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it is a work of your power, accomplished from custom; and Sarah bears witness, and after her, Rebecca, and again Anna, having been enslaved to the harsh suffering of barrenness, then from you receiving their freedom. But for a virgin to give birth without having come together with a man is beyond the laws of nature. But you also promise your presence to the child. The ends of heaven and earth do not contain you; and how will a virginal womb contain you? And the Master says: How did the tent of Abraham contain me? The angel says: Because it had the sea of hospitality. Then consider, Master, there you appeared to the patriarch in the temporary tent, and you, who fill all things, passed by. How will Mary bear the fire of divinity? Your throne is on fire, shining round about with splendor, and can the virgin bear you without being dismayed? 50.795 Yes indeed, if the fire in the desert harmed the bush, my presence will surely harm Mary also; but if that fire, which foreshadowed the presence of the divine fire from heaven, watered the bush indeed, but did not burn it up; what would you say concerning the truth, coming down not in a flame of fire, but in the form of rain? Then, therefore, the angel fulfilled what had been commanded him; and going to the virgin, and entering, he cried out to her, saying: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you. No longer is the devil against you; for where the enemy first wounded, there the physician applies the plaster; from whence death had the beginning of its exodus, thence life constructed the entrance of life.

Through a woman evil things flow [var. gush forth], through a woman better things spring forth. Hail, full of grace; be not ashamed as the cause of condemnation; for you become the mother of the one who 50.796 condemned. Hail, full of grace; hail, undefiled mother of the bridegroom for the widowed world; Hail, full of grace, who in your womb sank the death of the mother; hail, the living temple of God; hail, dwelling-place that balances heaven and earth; hail, spacious place for the uncontainable nature.

But with these things being so, the physician came to the sick, to those sitting in darkness the sun of righteousness appeared, to those tempest-tossed, the anchor and the waveless harbor, to the irreconcilably hated slaves the ambassador was born, and the bond of peace, to the captives the redeemer visited, to those at war the mighty protection of unspeakable joy and love. For he is our peace, as the divine Apostle says, of which may it be granted to us to always partake, by the grace of Christ our God himself; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

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ἔργον τῆς σῆς ὑπάρχει δυνάμεως ἐκ συνηθείας τελούμενον· καὶ μαρτυρεῖ Σάῤῥα, καὶ μετὰ ταύτην Ῥεβέκκα, καὶ πάλιν Ἄννα, τῷ χαλεπῷ τῆς στειρώσεως δουλεύσασαι πάθει, εἶτα παρὰ σοῦ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν δεξάμεναι. Τὸ δὲ παρθένον τεκεῖν μὴ συντυχοῦσαν ἀνδρὶ ἀνώτερόν ἐστιν τῶν νόμων τῆς φύσεως. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν σὴν ἐπαγγέλλῃ τῇ παιδὶ παρουσίαν. Οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς οὐ χωρεῖ σε τὰ πέρατα· καὶ πῶς σε μήτρα χωρήσει παρθενική; Καὶ ὁ ∆εσπότης φησί· Πῶς με ἐχώρησεν ἡ σκηνὴ τοῦ Ἀβραάμ; Ὁ ἄγγελός φησιν· Ἐπειδὴ εἶχε τῆς φιλοξενίας τὸ πέλαγος. Εἶτα νόμισον, ∆έσποτα, ἐκεῖ ὤφθης τῷ πατριάρχῃ ἐν τῇ παροδίῳ σκηνῇ, καὶ παρέδραμες ὁ τὰ πάντα πληρῶν. Πῶς ἐνέγκῃ ἡ Μαρία τὸ πῦρ τῆς θεότητος; Ὁ θρόνος σου φλέγεται τῇ αἴγλῃ περιλαμπόμενος, καὶ σὲ δύναται φέρειν ἀκαταπλήκτως ἡ παρθένος; 50.795 Ναὶ μὴν, εἰ ἔβλαψε τὸ πῦρ ἐν ἐρήμῳ τὴν βάτον, βλάψει πάντως καὶ Μαρίαν ἡ ἐμὴ παρουσία· εἰ δὲ ἐκεῖνο τὸ πῦρ, τὸ σκιογραφῆσαν τὴν τοῦ θεϊκοῦ πυρὸς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ που παρουσίαν, ἤρδευσε μέντοι τὴν βότον, οὐ κατέφλεξε δέ· τί ἂν εἴποις περὶ τῆς ἀληθείας, οὐκ ἐν πυρὶ φλογὸς, ἀλλ' ἐν σχήματι ὑετοῦ καταβαινούσης; Τότε λοιπὸν ὁ ἄγγελος ἐξεπλήρου τὸ προσταχθὲν αὐτῷ· καὶ πρὸς τὴν παρθένον πορευθεὶς, καὶ εἰσελθὼν, πρὸς αὐτὴν ἐβόησε, λέγων· Χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη, ὁ Κύριος μετὰ σοῦ. Οὐκ ἔτι ὁ διάβολος κατὰ σοῦ· ὅπου γὰρ τὸ πρῶτον ἔτρωσεν ὁ πολέμιος, ἐκεῖ τὴν ἔμπλαστρον ὁ ἰατρὸς ἐπιτίθησιν· ὅθεν τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς ἐξόδου ὁ θάνατος ἔσχεν, ἐκεῖθεν ἡ ζωὴ τὴν εἴσοδον τῆς ζωῆς ἐτεκτήνατο.

∆ιὰ γυναικὸς ἐρύει [φ. βρύει] τὰ φαῦλα, διὰ γυναικὸς πηγάζει τὰ κρείττονα. Χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη· μὴ αἰσχύνου ὡς αἰτία καταδίκης· μήτηρ γὰρ τοῦ κατα 50.796 δικάσαντος γίνῃ. Χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη· χαῖρε, τοῦ χηρεύσαντος κόσμου νυμφοτόκε ἀμίαντε· Χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη, ἡ ἐν μήτρᾳ τὸν τῆς μητρὸς βυθίσασα θάνατον· χαῖρε, ὁ ἔμψυχος ναὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ· χαῖρε, οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς ἰσόῤῥοπον οἴκημα· χαῖρε, τῆς ἀχωρήτου φύσεως χωρίον εὐρύχωρον.

Ἀλλὰ τούτων οὕτως ἐχόντων, ἐπέστη τοῖς ἀσθενοῦσιν ὁ ἰατρὸς, τοῖς ἐν σκότει καθημένοις ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἥλιος ἐπεφάνη, τοῖς χειμαζομένοις ἡ ἄγκυρα καὶ ὁ ἀκύμαντος λιμὴν, τοῖς ἀδιάλλακτα μισουμένοις δούλοις ὁ πρέσβυς ἐτέχθη, καὶ τῆς εἰρήνης ὁ σύνδεσμος, τοῖς αἰχμαλώτοις ὁ λυτρωτὴς ἐπεδήμησε, τοῖς πολεμουμένοις ἡ κραταιὰ τῆς ἀνεκλαλήτου χαρᾶς καὶ ἀγάπης σκέπη. Αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ἡ εἰρήνη ἡμῶν, ὥς φησιν ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος, ἧς γένοιτο διαπαντὸς ἀπολαύειν ἡμᾶς, χάριτι αὐτοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν· ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.