In annuntiationem

Encomium of Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, on the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos. Whenever I recall the disobedience of Eve, I weep; and whenever I again see and contemplate the fruit of the Theotokos Mary, I am renewed. Come, peoples, let us all hymn the one born of a virgin, glory and character existing before the ages, who, being of like essence with the Godhead, became consubstantial with our poverty; the magnificent authority, existing in the form of God, assumed the form of a slave; the one hymned upon the cherubim by myriads of angels dwells in the world; the one who pre-existed and saves the whole world was born of the holy virgin, that he might again give life to the first-formed. Come then, beloved, let us also, hastening to the harbor of our savior, saying with Gabriel the "Hail, full of grace," hymn the holy virgin. For from her came forth the true light, which illumines us with its goodness; for she was a sacred, sanctified, and pure temple of God, the golden altar of incense, on account of her unsurpassable purity, the divine incense of composition and the holy oil of anointing, the precious alabaster of spikenard, the priestly diadem, revealing the ineffable will of God, she alone being holy in body and spirit, the gate looking toward the east, which through the Lord's entrance and exit illumined the world, the fruitful olive tree, from which the mystic branch of the Lord, taking the Holy Spirit, adorned the storm-tossed race of men.

She is the boast of virgins and the delight of mothers, receiving the archangelic message and divine gospel: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you and again from you." For the Lord, having deigned to be conceived from the holy virgin, sent the archangel bearing the good tidings. And he, arriving from the ineffable powers above to Mary, first proclaimed to her "Hail, full of grace" and immediately added: "The Lord is with you, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb." But she was troubled and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Grace, then, fittingly chose the holy virgin Mary, for the holy one was wise in all things among all generations of women; no one like her has ever existed. Not as the first virgin Eve, dwelling alone in paradise, received the word from the serpent with a frivolous mind, and thus the understanding of her heart was corrupted, and through her the whole struggle of the saints arose; but in the holy virgin alone that error has been rectified. Not as Sarah, when told of the conception of her son, laughed rashly; not as Rebecca received the ornaments without hesitation and eagerly watered the camels of the suitor; not as every woman receives a charming greeting without discernment; but with a steadfast mind and a serene disposition she was perplexed within herself and said: "What sort of greeting is this? Whence does the gift derive its substance? Whence did he bring us this blessing? Whence has the pearl of the word been sent to us from the treasuries?

I wish to know what the gift is, and who bears it, and who sent it. You have come from heaven, you show the form of a man, I see a man, and you flash with torches of light. These things she pondered within herself and said; and with such words the archangel resolved Mary's perplexity: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore you will conceive and bear a son; and you will call his name Jesus." The holy virgin says to the angel: "How will this be for me, since I do not wish to know a mortal husband, since I have betrothed myself to the heavenly bridegroom? I wish to remain a virgin, I do not wish to betray the dignity of virginity." And with such words the angel strengthened the holy one: "Do not fear, Mariam, for I have not come to frighten you, but to drive away the cause of fear. Do not fear, Mariam, for you have found grace with God. Do not question the grace, for grace does not submit to the laws of nature. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, therefore the one born from you will be called holy, Son of God, of the same form, of the same essence, coeternal with the Father. In him the Father possesses the entire manifestation of the divinity, the character in the person, and through the radiance the glory shines forth, to illuminate those sitting in darkness. You have learned, O blessed one, what until now was hidden even from the angels. You have known, Mary, what escaped the prophets and patriarchs. You have heard, Mary, what the chorus of the God-inspired has not yet been deemed worthy of. David and Isaiah and the rest of the God-speakers proclaimed beforehand concerning the Lord's incarnation, but they did not know the how.

But you alone, holy virgin, receive and learn the mysteries unknown to them; and do not reason, "How will this be for me?" For the one who fashioned man from virgin earth now does whatever he wills, in order to save his own creation. Now it is fitting for me to marvel at the manner of the holy virgin as much as possible. The angel greeted her earlier again, "Hail, full of grace," because with her the entire treasure of grace dwells. From all generations she alone has been deemed worthy to bear God; she alone bears the one who bears all things by the word. And it is possible not only to marvel at the beauty of the Theotokos, but also at the virtue of her soul, for which reason the angel proclaimed to her, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you." For the holy one, having prepared her soul as a lodging for God, became a receptacle of hospitality and divine mysteries. Come then, beloved, let us also pay the debt according to our ability, and following the voice of the angel, let us cry out, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you." For rejoicing is truly yours, since the Lord of all has taken up residence with you, as he knows. "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you"—not an earthly bridegroom, but the Lord himself, the father of purity, the guardian of virginity and the lord of sanctification, the creator of incorruption and the giver of freedom, the steward of salvation and the dispenser of the treasury of true peace. The Lord himself is with you, because divine grace has rested upon you.

Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you. No longer does Adam fear the deceitful serpent, for the one born from you has undone all the power of the enemy. No longer does the race of men fear the error and guile of the serpent, for the Lord has crushed the heads of the dragon in the water of baptism. No longer do I fear to hear, "You are earth, and to earth you shall return," for the Lord in holy baptism has wiped away the filth of sin from me. No longer do I weep, no longer do I mourn, no longer do I say, "I have been turned to misery, thorns having been fixed in me," for the Lord, having uprooted the thorn of our sins, crowned his own head. My sin is loosed, my ancient curse is loosed that says, "The earth shall bring forth thorns and thistles for you." The thorn has been uprooted, the thistle has withered, the tree of life and grace has blossomed from the holy virgin. No longer does Eve fear the reproach, nor the pain of childbirth, for in the holy virgin that one's transgression has been redeemed.

For she has become for us a fountain of life, the holy virgin, a fountain of light for those who believe in Christ, being the rising of the intelligible light. "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you," and from you, the one perfect in divinity, in whom dwells the whole fullness of the Godhead. "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you," with the handmaid the king, with the undefiled one the one who sanctifies all things, with the beautiful one the one beautiful in form beyond the sons of men, that he might save the man whom he made in his image, in whose divine faith and grace we rejoice and are illumined by the threefold light. Roses and lilies and perfumes of intelligible fragrance: our ineffable spring, Christ, has arrived, the pleasant and exceedingly beautiful paradise of the churches, which has filled the threefold part of our soul with divine aromas and heavenly gifts. Let us therefore approach with a pure heart and find the one that gleams with gold and bears fruits of immortality upon her. For from the undefiled Mary there has blossomed for us the ever-living tree of grace, for the blessed one was filled in all respects with spiritual wisdom from all generations. In the undefiled and ever-virgin Mary alone the plant of life has flowered for us, for she alone has become pure in soul and body and with a bold mind conversed with the angel: "Whence this greeting? And how shall this be for me? I wish to learn: how does the magnificent authority become subject to the same passions as our poverty? How does the one who holds the authority of the power of the heavens take up the image of our lowliness, and how is the pre-eternal God about to become a child and be incarnated, he who puts on light as a garment?

And the angel says to her: "Yes, these things are so resolved, that he might save his own creation." Such a mystery did the holy virgin seek, the incomprehensible, and she became a receptacle of the divine mysteries, the Holy Spirit having overshadowed. And the truth of the body was assumed, and wisdom built a house; the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, that is, in that very body which he took from a human being, and the spirit of a rational soul animated it. And the unchangeable God assumed the form of a servant, so that to the unbelieving he might be thought of as a man, but to the faithful he might be revealed as God; for being Son of God and God before the ages, he deigned to become the son of a holy woman, and the invisible is seen, and the rich becomes poor for our sake, and the impassible and immortal suffers as a man. He was united with a body and was not altered in spirit; the uncontainable entered into a mortal body, so that he might make it immortal, having co-immortalized it with the divinity. Light came into the world, Christ our God, illuminating all things with eternal light, the voice of the invisible Father bearing witness: "This is my Son and Word, existing before the ages.

Mary, on the one hand, was fortified by the word of the angel, but on the other hand, she pondered the birth of the Lord, encountering matters more unequal than human reasoning can grasp: at one time being raised to the height of divinity, at another contemplating the lowliness of humanity. And as the balance of her thought was carried to each side, she was then deemed worthy of the precise inclination of God. For he who preserved the pure workshop of virginity unharmed also made the discerning faculty of her heart unwavering. Thus the holy one was filled with joy within, because of him who assumed flesh from her. Grace came to us: Christ, the Son of God, who was ineffably born of the Virgin Mary; by grace he saves us, the creator of all things. All creation dances at the birth of Christ in the world, and we, therefore, while still in the body, shall hasten to propitiate God with angelic hymns, and faithfully sow the truth of divine doctrines in our mind according to a well-researched pattern. For the mystery is incomprehensible and invisible, unchangeable and uncircumscribed, worshipped in silence and overwhelming to the mind. For the holy one marveled at the manner in which the radiance of light becomes the offspring of a woman; she embraced the treasure of life and pondered the greeting of the angel, until she brought forth the fruit of salvation. Here, then, the beautiful flowers of Christ’s teaching offer the fruits of blessing; here all purity and fragrance present the incense of prayer to God with a clear conscience; here virginity and temperance

dancing, she bore the life-giving cluster of grapes; here the prizes of the victorious power make the treasures of love fragrant for us; here the mystery of the Holy Trinity was revealed by the archangel to the virgin according to the Gospel: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, on account of which the one born from you will be called holy, Son of God." To him be glory, might, and adoration for all eternity. Amen.