Chapter XIV.—Concerning our Lord’s genealogy and concerning the holy Mother of God1030    In Reg. 2428 is added καὶ ᾽Ιωσὴφ τοῦ μνήστορος..

Concerning the holy and much-lauded ever-virgin one, Mary, the Mother of God, we have said something in the preceding chapters, bringing forward what was most opportune, viz., that strictly and truly she is and is called the Mother of God. Now let us fill up the blanks. For she being pre-ordained by the eternal prescient counsel of God and imaged forth and proclaimed in diverse images and discourses of the prophets through the Holy Spirit, sprang at the pre-determined time from the root of David, according to the promises that were made to him. For the Lord hath sworn, He saith in truth to David, He will not turn from it: of the fruit of Thy body will I set upon Thy throne1031    Ps. cxxxii. 11.. And again, Once have I sworn by My holiness, that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and His throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven1032    Ibid. lxxxix. 35, 36, 37.. And Isaiah says: And there shall come out a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots1033    Is. xi. 1..

But that Joseph is descended from the tribe of David is expressly demonstrated by Matthew and Luke, the most holy evangelists. But Matthew derives Joseph from David through Solomon, while Luke does so through Nathan; while over the holy Virgin’s origin both pass in silence.

One ought to remember that it was not the custom of the Hebrews nor of the divine Scripture to give genealogies of women; and the law was to prevent one tribe seeking wives from another1034    Num. xxxvi. 6 seqq.. And so since Joseph was descended from the tribe of David and was a just man (for this the divine Gospel testifies), he would not have espoused the holy Virgin contrary to the law; he would not have taken her unless she had been of the same tribe1035    σκήπτρου.. It was sufficient, therefore, to demonstrate the descent of Joseph.

One ought also to observe1036    Cf. Julius Afric., Ep. ad Aristidem, cited in Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. i. 7. this, that the law was that when a man died without seed, this man’s brother should take to wife the wife of the dead man and raise up seed to his brother1037    Deut. xxv. 5.. The offspring, therefore, belonged by nature to the second, that is, to him that begat it, but by law to the dead.

Born then of the line of Nathan, the son of David, Levi begat Melchi1038    See the note in Migne. and Panther: Panther begat Barpanther, so called. This Barpanther begat Joachim: Joachim begat the holy Mother of God1039    Text, τὴν ἅγιαν Θεοτόκον. Variant, τὴν ἅγιαν ῎Ανναν.^{1040    St. Luke iii. 24 seqq.}. And of the line of Solomon, the son of David, Mathan had a wife1041    R. 2926 adds “Ethan,” the name being taken from Julius Africanus. of whom he begat Jacob. Now on the death of Mathan, Melchi, of the tribe of Nathan, the son of Levi and brother of Panther, married the wife of Mathan, Jacob’s mother, of whom he begat Heli. Therefore Jacob and Heli became brothers on the mother’s side, Jacob being of the tribe of Solomon and Heli of the tribe of Nathan. Then Heli of the tribe of Nathan died childless, and Jacob his brother, of the tribe of Solomon, took his wife and raised up seed to his brother and begat Joseph. Joseph, therefore, is by nature the son of Jacob, of the line of Solomon, but by law he is the son of Heli of the line of Nathan.

Joachim then1042    Epiph., Hæres. 79. took to wife that revered and praiseworthy woman, Anna. But just as the earlier Anna1043    1 Sam. i. 2., who was barren, bore Samuel by prayer and by promise, so also this Anna by supplication and promise from God bare the Mother of God in order that she might not even in this be behind the matrons of fame1044    Greg. Nyss., Orat. in nativ. Dom.: Eustath. in Hexaëm.. Accordingly it was grace (for this is the interpretation of Anna) that bore the lady: (for she became truly the Lady of all created things in becoming the Mother of the Creator). Further, Joachim1045    Epiph., Hæres. 79. was born in the house of the Probatica1046    τῆς προβατικῆς, the Sheep-gate., and was brought up to the temple. Then planted in the House of God and increased by the Spirit, like a fruitful olive tree, she became the home of every virtue, turning her mind away from every secular and carnal desire, and thus keeping her soul as well as her body virginal, as was meet for her who was to receive God into her bosom: for as He is holy, He finds rest among the holy1047    Ps. xviii. 25, 26.. Thus, therefore, she strove after holiness, and was declared a holy and wonderful temple fit for the most high God.

