Homilia in occursum domini

A discourse of our father among the saints Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem, on the Meeting of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and on Symeon the God-Receiver. 1 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion. Proclaim joy, daughter of Jerusalem. Dance, people of the city of God. Leap, gates and walls of Zion and all the earth. Shout, mountains, and hills, leap greatly. Rivers, clap your hands, and crowds of Zion, embrace, seeing the presence of God in her. Let the heavens today be in harmony with the earth, and let the upper Jerusalem sing with the lower Jerusalem, because of Christ who is in her, heavenly and earthly. Heavenly, dance around him, intellectual powers; earthly, sing of him with angels, those on the earth. For today the God of gods has appeared in Zion. Today glorious things have been spoken about you, the city of God, Jerusalem. City of the great king, open your gates to the one who opened the heavenly gates to all and opened the gates of paradise to all and opened the gates of the tombs on the cross and shattered the gates of Hades from eternity and paradoxically closed the gates of virginity. Today the one who long ago gave oracles to Moses on Mount Sinai in a manner befitting God fulfills the law, having become subject to the law in a servile manner. Today God comes from Theman to Zion. Today the heavenly bridegroom arrives at the temple with the God-bearer’s bridal chamber. Daughters of Jerusalem, go out to meet him. Brightly kindle the lamps to the true light, prepare the garments of your souls for the bridegroom Christ. With Zion, let us, the peoples of the nations, bearing light, go to meet him.

Let us enter the temple together with the temple and God and Christ. With the angels let us cry out the hymn of the angels: Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of his glory. The ends of the world are full of his goodness. All creation is full of his praise. All humanity is full of his condescension. The heavenly, the earthly, the subterranean are full of his compassion, full of his mercy, full of his pity, full of his gifts, full of his benefactions. Therefore, all nations, clap your hands. All the ends of the earth, come and see the works of God. Let every breath praise the Lord. Let every land worship, let every tongue sing, let every voice chant, let every voice glorify a child who is God, forty days old and pre-eternal, a small child and the Ancient of Days, a nursing child and the maker of the ages. I see an infant and I recognize my God, a nursing infant and the one who nourishes the world, an infant who whimpers and bestows life and joy upon the world, an infant who is swaddled and frees me from the swaddling of sin, an infant in the arms of his mother truly and without deficiency on earth in the flesh, and him also in the bosom of the Father truly and without deficiency in the heavens. I see an infant coming from Bethlehem into Jerusalem and in no way separated from the heavenly Jerusalem.

I see an infant lawfully bringing a sacrifice to the temple on earth, but that same infant receiving the pious sacrifices of all in the heavens; himself in the arms of the elder economically, and himself on cherubic thrones in a manner befitting God; himself being offered and purified, and himself purifying and cleansing all things. He himself is the gift and he himself is the temple. He himself is the high priest and he himself is the altar, he himself is the mercy seat [and he himself is the intercessor]. And he himself is the one who offers and he himself is the sacrifice offered for the world, and he himself is the wood of life and of knowledge, he himself is the lamb and he himself is the fire. He himself is the burnt offering and he himself is the sword of the spirit. He himself is the shepherd and he himself is the lamb. He himself is the sacrificer and he himself is the sacrificed. He himself is the one who is offered up and he himself is the one who receives the sacrifice. He himself is the law and he himself is the one now placed under the law. But come, let us now hear the matters concerning the day from the holy Gospels. For the marvelous Luke says concerning Christ that, when the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought Jesus up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord, that every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.

Samuel, then, and Isaac together, and Jacob, Joseph, and others born from barrenness beyond hope, who opened the fruitless wombs of mothers, were called holy by the Lord. But Christ, the only one from the only one, the only-begotten of the only one, born of a virgin and not opening the virginal gates, is not holy by the Lord, but holy of holies and lord of lords and god of gods and firstborn of firstborns, ruler of rulers and king of kings, and he will be called and believed and worshipped, and now in the temple he will be proclaimed by Symeon. For there was, it says, a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Symeon. And this man was righteous, and the Holy Spirit was in him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he saw the Christ of the Lord. And he came in the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought the child Jesus in, to do for him according to the custom of the law, Symeon himself received him into his arms and blessed God and said: Now you release your servant, O Master, according to your word in peace, because my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared before the face of all peoples, a light for the revelation of nations and glory for your people Israel. Who will speak of the powers of the Lord, who will make all his praises heard? He who holds the whole earth in his hand is contained in the arms of an old man, and he who carries all things by the word of his power is carried. Let Adam rejoice through Symeon, saying to Christ:

Now you release your servant, Master, according to your word, in peace. Now you release me from eternal bonds. Now you release me from corruption. Now you release me from death. Now you release me from sorrow, my son and God. Whom Simeon, embracing in the temple and proclaiming to all nations and Jews the strange mystery of the economy, leaps and rejoices, and with a clear and far-sounding voice has cried out concerning him, saying: This is the one who is and who was before and who is always present with the Father, consubstantial, co-throned, co-glorious, co-powerful, equal in power, all-powerful, without beginning, uncreated, unchangeable, uncircumscribed, invisible, ineffable, incomprehensible, intangible, inconceivable, unascertainable. This is the radiance of the Father's glory. This is the character of the constitution of all things. This is the light of lights, rising from the Father's bosom. This is the God of gods, and known as God from God. This is the source of life, proceeding from the source of the Father's life. This is the river of God, flowing from the divine abyss, but not separated. This is the treasury of the Father's goodness and everlasting blessedness. This is the water of life, granting life to the world. This is the uncreated ray, born from the pre-existent sun, but not cut off. This is the God Word, who from non-being brought all things into being by word alone. This is the morning star before the morning star, who arrayed the incorporeal powers of the heavenly, incorporeal, invisible armies and orders. This is the one who alone stretched out the heaven and walks upon the sea as upon dry land.

