On the Annunciation (Homily I)

Today the angels sing and Adam is renewed§0

0Today the choirs of angels sing divine praises, and the light of Christ's coming dawns on the faithful. Today is a glad spring for us: Christ, the Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2), has shone forth, has lit us all around with clear light, and has enlightened the minds of the faithful. Today Adam is made new, and, lifted up into heaven, he dances in the choirs with the angels. Today the whole world is full of joy at the coming of the Holy Spirit upon humankind. Today divine grace, the hope of things unseen, shines out, and makes plain to us the wonders that surpass mind and understanding and the mystery that was hidden from eternity.

Sermon 1 opening: today's joy, David's oracle, and Gabriel's hail§1

1Today crowns of everlasting virtue are woven. Today God, wishing to crown the sacred heads of the kind and the devout, and of those who keep the feast days with zeal, names the lovers of firm faith as those called and as heirs; and the kingdom above eagerly calls those who set their minds on heavenly things, so that they may join themselves to the divine ministry of the bodiless choirs.

Today the oracle of David is fulfilled, which says: Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth exult. The fields will be glad, and all the trees of the forest, before the Lord, for He comes (Psalm 96:11-13). David, for his part, speaks of trees; but the Forerunner of the Lord speaks of trees that bear fruit worthy of repentance (Matthew 3:8-10), or rather worthy of the Lord's coming. Yet our Lord Jesus Christ announces everlasting joy to all who believe in Him. For He says: I will see you, and you will rejoice; and your joy no one will take from you (John 16:22).

Today the renowned and ineffable mystery of the Christians, who have freely set a seal on their hope in Christ, is plainly announced to us. Today Gabriel, who stands before God (Luke 1:19), coming to the most chaste Virgin, announces to her that saying: Hail, full of grace (Luke 1:28). And as she was considering within herself what sort of greeting that was (Luke 1:29), the Angel at once added, saying: The Lord is with you (Luke 1:28). Do not fear, Mary; for you have found grace with God. Therefore you will conceive in the womb and bear a son, and they will call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give Him the throne of David His father, and He will reign in the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there will be no end (Luke 1:30-33).

Then Mary said to the Angel: How will this be done to me, since I do not know a man? (Luke 1:34) Shall I still remain a virgin? Will the dignity of virginity in me be betrayed and lost? While the most holy Virgin, as if in wonder, was turning these things over in her mind, the Angel briefly sets out the sum of his message and says: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And therefore the holy one who will be born of you will also be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35). For what He is, that He will also surely be called. Fittingly, then, grace chose holy Mary alone out of all generations.

Mary's wisdom undoes Eve's fall§2

2For she was truly prudent and wise in all things, and no woman like her has ever been found among all the generations. She was not like the virgin Eve of old, who, alone in paradise, dancing and leaping, with her mind slackened through carelessness, received the word from the serpent, the author of all evil (Genesis 3:1-6), and so was corrupted in the understanding of her mind; and through her the deceiver, pouring out his poison and mingling death with it, brought it into the whole world. From this all the affliction of the saints was born. But in the holy Virgin alone that fall was repaired.

The Virgin asks where the gift comes from§3

3Nor did the most holy Virgin accept the gift before she had learned who was sending it, what the gift was, and who was bringing it. Speaking with herself as one in two minds, she said to the Angel: From where have you brought us such a blessing? From what treasuries has the pearl of the word been sent out to us? From where has the gift made ready its substance for us? You have come from heaven, yet you walk on earth; you show a human form, yet you shine with the brightness of light.

Gabriel answers: do not fear, grace is above nature§4

4While the most holy Virgin was thinking these things over within herself, the Archangel settled her questioning with words like these, saying to her: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the holy one who will be born of you will also be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35). And do not fear, Mary: for I have not come to strike fear into you, but to drive the cause of fear away from you. Do not fear, Mary; for you have found grace with God (Luke 1:30). Do not judge grace by the measure of nature; for grace does not allow itself to be made subject to the laws of nature.

