The Lord has reigned, he has clothed himself with majesty; because before, Adam, having been established as lord and king, behold, through the transgression became a slave of sin; today he reigns over his enemies, For it is necessary for him, it says, to reign; today He has established the world, the soul that was formerly desolate and shaken and trembling, possessed by fear and cowardice of sin, For in the curse, it says, you shall be groaning and trembling upon the earth; for since its house was built on sand, it was in turmoil and trembling; today the house of the soul has been built on the unshakable rock of the Godhead. angels rejoice, the heavens, stars, sun, moon, the earth, and all things in it, mountains and hills leap; for if when Israel came out of Egypt all creation rejoiced together, the heaven sheltering by a cloud of light by day, and by night in a pillar of fire, the mountains like rams and the hills like lambs of sheep, how much more so at the birth of the true Christ today. For indeed, before, all creation cried out, having been brought into corruption, when Adam, who was their king, fell, whom, being his own image of God, the Lord came to renew as was necessary and to recreate; the time of the condemnation of man was fulfilled; the times foretold by the prophets were fulfilled; now he is recalled from captivity and exile, For the kingdom of heaven has drawn near; the time of the bonds and of the imprisonment and of the condemnation of Adam in darkness was fulfilled. Today for him has come redemption and freedom of reconciliation, and communion with the spirit, and union with God; today the shame of his face has been lifted, and boldness has been given to him to gaze with unveiled face and to be mingled with the spirit; today the bride receives her own bridegroom; today unity and communion and reconciliation of the heavenly and the earthly has come to be, God and man. 52.2 For it was fitting for him, having put on the body, to come and to turn back and to reconcile men to his own Father; having come unarmed, he took the weapon of man, which is the body, and through it he waged war and killed death; through a dead body the enemy was put to death; through his own weapon he condemned sin in the body; for just as enemies, attacking by means of the city's own weapons and engines, I mean ballistae or some others, strive to pull down the walls, so also the enemy, having taken Adam under his power, using his body as a weapon, through him took possession and captured all men; in the same way also the Lord, having taken man as a weapon, through him destroyed and made to disappear the walls and the strongholds of the evil one and all his contrivance and evil device, which he used against man, according to what is said, As its darkness is, so also is its light; For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive; 52.3 for human nature was formerly dead from God, fruitless; the soul barren and unfruitful. Now from heaven it has received seed, so that it may be able to bear the fruits of the spirit. Adam was one, and from him the woman, and if Adam had not been joined to his wife, he would not have produced fruit; so unless the soul is joined and has communion with Christ, it cannot bear the fruits of the spirit. For the divine seed, the Word, which fell into the Theotokos Mary, falls into all believing souls, and thus they are born from the spiritual birth of salvation, as it says, Through fear of you, Lord, we have conceived in the womb and have been in travail and have brought forth a spirit of salvation, and thus a soul bears fruit for God. For the woman, it says, when she is in travail, has sorrow; but when she has given birth, she rejoices, because a man has been born into the world; and the soul, having received the heavenly seed, has affliction as long as it is in travail, being tormented by

