲ Μαρία τῷ μὲν λόγῳ ἐτειχίζετο τοῦ ἀγγέλου, τὸν δὲ τόκον τοῦ δεσπότου διελογίζετο εἰς ἀνισότερα λογισμῶν ἀνδρωπίνων περιτυγχάνουσα· ποτὲ μὲν εἰς τὸ ὕψος τῆς θεότητος ἀναγομένη, ποτὲ δὲ τὸ ταπεινὸν τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος ἐνθυμουμένη. Καὶ οὗτος τῆς διανοητικῆς πλάστιγγος ἐφ' ἑκατέρων φερομένης, τότε τῆς ἡκριβομένης τοῦ θεοῦ ῥοπῆς ἠξιοῦται. Ὁ γὰρ τὸ καθαρὸν τῆς παρθενίας ἐργαστήριον φυλάξας ἀβλαβές, καὶ τὸ τῆς καρδίας διακριτικὸν πεποίηκεν ἀκλινές. Χαρᾶς οὖν ἡ ἁγία ἔσωθεν ἐπληροῦτο, διὰ τὸν ἐξ αὐτῆς σάρκα ἀναλαβόντα. Χάρις ἡμῖν ἦλθεν Χριστὸς ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ υἱός, ὁ ἐκ τῆς παρθένου Μαρίας ἀφράστως τεχθείς· χάριτι ἡμᾶς σώζει ὁ κτίσας τὰ σύμπαντα. Χορεύει πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις Χριστοῦ ἐν κόσμῳ τεχθέντος καὶ ἡμεῖς οὖν ἔτι ὄντες ἐν σώματι τῷ θεῷ ἀγγελικαῖς ὑμνῳδίαις ἐξευμενίζειν σπουδάσομεν, ἐρευνημένῳ τύπῳ τὴν τῶν θείων δογμάτων ἀλήθειαν πιστῶς ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ κατασπείρωμεν. Ὑπάρχει γὰρ τὸ μυστήριον ἀκατάληπτον καὶ ἀόρατον, ἀναλλοίωτον καὶ ἀπερίγραπτον· σιωπῇ προσκυνούμενον καὶ τῷ νῷ καταπληττόμενον. Καὶ γὰρ ἡ ἁγία τὸν τρόπον ἐθαύμαζε πῶς τοῦ φωτὸς τὸ ἀπαύγασμα γυναικὸς γέννημα γίνεται· τὸν θησαυρὸν τῆς ζωῆς περιεπτύσσετο καὶ τὸν ἀσπασμὸν τοῦ ἀγγέλου διελογίζετο, ἕως ἐτελεσφόρησε τὸν καρπὸν τῆς σωτηρίας. Ὧδε λοιπὸν τὰ καλλίμορφα ἄνθη τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ διδασκαλίας τοὺς καρποὺς τῆς εὐλογίας προσφέρουσιν· ὧδε πᾶσα ἁγνεία καὶ εὐωδία τὸ τῆς προσευχῆς θυμίαμα, καθαρᾷ συνειδήσει θεῷ προσκομίζει· ὧδε παρθενία καὶ σοφροσύνη