Mysteries hidden from prophets and angels made known to her§5

5You know, Mary, what was hidden from the patriarchs and prophets. You have learned, O Virgin, what until now was hidden even from the angels. You have heard, most holy one, what the choir of those inspired by the divine Spirit was never found worthy to hear. Moses and David, Isaiah and Daniel, and all the prophets foretold Him, but they did not know the manner or the reason. But you alone, most holy Virgin, now receive the mysteries that were unknown to all of them, and you understand their cause. For where the Holy Spirit is, all things are brought to completion readily and without delay. Where divine grace is present, all things are possible with God (Luke 1:37; Matthew 19:26).

The Son of God, the ever-living fountain of light§6

6The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the holy one who will be born of you will also be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35). But if He is the Son of God, He is also God, of the same form as the Father and coeternal with Him. In Him the Father possesses all glory; He is, in His own person, the imprint and the image, and through the radiance the glory shines out (Hebrews 1:3).

And as rivers flow from an ever-flowing spring, so from this ever-flowing and ever-living spring comes forth the everlasting and true Light of the world, Christ our God (John 1:9; John 8:12). For of Him the prophets cried out: The rush of the river makes glad the city of God (Psalm 46:4). And not one city only, but all; for it gladdens the whole world as though it were one city.

Why the angel first said “Hail, full of grace”§7

7Fittingly, then, the Angel announced first of all to the holy Virgin Mary that word: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you (Luke 1:28), since the whole treasure of grace was stored up with her. For of all the generations this Virgin alone was holy in body and in spirit (1 Corinthians 7:34), and she alone carries Him who carries all things by His word (Hebrews 1:3). And it is not only the beauty of that most holy one in body that fills us with wonder, but also the virtues of her soul.

The Lord is with you, not an earthly bridegroom§8

8Therefore with those words, Hail, full of grace, the Angel first greeted her and addressed her: The Lord is with you (Luke 1:28). Not an earthly bridegroom, but the Lord of holiness Himself, the father of chastity, the author of incorruption and the giver of freedom; the one who brings about salvation, and the keeper and giver of true peace; who created man from the virgin earth (Genesis 2:7), and took Eve from his side and rib (Genesis 2:21-22): this Lord is with you, and in turn comes from you.

Let us join the angel's greeting§9

9Come then, beloved, and let us too, following the angel's praise, pay as far as we are able the debt of thanks, saying: Hail and rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you (Luke 1:28). For it is truly yours to fare well and to rejoice, since divine grace, as it knows how, has chosen its dwelling with you: with the handmaid, the King of glory; with the beautiful one, He who is fair in form beyond the sons of men (Psalm 45:2); with the undefiled, He who sanctifies all things. With you is God, and from you is God, and perfect man, in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells (Colossians 2:9).

Hail, full of grace: fountain, flower, meadow, vine, field§10

10Hail, full of grace, fountain of light that enlightens all who believe in Him. Hail, full of grace, dawning of the spiritual Sun, and spotless flower of life. Hail, full of grace, most fragrant meadow. Hail, full of grace, ever-flourishing vine, who gladden the souls of those who glorify you. Hail, full of grace, field that bears the fairest fruits without being ploughed.

Your bearing was according to nature, in that you brought forth in our manner, keeping the time of the child's stirring and of carrying; but beyond nature, or rather above nature, because the divine Word came from on high and in your holy womb formed Adam anew. The Holy Spirit gave the holy Virgin her fruitfulness; but the true body was taken from her body.

Like the pearl, Christ is born of the Virgin§11

11And as the pearl comes from two natures, namely lightning and water, arising through certain hidden tokens and signs of the sea, so too our Lord Jesus Christ comes forth, without confusion and without change, from the pure and chaste, undefiled and holy Virgin Mary. He is perfect in Godhead and perfect in manhood, like the Father in all things and consubstantial with us in all things, but without any sin (Hebrews 4:15).

