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shall I rather hide the mystery? If he who came has lied for now, I am provoking the old man's tongue against myself.

And as the virgin was considering these things, her swelling belly advanced, and the infant danced within. Mary was thinking about this, and putting a myriad of veils upon her belly, she wished to hide it from Joseph; but she could not hide a city set upon a hill. The sight of her belly pricked Joseph, and with a sidelong glance he was sizing up the virgin's belly. And he wanted to reproach her, and was compelled to be silent; he wanted to reproach her, as one who had sold the treasures of her virginity; and her former life prevented it. So he tormented his own soul with afflictions; Alas, he said, what shall I do? the face of a virgin, the state of a virgin, the eyes of a virgin, the laugh of a virgin; and the belly not of a virgin, but of a mother; the speech of a virgin; alas, alas; I can no longer bear to see it. Shall I then speak publicly about the matter, shall I expose Mary? For the shame is shared. Shall I cry out with a loud voice, lest I be called the father of the unsown child?

There is no accuser of the maiden, since he who is carried in the womb does not have one who sowed the seed. Perhaps for me both to be silent and to speak is dangerous. What then shall I do? Shall I call her and ask, or shall I point it out before asking? But the scripture testifies; I will rather expose her. Did she not do it? So, calling her with a stern face, he sat down as judge of the Judge in the womb. Tell me, he says, with accuracy what has happened to you; do not hide from me what has befallen you; no one is present to hear our words; I know how to keep mysteries; no one will learn of the matter, only fully inform me. From where is this that is seen in you? Show me his father, and I will free you from the offense; for you will be deemed worthy of forgiveness, as a woman overcome by desire. And the virgin answered him: If you seek his father, you will never find one; and if you think him an orphan, you have failed in this too. And Joseph: You have been able to lie about nothing, Mary; for how can he not be an orphan and not have a father? And the virgin: But if you ask who, Joseph (for you do not know), if I tell you the truth, I am not believed. You see a belly, and you do not see the hidden Lord; you perceive a womb, and you do not consider him who was begotten of the Father from the womb before the morning star, and who is dwelling in me.

If I tell you what the angel told me, you will say, 'You bear witness of yourself, and your witness is not true.' And Joseph: Bring the ones who heard, give the ones who were present, lead forth truthful witnesses. And the virgin said: If you seek these things, you will never find them; for one, sent by one to one, spoke to her alone in private; no one was present; since no one was to be the father of the one being born. But as the virgin was being disbelieved, Mary, then suspecting, came to another line of thought, saying: My belly betrays me, my child accuses me, exulting in my womb; why then do I provoke Joseph further against myself? I will choke my lips with silence, and invisibly plead my case to the angel: Where are you now, you who uttered, 'Hail, full of grace'? In what places are you dwelling? Tell me, that I may go there, and hang upon your neck, until you come and fully inform Joseph, whose son is he who leaps in the chamber of my womb. I cannot bear the old man suspecting, grumbling; and in what place you are tarrying, I do not know; come, and make a defense on my behalf. As Mary was saying these things, swiftly the angel comes to Jo 60.759 seph, and having fully informed him, prevented him from casting out the virgin, saying to Joseph, 'Do not be afraid to take Mary your wife; I am not speaking to you of the fellowship of marriage, but of the economy of divine mysteries.' But are you not the father? On earth, do not seek a father, nor in heaven a mother. His nature is delivered from all orphanhood; for alone from the Alone he exists alone before the ages. Now alone from one who is alone, as he alone knows. Do not lose heart the

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κρύψω μᾶλλον τὸ μυστήριον; Εἰ ἐψεύσατο ὁ ἐλθὼν τέως, καθ' ἑαυτῆς ἐρεθίζω τὴν γλῶτταν τοῦ γέροντος.