Moreover, since the enemy of our salvation was keeping a watchful eye on virgins, according to the prophecy of Isaiah, who said, Behold a virgin shall conceive and bare a Son and shall call His name Emmanuel, which is, being interpreted, ‘God with us1048    Is. vii. 14; St. Matt. i. 23.,’ in order that he who taketh the wise in their own craftiness1049    1 Cor. iii. 19; Job v. 13.may deceive him who always glorieth in his wisdom, the maiden is given in marriage to Joseph by the priests, a new book to him who is versed in letters1050    Is. xxix. 11.: but the marriage was both the protection of the virgin and the delusion of him who was keeping a watchful eye on virgins. But when the fulness of time was come, the messenger of the Lord was sent to her, with the good news of our Lord’s conception. And thus she conceived the Son of God, the hypostatic power of the Father, not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man1051    St. John i. 13., that is to say, by connection and seed, but by the good pleasure of the Father and co-operation of the Holy Spirit. She ministered to the Creator in that He was created, to the Fashioner in that He was fashioned, and to the Son of God and God in that He was made flesh and became man from her pure and immaculate flesh and blood, satisfying the debt of the first mother. For just as the latter was formed from Adam without connection, so also did the former bring forth the new Adam, who was brought forth in accordance with the laws of parturition and above the nature of generation.

For He who was of the Father, yet without mother, was born of woman without a father’s co-operation. And so far as He was born of woman, His birth was in accordance with the laws of parturition, while so far as He had no father, His birth was above the nature of generation: and in that it was at the usual time (for He was born on the completion of the ninth month when the tenth was just beginning), His birth was in accordance with the laws of parturition, while in that it was painless it was above the laws of generation. For, as pleasure did not precede it, pain did not follow it, according to the prophet who says, Before she travailed, she brought forth, and again, before her pain came she was delivered of a man-child1052    Is. lxvi. 7.. The Son of God incarnate, therefore, was born of her, not a divinely-inspired1053    θεοφόρος. man but God incarnate; not a prophet anointed with energy but by the presence of the anointing One in His completeness, so that the Anointer became man and the Anointed God, not by a change of nature but by union in subsistence. For the Anointer and the Anointed were one and the same, anointing in the capacity of God Himself as man. Must there not therefore be a Mother of God who bore God incarnate? Assuredly she who played the part of the Creator’s servant and mother is in all strictness and truth in reality God’s Mother and Lady and Queen over all created things. But just as He who was conceived kept her who conceived still virgin, in like manner also He who was born preserved her virginity intact, only passing through her and keeping her closed1054    Ezek. xliv. 2.. The conception, indeed, was through the sense of hearing, but the birth through the usual path by which children come, although some tell tales of His birth through the side of the Mother of God. For it was not impossible for Him to have come by this gate, without injuring her seal in anyway.

The ever-virgin One thus remains even after the birth still virgin, having never at any time up till death consorted with a man. For although it is written, And knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born Son1055    St. Matt. i. 25., yet note that he who is first-begotten is first-born even if he is only-begotten. For the word “first-born” means that he was born first but does not at all suggest the birth of others. And the word “till” signifies the limit of the appointed time but does not exclude the time thereafter. For the Lord says, And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world1056    Ibid. xxviii. 20., not meaning thereby that He will be separated from us after the completion of the age. The divine apostle, indeed, says, And so shall we ever be with the Lord1057    1 Thess. iv. 17., meaning after the general resurrection.

For could it be possible that she, who had borne God and from experience of the subsequent events had come to know the miracle, should receive the embrace of a man. God forbid! It is not the part of a chaste mind to think such thoughts, far less to commit such acts.

But this blessed woman, who was deemed worthy of gifts that are supernatural, suffered those pains, which she escaped at the birth, in the hour of the passion, enduring from motherly sympathy the rending of the bowels, and when she beheld Him, Whom she knew to be God by the manner of His generation, killed as a malefactor, her thoughts pierced her as a sword, and this is the meaning of this verse: Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also1058    St. Luke ii. 35.^{1059    In R. 2926 is added, ὅπερ αὐτῇ προείρηκεν ὁ Θεοδόχος Συμεὼν, τὸν Κύριον ἐναγκαλισάμενος.}. But the joy of the resurrection transforms the pain, proclaiming Him, Who died in the flesh, to be God.

