3

is it possible? Not at all, but from the working of God, from the visitation of the Most High, from the presence of the Spirit.

5 Therefore when the virgin said to Gabriel: "How shall this be to me, since I know not a man?" that is: "The wonder strikes me, the word astounds me," and the angel's divine message amazes the virgin. "You say wondrous things, but to me they are suspect on account of their strangeness. I fear the newness of the good news, I am troubled by the exceeding strangeness of what is said. "3How shall this be to me, since I know not a man?3 How shall I be a mother, not having become a bride? I have not destroyed the flower of my youth, I have not loosed the girdle of virginity, I have not slackened the bond of the womb, I have not broken the seal of the womb." But the angel immediately replied: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you," that is: "If you knew a man, you would not have borne God, who was pleased to take from you for your sake the form of a servant without corruption, you would not have become an instrument of the incarnation of the one who created all things. But since you are pure from the marriage bed, since you have kept the temple incorrupt and the tabernacle free from all stain, both the Father visits you and the Spirit overshadows and the Only-begotten is born from you with flesh. Therefore, do not doubt at all the mysteries that follow, do not doubt when giving birth in a cave to the creator of the whole creation, do not doubt when placing in a manger the one who sits upon the backs of the cherubim, having no room in the inn and being the mother of the king of things above and things below."

6 For he willingly becomes poor from you, that he might both restrain the rich, and to the poor become a model of patience and a teacher of thanksgiving. He is willingly placed in the manger, that the beast-like might run to him and find the Word sitting in the manger, that they might receive from him the dignity of reason, that they might find wheat when they expected chaff, that they might run like beasts, thinking to find bundles of barley in the manger, and might eat the true bread, the food of life, the supper of light, the meal of joy, the sweetness of incorruption, from which is the knowledge of the kingdom, the pledge of adoption, the inheritance of the heavens, the communion of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. To Him be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

3

δύ ναται; Οὐδαμῶς, ἀλλ' ἐξ ἐνεργείας θεοῦ, ἐξ ἐπιφοιτήσεως ὑψί στου, ἐκ παρουσίας Πνεύματος.

5 Τοιγαροῦν ἡνίκα ἡ παρθένος πρὸς τὸν Γαβριὴλ ἔλεγε· «Πῶς ἔσται μοι τοῦτο, ἐπεὶ ἄνδρα οὐ γινώσκω;» τουτέστιν· «Ἐκ πλήττει με τὸ θαῦμα, καταπλήττει με τὸ ῥῆμα», καὶ ὁ τοῦ ἀγ γέλου χρηματισμὸς τὴν παρθένον ἐξίστησιν. «Θαυμαστὰ λέγεις, ἐμοὶ δὲ διὰ τὸ ξένον ὕποπτα. ∆έδοικα τοῦ εὐαγγελισμοῦ τὸ και νόν, θορυβοῦμαι πρὸς τὸ λίαν τῶν λεγομένων ἄηθες. "3Πῶς ἔσται μοι τοῦτο, ἐπεὶ ἄνδρα οὐ γινώσκω;"3 Πῶς ἔσομαι μή-τηρ, μὴ γενομένη νύμφη; Οὐκ ἔφθειρα τὸ τῆς ὥρας ἄνθος, τὸν ζωστῆρα τῆς παρθενίας οὐκ ἔλυσα, τὸν δεσμὸν τῆς μήτρας οὐκ ἐχαύνωσα, τὴν σφραγῖδα τῆς γαστρὸς οὐ παρέλυσα.» Ὁ δὲ ἄγγελος παραχρῆμα ἐπήγαγε· «Πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπὶ σέ, καὶ δύναμις ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει σοι» τουτέστιν· «Εἰ ἐγίνωσκες ἄνδρα, οὐκ ἂν ἔτεκες θεόν, δούλου μορφὴν λαβεῖν ἐκ σοῦ διὰ σὲ χωρὶς φθορᾶς εὐδοκήσαντα, οὐκ ἂν ὄργανον ἐγένου τῆς τοῦ πάντα παραγαγόντος σαρκώσεως. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ καθαρὰ τυγχάνεις κοίτης γαμικῆς, ἐπειδὴ τὸν ναὸν ἄφθαρτον καὶ τὴν σκηνὴν ῥύπου παντὸς ἐλευθέραν ἐτήρησας, καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἐπιδημεῖ σοι καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα ἐπισκιάζει καὶ μετὰ σαρκὸς ἐκ σοῦ ὁ Μονογενὴς τίκτεται. Σὺ οὖν μηδαμῶς διακριθῇς τὰ ἑξῆς μυστήρια, μὴ διακριθῇς ἐν σπηλαίῳ τίκτουσα τὸν ὅλης τῆς κτίσεως δημιουργόν, μὴ διακριθῇς ἐν φάτνῃ καθίζουσα τὸν ἐπὶ τῶν νώτων τῶν χερουβὶμ καθεζόμενον, οὐκ ἔχουσα τόπον ἐν τῷ καταλύματι καὶ μήτηρ βασιλέως τῶν ἄνω καὶ τῶν κάτω τυγχάνουσα.»

6 Ἑκὼν γὰρ ἐκ σοῦ πτωχεύει, ἵνα καὶ τοὺς πλουσίους χαλι-νώσῃ, καὶ τοῖς πτωχοῖς ὑπόθεσις ὑπομονῆς καὶ διδάσκαλος εὐχαριστίας γένηται. Ἑκὼν ἐπὶ τῆς φάτνης τίθεται, ἵνα οἱ κτηνώδεις προσδράμωσι καὶ τὸν Λόγον εὕρωσιν ἐπὶ τῆς φάτνης καθήμενον, ἵνα ἀναλάβωσιν ἐξ αὐτοῦ τὸ λογικὸν ἀξίωμα, ἵνα σῖτον εὕρωσι προσδοκήσαντες ἄχυρα, ἵνα ὡς κτήνη προσδράμωσι δράγματα κριθῆς ἐπὶ τῆς φάτνης εὑρεῖν οἰόμενοι καὶ τὸν ἄρτον τὸν ἀληθινὸν φάγωσι, τὴν τροφὴν τῆς ζωῆς, τὸ δεῖπνον τοῦ φωτός, τὴν βρῶσιν τῆς χαρᾶς, τῆς ἀφθαρσίας τὸ γλύκασμα, ἐξ οὗ τῆς βασιλείας ἡ γνῶσις, τῆς υἱοθεσίας ὁ ἀρραβών, ὁ τῶν οὐρανῶν κλῆρος, ἡ κοινωνία τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος· Αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.