Καὶ ὡς ταῦτα ἐσκέπτετο ἡ παρθένος, ἡ κοιλία ὀγκουμένη προέκοπτε, καὶ τὸ βρέφος ἔνδον ἐχόρευε. Μαρία δὲ περὶ τούτου ἐσκέπτετο, καὶ μυρία παραπετάσματα τῇ γαστρὶ ἐπιβαλοῦσα, τὸν Ἰωσὴφ λανθάνειν ἠβούλετο· ἀλλ' οὐκ ἠδύνατο κρύψαι πόλιν ἐπάνω ὄρους κειμένην. Τὸν Ἰωσὴφ ἔνυξεν ἡ δεῖξις τῆς κοιλίας, καὶ λοξῷ τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ τῆς παρθένου τὴν κοιλίαν ἐστάθμιζε. Καὶ ὑβρίζειν ἤθελε, καὶ σιωπᾷν ἠναγκάζετο· ὑβρίζειν ἤθελεν, ὡς πεπρακυῖαν τὰ τῆς παρθενίας κειμήλια· καὶ ὁ πρῶτος βίος διεκώλυε. Λοιπὸν τὴν ἰδίαν ψυχὴν ταῖς θλίψεσιν ἐβασάνιζεν· Οἴμοι, λέγων, τί ποιήσω ἐγώ; ἡ ὄψις παρθένου, ἡ κατάστασις παρθένου, οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ παρθένου, ὁ γέλως παρθένου· καὶ ἡ κοιλία οὐ παρθένου, ἀλλὰ μητρός· ὁ λόγος παρθένου· οἴμοι, οἴμοι· οὐ φέρω λοιπὸν ὁρῶν. ∆ημηγορήσω λοιπὸν τὸ πρᾶγμα, ἐλέγξω τὴν Μαρίαν; Ἡ γὰρ αἰσχύνη κοινή. Βοήσω μετὰ κραυγῆς, μήπως τοῦ ἀσπόρου παιδὸς κληθῶ πατήρ;

Οὐδεὶς τῆς κόρης κατήγορος, ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἔχει ὁ κυοφορούμενος τὸν παιδοσπορήσαντα. Τάχα μοι καὶ τὸ σιωπᾷν καὶ τὸ λαλεῖν ἐστιν ἐπικίνδυνον. Τί οὖν ποιήσω; καλέσας ἐρωτήσω, ἢ πρὸ ἐρωτήσεως δείξω; Ἀλλ' ἡ γραφὴ μαρτυρεῖ· ἐλέγξω μᾶλλον. Μὴ οὐκ ἐποίησε; Καλέσας οὖν αὐτὴν αὐστηρῷ τῷ προσώπῳ, κριτὴς τοῦ ἐν κοιλίᾳ κριτοῦ ἐκαθέζετο. Λέγε μοι, φησὶ, μετὰ ἀκριβείας τὸ γέγονός σοι· μὴ κρύψῃς με τὸ συμβάν σοι· οὐδεὶς ὁ παρὼν τῶν λόγων ἀκροατής· οἶδα φυλάττειν μυστήρια· οὐδεὶς μανθάνει τὸ πρᾶγμα, μόνον με πληροφόρησον. Πόθεν τοῦτο ὑπάρχει τὸ ὁρώμενον ἐν σοί; τὸν τούτου πατέρα ὑπόδειξόν μοι, καὶ ἐλευθερῶ σε τοῦ πταίσματος· συγγνώμης γὰρ ἀξιωθήσῃ, ὡς ἐν ἐπιθυμίᾳ νικηθεῖσα γυνή. Καὶ ἡ παρθένος πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπεκρίνατο· Εἰ πατέρα τούτου ζητεῖς, εὑρήσεις οὐδέποτε· εἰ δὲ καὶ ὀρφανὸν νομίσεις, καὶ τούτου ἀπέτυχες. Καὶ ὁ Ἰωσήφ· Οὐδὲν ψεύσασθαι, Μαρία, δεδύνησαι· πῶς γὰρ δύναται ὀρφανὸν μὴ εἶναι καὶ πατέρα μὴ ἔχειν; Καὶ ἡ παρθένος· Εἰ δὲ ζητεῖς τίς, Ἰωσὴφ (ἀγνοεῖς γὰρ), ἐὰν εἴπω σοι τὸ ἀληθὲς, οὐ πιστεύομαι. Κοιλίαν βλέπεις, καὶ τὸν κρυπτόμενον Κύριον οὐχ ὁρᾷς· γαστέρα κατανοεῖς, καὶ οὐ λογίζῃ τὸν ἐκ γαστρὸς πρὸ ἑωσφόρου ἐκ Πατρὸς γεννηθέντα, καὶ ἐν ἐμοὶ αὐλιζόμενον.