Κύριος ἐβασίλευσεν, εὐπρέπειαν ἐνεδύσατο· ὅτι τὸ πρὶν κύριος καὶ βασιλεὺς ὁ Ἀδὰμ κατασταθεὶς ἰδοὺ διὰ τὴν παράβασιν δοῦλος τῆς ἁμαρτίας γέγονε· σήμερον βασιλεύει τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὐτοῦ, ∆εῖ γὰρ αὐτόν, φησί, βασιλεύειν· σήμερον Ἐστερέωσε τὴν οἰκουμένην, τὴν πρὶν ἔρημον ψυχὴν καὶ σαλευομένην καὶ τρέμουσαν, ἐν φόβῳ καὶ δειλίᾳ τῆς ἁμαρτίας κατεχομένην, Ἐν γὰρ τῇ κατάρᾳ, φησί, στένων καὶ τρέμων ἔσῃ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὁ οἶκος αὐτῆς ἐν ἄμμῳ ᾠκοδόμητο, ἐν σάλῳ καὶ τρόμῳ ἦν· σήμερον εἰς τὴν ἀσάλευτον πέτραν τῆς θεότητος ἡ οἰκία τῆς ψυχῆς ᾠκοδομήθη. χαίρουσιν ἄγγελοι, οὐρανοί, ἀστέρες, ἥλιος, σελήνη, ἡ γῆ, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ, ὄρη καὶ βουνοὶ σκιρτῶσιν· εἰ γὰρ ἐν τῷ ἐξέρχε σθαι ἐκ τῆς Αἰγύπτου τὸν Ἰσραὴλ συνέχαιρε πάντα τὰ κτίσματα, οὐρα νὸς σκέπων νέφει φωτὸς ἡμέρας, καὶ νυκτὸς ἐν στύλῳ πυρός, τὰ ὄρη ὡσεὶ κριοὶ καὶ οἱ βουνοὶ ὡς ἀρνία προβάτων, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ Χριστοῦ γεννηθέντος σήμερον. καὶ γὰρ τὸ πρὶν πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις ἐβόησεν εἰς φθορὰν μετενεχθεῖσα, πεσόντος τοῦ Ἀδὰμ τοῦ ὄντος βασιλέως αὐτῶν, ὃν εἰκόνα θεοῦ ἰδίαν ὑπάρχοντα ἦλθεν ὁ Κύριος ἀνακαινίσαι καθὼς ἔδει καὶ ἀνακτίσαι· ἐπληρώθη ὁ χρόνος τῆς καταδίκης τοῦ ἀνθρώ που· ἐπληρώθησαν οἱ προκατηγγελμένοι ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν καιροί· νῦν ἀνακαλεῖται ἐκ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας καὶ τῆς ἐξορίας, Ἤγγικε γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν· ἐπληρώθη ὁ χρόνος τῶν δεσμῶν καὶ τῆς φυλακῆς καὶ τῆς ἐν τῷ σκότει καταδίκης τοῦ Ἀδάμ. σήμερον αὐτῷ γέγονε λύτρωσις καὶ ἐλευθερία τῆς καταλλαγῆς, καὶ ἡ κοινωνία πρὸς τὸ πνεῦμα, καὶ ἡ συνάφεια πρὸς τὸν θεόν· σήμερον ἤρθη ἡ αἰσχύνη τοῦ προσώπου αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ παρρησία ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ ἐνορᾶν καὶ κιρνᾶσθαι τῷ πνεύματι· σήμερον ἀπολαμβάνει ἡ νύμφη τὸν ἑαυτῆς νυμφίον· σήμερον ἑνότης καὶ κοινωνία καὶ καταλλαγὴ τῶν ἐπουρανίων καὶ τῶν ἐπιγείων γέγονε, θεὸς καὶ ἄνθρωπος. 52.2 ἔπρεπε γὰρ αὐτῷ ἐνδυσαμένῳ τὸ σῶμα ἐλθεῖν καὶ ἐπιστρέψαι καὶ καταλλάξαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τῷ ἰδίῳ Πατρί· ἄνοπλος ἐλθών, τὸ ὅπλον τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἔλαβεν, ὅπερ ἐστὶ τὸ σῶμα, καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ ἐπολέμησε καὶ ἀπέκτεινε τὸν θάνατον· διὰ σώματος νεκροῦ ἐθανατώθη ὁ ἐχθρός· διὰ τοῦ ἰδίου ὅπλου κατέκρινεν ἐν τῷ σώματι τὴν ἁμαρτίαν· ὥσπερ γὰρ οἱ ἐχθροὶ ἐπερχόμενοι διὰ τῶν ἰδίων τῆς πόλεως ὅπλων καὶ μαγγάνων, λέγω δὴ τῶν βαλλίστρων ἢ ἄλλων τινῶν, σπουδάζουσι καθελεῖν τὰ τείχη, οὕτως καὶ ὁ ἐχθρὸς λαβὼν ὑποχείριον τὸν Ἀδάμ, ὥσπερ ὅπλῳ χρησάμενος τῷ αὐτοῦ σώματι, δι' αὐτοῦ ἐνεμήθη καὶ ᾐχμαλώτευσε πάντας τοὺς ἀνθρώπους· ὡσαύτως καὶ ὁ Κύριος, ὥσπερ ὅπλον λαβὼν τὸν ἄνθρωπον, δι' αὐτοῦ τὰ τείχη καὶ τὰ ὀχυρώματα τοῦ πονηροῦ καὶ πᾶσαν αὐτοῦ τὴν μηχανὴν καὶ τὴν πονηρὰν κατασκευὴν, ᾗ κατὰ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐχρήσατο, διέλυσε καὶ ἠφάνισε κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον Ὡς τὸ σκότος αὐτῆς, οὕτως καὶ τὸ φῶς αὐτῆς· Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν τῷ Ἀδὰμ πάντες ἀποθνήσκουσιν, οὕτως καὶ ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ πάντες ζωοποιηθήσονται· 52.3 νεκρὰ γὰρ ἦν ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις τὸ πρὶν ἀπὸ θεοῦ, ἄκαρπος· στεῖρα καὶ ἄγονος ἡ ψυχή. νῦν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ σπέρμα ἐδέξατο, ἵνα δυνηθῇ καρποὺς τοῦ πνεύματος ἐνεγκεῖν. ὁ Ἀδὰμ εἷς ἦν, καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἡ γυνή, καὶ εἰ μὴ συνήφθη Ἀδὰμ τῇ γυναικὶ αὐτοῦ, καρποὺς οὐκ ἐποίει· οὕτως ἐὰν μὴ συναφθῇ ἡ ψυχὴ καὶ κοινωνήσῃ τῷ Χριστῷ, καρποὺς τοῦ πνεύμα τος ἐνεγκεῖν οὐ δύναται. τὸ σπέρμα γὰρ τὸ θεϊκὸν ὁ λόγος, ὁ πεσὼν εἰς τὴν θεοτόκον Μαρίαν, εἰς πάσας τὰς πιστευούσας ψυχὰς πίπτει, καὶ οὕτως γεννῶνται ἐκ τοῦ πνευματικοῦ γεννήματος τῆς σωτηρίας, καθώς φησι ∆ιὰ τὸν φόβον σου, Κύριε, ἐν γαστρὶ ἐλάβομεν καὶ ὠδινήσαμεν καὶ ἐτέκομεν πνεῦμα σωτηρίας, καὶ οὕτως καρποφορεῖ ψυχὴ τῷ θεῷ. Ἡ γυνὴ γάρ, φησίν, ὅταν ὠδίνῃ, λύπην ἔχει· ἐπὰν δὲ γεννήσῃ, χαίρει, ὅτι ἐγεννήθη ἄνθρωπος εἰς τὸν κόσμον· καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ λαβοῦσα τὸν ἐπου ράνιον σπόρον, ἕως ἂν ὠδίνῃ θλίψιν ἔχει, βασανιζομένη ὑπὸ