Περὶ τῆς γενεαλογίας τοῦ κυρίου καὶ περὶ τῆς ἁγίας θεοτόκου

Περὶ τῆς ἁγίας ὑπερυμνήτου ἀειπαρθένου καὶ θεοτόκου Μαρίας ἐν τοῖς προλαβοῦσι μετρίως διαλαβόντες καὶ τὸ καιριώτατον παραστήσαντες, ὡς κυρίως καὶ ἀληθῶς θεοτόκος ἔστι τε καὶ ὀνομάζεται, νῦν τὰ λείποντα προσαναπληρώσωμεν. Αὕτη γὰρ τῇ προαιωνίῳ προγνωστικῇ βουλῇ τοῦ θεοῦ προορισθεῖσα καὶ διαφόροις εἰκόσι καὶ λόγοις προφητῶν διὰ πνεύματος ἁγίου εἰκονισθεῖσά τε καὶ προκηρυχθεῖσα ἐν τῷ προωρισμένῳ καιρῷ ἐκ Δαυιδικῆς ῥίζης ἐβλάστησε διὰ τὰς πρὸς αὐτὸν γενομένας ἐπαγγελίας. «Ὤμοσε γὰρ κύριος», φησί, «τῷ Δαυὶδ ἀλήθειαν, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀθετήσει αὐτόν: ἐκ καρποῦ τῆς κοιλίας σου θήσομαι ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου σου», καὶ πάλιν: «Ἅπαξ ὤμοσα ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ μου, εἰ τῷ Δαυὶδ ψεύσομαι. Τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα μένει: καὶ ὁ θρόνος αὐτοῦ ὡς ὁ ἥλιος ἐναντίον μου καὶ ὡς ἡ σελήνη κατηρτισμένη εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καὶ ὁ μάρτυς ἐν οὐρανῷ πιστός,» καὶ Ἡσαΐας: «Ἐξανατελεῖ ῥάβδος ἐξ Ἰεσσαί, καὶ ἄνθος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης ἀναβήσεται».

Ὅτι μὲν οὖν ὁ Ἰωσὴφ ἐκ Δαυιδικοῦ φύλου κατάγεται, ὁ Ματθαῖος καὶ Λουκᾶς, οἱ ἱερώτατοι εὐαγγελισταί, διαρρήδην ὑπέδειξαν, ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν Ματθαῖος ἐκ Δαυὶδ διὰ Σολομῶντος κατάγει τὸν Ἰωσήφ, ὁ δὲ Λουκᾶς διὰ Νάθαν. Τῆς δὲ ἁγίας παρθένου τὴν γέννησιν καὶ ἀμφότεροι παρεσιώπησαν.

Χρὴ οὖν εἰδέναι, ὡς οὐκ ἦν ἔθος Ἑβραίοις οὐδὲ τῇ θείᾳ γραφῇ γενεαλογεῖσθαι γυναῖκας. Νόμος δὲ ἦν μὴ μνηστεύεσθαι φυλὴν ἐξ ἑτέρας φυλῆς. Ὁ δὲ Ἰωσὴφ ἐκ Δαυιδικοῦ καταγόμενος φύλου, δίκαιος ὑπάρχων (τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτῷ μαρτυρεῖ τὸ θεῖον εὐαγγέλιον), οὐκ ἂν παρανόμως τὴν ἁγίαν παρθένον πρὸς μνηστείαν ἠγάγετο, εἰ μὴ ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ σκήπτρου κατήγετο. Δείξας τοίνυν τὸ τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ καταγώγιον ἠρκέσθη.

Χρὴ δὲ καὶ τοῦτο εἰδέναι, ὡς νόμος ἦν ἀγόνου ἀνδρὸς τελευτῶντος τὸν τούτου ἀδελφὸν τὴν τοῦ τετελευτηκότος γαμετὴν πρὸς γάμον ἄγεσθαι καὶ ἐγείρειν σπέρμα τῷ ἀδελφῷ. Τὸ οὖν τικτόμενον κατὰ φύσιν μὲν τοῦ δευτέρου ἤτοι τοῦ γεγεννηκότος ἦν, κατὰ δὲ νόμον τοῦ τελευτήσαντος.