What prophets longed to see came to Mary alone§12

12Many of the holy fathers, patriarchs, and prophets longed to see Him and to become eyewitnesses, and could not (Matthew 13:17; Luke 10:24). Some of them saw Him in visions, dimly and in riddles; others heard the divine voice in the pillar of cloud (Psalm 99:7) and were granted the sight of holy angels. But to Mary alone, the holy Virgin, the Archangel Gabriel came in clear light, announcing to her: Hail, full of grace (Luke 1:28). And so she received the Word, and in the time of bodily fulfilment she brought forth the precious Pearl.

Arise, Lord: the Virgin is the ark§13

13Come then, you too, beloved, and let us sing those sweet words set before us from the spiritual harp of David, saying: Arise, O Lord, into Your resting place, You and the ark of Your holiness (Psalm 132:8). For truly the most holy Virgin is an ark, gilded within and without (Exodus 25:11), who received the whole treasure of holiness. Arise, O Lord, into Your resting place (Psalm 132:8). Arise, O Lord, from the bosom of the Father (John 1:18), to raise up the fallen race of the first parent.

David's prophecy: Hear, O daughter§14

14Asking and pleading for this, David spoke in prophecy to the rod that was to put forth from him the flower of that most beautiful fruit (Isaiah 11:1), and said: Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear; and forget your people and your father's house; and the King will desire your beauty, for He is the Lord your God, and you will worship Him (Psalm 45:10-11). Hear, O daughter, the things foretold of you before, so that you may also behold the realities themselves with the eyes of knowledge. Hear me, who signify them to you beforehand, and hear the Archangel, who plainly announces to you the mysteries fulfilled.

Let us praise the rod from Jesse§15

15Come then, dearly beloved, and let us too, calling to mind what has gone before, glorify that rod from Jesse that blossomed so wonderfully and beyond all telling (Isaiah 11:1). Let us praise it together, call it blessed, and welcome it with joyful acclamations.

Luke's witness: the birth at Bethlehem§16

16For Luke, bearing witness in the divine Gospels not to Joseph alone but also to Mary the Mother of God, and looking to the very family and kindred of David, tells the story and says: And Joseph also went up from Galilee to a city of Judea called Bethlehem, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child, because they were of the house and family of David (Luke 2:4-5). And it happened that while they were there, the days were fulfilled for her to give birth; and she brought forth her son, the firstborn of all creation (Colossians 1:15), and wrapped Him in cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn (Luke 2:6-7).

The Creator wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger§17

17She swathed in swaddling bands Him who clothes Himself with light as with a garment (Psalm 104:2). She wrapped in cloths Him who formed all creation. She laid in a manger Him who sits above the cherubim (Psalm 80:1) and is praised by countless angels (Daniel 7:10). In the manger of beasts without reason the divine Word rested, to give a sense of reason to men who were truly without reason by their own free will. On the table of beasts of burden the heavenly bread was set out, to make men, who were without reason like cattle, sharers in the mystical food.

No room for Him who made heaven and earth§18

18And there was not even room for them in the inn (Luke 2:7). He who built heaven and earth by His word (Genesis 1:1) had no place. For though He was rich, for our sake He became poor (2 Corinthians 8:9), choosing the utmost lowliness for the salvation of our nature, out of the goodness toward us that is His by nature.

In the Father's bosom and in His mother's arms; closing doxology§19

19He who carried out the whole providence and ordering of the hidden mysteries of the dispensation, in heaven in the bosom of the Father and in the cave in His mother's arms, rested in the manger. Choirs of angels surrounded Him, singing glory in heaven and announcing peace on earth (Luke 2:13-14). In heaven He sat at the right hand of the Father; and in the manger He rested as upon the cherubim. Truly this too was a throne of the cherubim, a royal throne: the holy of holies, alone glorious upon earth, holier than the holy, in which Christ our God rested.

To Him be glory, honor, and dominion, with the all-pure Father and the most holy and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.