This is the one who swaddled the abyss in mist. This is the one who made the earth firm upon the waters. This is the one who walled the sea with sand. This is the one who separated light from darkness. This is the one who arranged the circular order of the stars. This is the one who established the entire visible and intelligible world in wisdom. This is the one who, with hands not made by hands, shaped and formed man from clay. This is the one who created us according to the image of God, and now he himself has become man according to our image. Man, but also the same one is God. Man in what is seen, entirely as I myself am with my own, so that by purifying me he might save me; God in what is intelligible, having his essence from the perfect Father. He who exists in the lordly form of God has now taken my servile form, not diminishing the dignity of his divinity, but sanctifying the mixture of my nature. Entirely above and entirely below, the same one is recognized, born above without time and below without seed, maker of the things above as God and a thing made below as man. Hear these things, all nations; hear, O Israel. The Lord your God is this one whom I, your priest Symeon, carrying in my arms, proclaim with a great voice to the people, bearing witness in the temple. Therefore, my people, pay attention to my word; incline your ear to the utterances of my mouth.

This child is the one about whom Isaiah proclaimed beforehand, saying, "A child has been born to us, a son has been given to us, and his name is called Angel of Great Counsel (of the Father), Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Ruler, O Israel, Prince of Peace, Father of the Coming Age." If then this child is Mighty God, it is clear that David spoke about him: "The God of gods will be seen in Zion." About this child Jeremiah cries out: "God appeared on earth and lived among men." This child is the one who long ago parted the sea for Israel, drowned Pharaoh, gave the law to the Israelites, rained down manna, led the race of the Hebrews with a pillar of fire, split a rock, and kept a bush of fiery dew unconsumed by flame. This child made Moses, a murderer of forty years, the leader of the Egyptian people, appointed him shepherd of sheep for forty years, established him as guide for Israel for forty years, and empowered him to fast for forty days, just as this child himself, after baptism, fasted for forty days, and after forty days from the resurrection of the dead ascended to the upper Jerusalem, and after forty days from the birth from the virgin has now entered into the earthly Jerusalem. About this child Habakkuk proclaimed beforehand, saying, "God will come from Theman," that is, from the south. For from the south of Jerusalem, from Bethlehem, he has now entered into Zion.

Therefore, this child is the one about whom Moses testified to you, saying, "The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, and whoever does not listen to him, his soul will be destroyed." Concerning this child, the prophet David prayed, saying, "You who sit upon the cherubim, reveal yourself, rouse your power and come to save us." And again: "Let your mercies quickly overtake us, O Lord." And again: "Lord, bend your heavens and descend." And in another way: "You, Lord, God of the powers, attend to visit all the nations." Therefore, know, O nations, and be vanquished. See, O Jews, and be persuaded that this child is hymned by angels, worshiped by archangels, feared by authorities, glorified by powers, served by the cherubim, and theologized by the seraphim. The sun serves this child, the moon ministers to this child, the elements obey this child, the springs are subject to this child. When the gates of Hades saw this child, they were shattered, the heavenly gates were flung open, and Hades trembled at the sight. This child annulled death, disgraced the devil, dissolved the curse, put an end to sorrow, crushed the serpent, broke down the dividing wall, tore up the evil bond of sins, trampled upon sin, destroyed error, and raised up creation. This child saved Adam, reshaped Eve, called the nations, and illuminated the world. Therefore, come also you

Lovers of Christ and lovers of God. Let us go to meet the Lord and Master with bright and pure hearts, not in a legalistic way, but spiritually, not indulging the belly, but leaping in spirit, not drunk with wine, but boiling with the spirit. Thus today, bright and cheerful, let us adorn the lamps. Thus, as children of light, let us offer the candles to the true light, Christ, because light has shone forth for the revelation of the nations to the world. Therefore, as lights from light, let us shine brighter than snow, whiter than curdled milk, more radiant than a sapphire stone, and, like spotless doves, let us fly up to the heavens; thus, let us go out in clouds to meet God. Let us all today and always cry out the words of the feast. Let us dance with the angels. Let us be illuminated with the shepherds. Let us worship with the Magi. Let us celebrate with Bethlehem. Let us go to meet with Zion. Let us be sanctified with the temple. Let us rejoice, magnifying with the Virgin. With Joseph, let us offer soul and body like two turtledoves. With Symeon, let us embrace Christ, and with Anna, let us give thanks. So that we may enter into eternal goods by the grace, mercy, and love for humanity of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom are glory and power, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.