Ἐκ τῆς σειρᾶς τοίνυν τοῦ Νάθαν τοῦ υἱοῦ Δαυὶδ Λευὶ ἐγέννησε τὸν Μελχὶ καὶ τὸν Πάνθηρα: ὁ Πάνθηρ ἐγέννησε τὸν Βαρπάνθηρα οὕτως ἐπικληθέντα. Οὗτος ὁ Βαρπάνθηρ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἰωακείμ, Ἰωακεὶμ ἐγέννησε τὴν ἁγίαν θεοτόκον. Ἐκ δὲ τῆς σειρᾶς Σολομῶντος τοῦ υἱοῦ Δαυὶδ Ματθὰν ἔσχε γυναῖκα, ἐξ ἧς ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἰακώβ. Τελευτήσαντος δὲ τοῦ Ματθὰν Μελχὶ ἐκ τῆς φυλῆς τοῦ Νάθαν, ὁ υἱὸς Λευί, ἀδελφὸς δὲ τοῦ Πάνθηρος, ἔγημε τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ Ματθάν, μητέρα δὲ τοῦ Ἰακώβ, καὶ ἐξ αὐτῆς ἔσχε τὸν Ἡλί. Ἐγένοντο οὖν ἀδελφοὶ ὁμομήτριοι Ἰακὼβ καὶ Ἡλί, ὁ μὲν Ἰακὼβ ἐκ τῆς φυλῆς Σολομῶντος, ὁ δὲ Ἡλὶ ἐκ φυλῆς Νάθαν. Ἐτελεύτησε δὲ ὁ Ἡλί, ὁ ἐκ τῆς φυλῆς τοῦ Νάθαν ἄπαις: καὶ ἔλαβεν Ἰακώβ, ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ ὁ ἐκ τῆς φυλῆς Σολομῶντος, τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἰωσήφ. Ὁ οὖν Ἰωσὴφ φύσει μέν ἐστιν υἱὸς Ἰακὼβ ἐκ τοῦ καταγωγίου τοῦ Σολομῶντος, κατὰ δὲ νόμον Ἡλὶ τοῦ ἐκ Νάθαν.

Ἰωακεὶμ τοίνυν τὴν σεμνήν τε καὶ ἀξιέπαινον Ἄνναν πρὸς γάμον ἠγάγετο. Ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἡ πάλαι Ἄννα στειρεύσασα δι' εὐχῆς καὶ ἐπαγγελίας τὸν Σαμουὴλ ἐγέννησεν, οὕτω καὶ αὕτη διὰ λιτῆς καὶ ἐπαγγελίας πρὸς θεοῦ τὴν θεοτόκον κομίζεται, ἵνα κἂν τούτῳ μηδενὸς τῶν περιφανῶν καθυστερίζοιτο: τίκτει τοιγαροῦν ἡ χάρις (τοῦτο γὰρ ἡ Ἄννα ἑρμηνεύεται) τὴν κυρίαν (τοῦτο γὰρ τῆς Μαρίας σημαίνει τὸ ὄνομα: κυρία γὰρ ὄντως γέγονε πάντων τῶν ποιημάτων τοῦ δημιουργοῦ χρηματίσασα μήτηρ). Τίκτεται δὲ ἐν τῷ τῆς προβατικῆς τοῦ Ἰωακεὶμ οἴκῳ καὶ τῷ ἱερῷ προσάγεται. Εἶτα ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ θεοῦ φυτευθεῖσά τε καὶ πιανθεῖσα τῷ πνεύματι ὡσεὶ ἐλαία κατάκαρπος πάσης ἀρετῆς καταγώγιον γέγονε πάσης βιωτικῆς καὶ σαρκικῆς ἐπιθυμίας τὸν νοῦν ἀποστήσασα καὶ οὕτω παρθένον τὴν ψυχὴν τηρήσασα σὺν τῷ σώματι, ὡς ἔπρεπε τὴν θεὸν ἐγκόλπιον ὑποδέχεσθαι μέλλουσαν: ἅγιος γὰρ ὢν ἐν ἁγίοις ἀναπαύεται. Οὕτω τοίνυν ἁγιωσύνην μετέρχεται καὶ ναὸς ἅγιος καὶ θαυμαστὸς τοῦ ὑψίστου θεοῦ ἀναδείκνυται ἀξίως.

Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐπετήρει τὰς παρθένους ὁ τῆς ἡμῶν σωτηρίας ἐχθρὸς διὰ τὴν Ἡσαΐου πρόρρησιν: «Ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει», φήσαντος, «καὶ τέξεται υἱόν, καὶ καλέσουσι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ, ὅ ἐστι μεθερμηνευόμενον Μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ θεός», ὡς ἂν δελεάσῃ τὸν ἐν σοφίᾳ ἀεὶ ἁβρυνόμενον «ὁ δρασσόμενος τοὺς σοφοὺς ἐν τῇ πανουργίᾳ αὐτῶν», πρὸς μνηστείαν ἡ νεᾶνις τῷ Ἰωσὴφ ὑπὸ τῶν ἱερέων δίδοται, ὁ καινὸς τόμος τῷ γράμματα εἰδότι: ἡ δὲ μνηστεία φυλακή τε τῆς παρθένου ὑπῆρχε καὶ τοῦ τὰς παρθένους ἐπιτηροῦντος ἀποβουκόλημα. «Ὅτε δὲ ἦλθε τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου», ἀπεστάλη ἄγγελος κυρίου πρὸς αὐτὴν τὴν τοῦ κυρίου εὐαγγελιζόμενος σύλληψιν: οὕτως τε συνείληφε τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς ἐνυπόστατον δύναμιν, «οὐκ ἐκ θελήματος σαρκὸς οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρὸς» ἤτοι συναφείας καὶ σπορᾶς, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς εὐδοκίας καὶ συνεργίας τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος: ἐχορήγησέ τε τῷ κτίστῃ τὸ κτισθῆναι καὶ τῷ πλάστῃ τὸ πλασθῆναι καὶ τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ θεῷ τὸ σαρκωθῆναι καὶ ἀνθρωπισθῆναι ἐκ τῶν ἁγνῶν καὶ ἀμολύντων αὐτῆς σαρκῶν καὶ αἱμάτων, τὸ τῆς προμήτορος ἀποπληροῦσα χρέος: ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐκείνη συναφείας ἐκτὸς ἐξ Ἀδὰμ πεπλαστούργηται, οὕτω καὶ αὕτη τὸν νέον Ἀδὰμ ἀπεκύησε νόμῳ κυήσεως τικτόμενον καὶ ὑπὲρ φύσιν γεννήσεως. Τίκτεται γὰρ ἀπάτωρ ἐκ γυναικὸς ὁ ἐκ πατρὸς ἀμήτωρ: καὶ ὅτι μὲν ἐκ γυναικὸς νόμῳ κυήσεως, ὅτι δὲ ἄνευ πατρός, ὑπὲρ φύσιν γεννήσεως: καὶ ὅτι μὲν τῷ εἰθισμένῳ χρόνῳ (τὸν γὰρ ἐννεαμηνιαῖον τελέσας καὶ τῷ δεκάτῳ ἐπιβὰς γεννᾶται), νόμῳ κυήσεως: ὅτι δὲ ἀνωδίνως, ὑπὲρ θεσμὸν γεννήσεως: ἧς γὰρ ἡδονὴ οὐ προηγήσατο, οὐδὲ ὠδὶν ἐπηκολούθησε, κατὰ τὸν προφήτην τὸν λέγοντα: «Πρὶν ὠδίνησεν, ἔτεκε», καὶ πάλιν: «Πρὶν ἐλθεῖν τὸν καιρὸν τῶν ὠδίνων, ἐξέφυγε καὶ ἔτεκεν ἄρσεν».