Εἰ εἴπω σοι, ὃ εἶπέ μοι ὁ ἄγγελος, ἐρεῖς, ὅτι Ἑαυτῇ μαρτυρεῖς, καὶ ἡ μαρτυρία σου οὐκ ἔστιν ἀληθής. Καὶ ὁ Ἰωσήφ· Φέρε τοὺς ἀκηκοότας, δὸς τοὺς παρεστῶτας, ἄγαγε ἀληθεύοντας μάρτυρας. Καὶ ἡ παρθένος ἔφη· Εἰ ταῦτα ζητεῖς, εὑρήσεις οὐδέποτε· εἷς γὰρ δι' ἑνὸς πρὸς μίαν ἀπεσταλμένος διὰ μόνης καταμόνας ἐλάλησεν· οὐδεῖς παρῆν· ἐπεὶ οὐδεὶς ἔμελλεν εἶναι τοῦ τικτομένου πατήρ. Ὡς δὲ ἠπιστεῖτο ἡ παρθένος, ὑπονοήσασα λοιπὸν εἰς ἕτερον λογισμὸν ἦλθε Μαρία, λέγουσα· Ἡ γαστήρ με προδίδωσιν, ὁ παῖς μου κατηγορεῖ ἐν κοιλίᾳ ἀγαλλόμενος· τί οὖν καθ' ἑαυτῆς ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἐρεθίζω τὸν Ἰωσήφ; Πνίξω τῇ σιωπῇ τὰ χείλη μου, καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἄγγελον ἀοράτως δικάσομαι· Ποῦ τὰ νῦν ὑπάρχεις, ὁ τὸ, Χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη, φθεγγόμενος; ἐν ποίοις τόποις αὐλίζῃ; εἰπὲ, ἵνα ἐκεῖ παραγένωμαι, καὶ κρεμασθῶ τῷ τραχήλῳ σου, μέχρις ἐλθὼν πληροφορήσεις τὸν Ἰωσὴφ, τίνος υἱὸς ὁ ἐμῆς κοιλίας κοιτῶνα σκιρτοβατῶν. Οὐ φέρω τὸν πρεσβύτην ὑπιδόντα, γογγύζοντα· καὶ σὺ ποίῳ τόπῳ χρονίζεις ἀγνοῶ· ἐλθὲ, καὶ ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ δικαιολόγησαι. Ταῦτα τῆς Μαρίας λεγούσης, τὸ τάχος ὁ ἄγγελος πρὸς τὸν Ἰω 60.759 σὴφ παραγίνεται, καὶ πληροφορήσας τὸ ἐκβαλεῖν τὴν παρθένον ἐκώλυε, Μὴ φοβηθῇς, λέγων τῷ Ἰωσὴφ, παραλαβεῖν Μαρίαν τὴν γυναῖκά σου· οὐ γάμου κοινωνίαν, ἀλλὰ θεϊκῶν μυστηρίων οἰκονομίαν σοι λέγω. Ἀλλὰ πατὴρ οὐχ ὑπάρχεις; Ἐν γῇ πατέρα μὴ ζητήσῃς, μήτε ἐν οὐρανοῖς μητέρα. Πάσης ὀρφανίας ἡ φύσις ἀπήλλακται· μόνος γὰρ ἐκ μόνου καταμόνας πρὸ αἰώνων ὑπάρχει. Νῦν μόνος ἐκ μόνης, ὡς οἶδε μόνος. Μὴ ὀλιγοψυχήσῃς τὴν