Γεγέννηται τοίνυν ἐξ αὐτῆς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ θεὸς σεσαρκωμένος, οὐ θεοφόρος ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλὰ θεὸς σεσαρκωμένος, οὐχ ὡς προφήτης ἐνεργείᾳ χριόμενος, παρουσίᾳ δὲ ὅλου τοῦ χρίοντος, ὥστε ἄνθρωπον μὲν γενέσθαι τὸ χρῖσαν καὶ θεὸν τὸ χριόμενον, οὐ μεταβολῇ φύσεως, ἀλλ' ἑνώσει τῇ καθ' ὑπόστασιν. Ὁ αὐτὸς γὰρ ἦν, ὅ τε χρίων καὶ ὁ χριόμενος, χρίων ὡς θεὸς ἑαυτὸν ὡς ἄνθρωπον. Πῶς οὖν οὐ θεοτόκος ἡ θεὸν σεσαρκωμένον ἐξ αὐτῆς γεννήσασα; Ὄντως κυρίως καὶ ἀληθῶς θεοτόκος καὶ κυρία, καὶ πάντων κτισμάτων δεσπόζουσα, δούλη καὶ μήτηρ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ χρηματίσασα. Ὥσπερ δὲ συλληφθεὶς παρθένον τὴν συλλαβοῦσαν ἐτήρησεν, οὕτω καὶ τεχθεὶς τὴν αὐτῆς παρθενίαν ἐφύλαξεν ἄτρωτον μόνος διελθὼν δι' αὐτῆς καὶ κεκλεισμένην τηρήσας αὐτήν: δι' ἀκοῆς μὲν ἡ σύλληψις, ἡ δὲ γέννησις διὰ τῆς συνήθους τῶν τικτομένων ἐξόδου, εἰ καί τινες μυθολογοῦσι διὰ τῆς πλευρᾶς αὐτὸν τεχθῆναι τῆς θεομήτορος. Οὐ γὰρ ἀδύνατος ἦν καὶ διὰ τῆς πύλης διελθεῖν καὶ ταύτης μὴ παραβλάψαι τὰ σήμαντρα.

Μένει τοίνυν καὶ μετὰ τόκον παρθένος ἡ ἀειπάρθενος οὐδαμῶς ἀνδρὶ μέχρι θανάτου προσομιλήσασα. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ γέγραπται: «Καὶ οὐκ ἔγνω αὐτήν, ἕως οὗ ἔτεκε τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς τὸν πρωτότοκον», ἰστέον ὅτι πρωτότοκός ἐστιν ὁ πρῶτος γεννηθείς, εἰ καὶ μονογενὴς εἴη: τὸ μὲν γὰρ πρῶτον γεννηθῆναι δηλοῖ, οὐ πάντως δὲ καὶ ἑτέρων συνεμφαίνει γέννησιν. Τὸ δὲ «ἕως» τὴν μὲν τοῦ ὡρισμένου χρόνου προθεσμίαν σημαίνει, οὐκ ἀποφάσκει δὲ τὸ μετὰ ταῦτα: φησὶ γὰρ ὁ κύριος: «Καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ μεθ' ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος», οὐχ ὡς μετὰ τὴν τοῦ αἰῶνος συντέλειαν χωρισθησόμενος. Φησὶ γοῦν ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος: «Καὶ οὕτως πάντοτε σὺν κυρίῳ ἐσόμεθα», μετὰ τὴν κοινὴν ἀνάστασιν λέγων.

Πῶς γὰρ ἂν θεὸν γεννήσασα καὶ ἐκ τῆς τῶν παρηκολουθηκότων πείρας τὸ θαῦμα γνωρίσασα ἀνδρὸς συνάφειαν κατεδέξατο; Ἄπαγε. Οὐ σωφρονοῦντος λογισμοῦ τὰ τοιαῦτα νοεῖν, μὴ ὅτι καὶ πράττειν.

Ἀλλ' αὕτη ἡ μακαρία καὶ τῶν ὑπὲρ φύσιν δωρεῶν ἀξιωθεῖσα τὰς ὠδῖνας, ἃς διέφυγε τίκτουσα, ταύτας ἐν τῷ τοῦ πάθους καιρῷ ὑπέμεινε ὑπὸ τῆς μητρικῆς συμπαθείας τῶν σπλάγχνων τὸν σπαραγμὸν ἀνατλᾶσα καί, ὃν θεὸν ἔγνω διὰ γεννήσεως, τοῦτον ὡς κακοῦργον ἀναιρούμενον βλέπουσα ὡς ῥομφαίᾳ τοῖς λογισμοῖς ἐσπαράττετο: καὶ τοῦτό ἐστι: «Καὶ σοῦ δὲ αὐτῆς τὴν ψυχὴν διελεύσεται ῥομφαία». Ἀλλὰ μεταβάλλει τὴν λύπην ἡ χαρὰ τῆς ἀναστάσεως θεὸν τὸν σαρκὶ θανόντα κηρύττουσα.