Ἡ δὲ συναφεία μέχρι μνηστείας ἦν. Τὴν μυσταγωγεῖται
παρὰ τοῦ Γαβριὴλ ἡ Παρθένος. Τί δὲ ῥήματα τῆς μυσταγωγίας, εὐλογία ἦν. Χαῖρε,
φησὶ, κεχαριτωμένη, ὁ Κύριος μετὰ σοῦ. Ἀπεκρίθη τῇ πρώτῃ φωνῇ τῇ πρὸς γυναῖκα·
νῦν γίνεται πρὸς τὴν παρθένον ὁ λόγος. Ἐκεῖνη λύπαις ἐν ταῖς ὠδίσι διὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν
κατεδικάσθη· ἐπὶ δὲ ταύτης ἐκβάλλεται διὰ τῆς χαρᾶς ἡ λύπη· ἐπ’ ἐκείνης αἱ [ὠ]δίνοι
προηγήσαντο· ἐνταῦθα δὲ χαρὰ τὴν ὠδῖνα μαιεύεται. Μὴ φοβοῦ, φησίν. Ἐπειδὴ ταύτῃ
γυναικὶ φόβον παρέχει ἡ τῆς ὠδίνης προσδοκία, ἐκβάλλει τὸν φόβον ἡ τῆς γλυκείας
ὠδίνης ἐπαγγελία. Ἐν γαστρὶ λήψῃ, φησίν, καὶ τέξει υἱόν, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα
αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν. Αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν. Τί εἴη ἡ
Μαρία; · Ἀκούσον καθαρᾶς παρθένου φωνήν. Ὁ ἄγγελος τὸν τόκον εὐαγγελίζεται· καὶ
ἐκεῖνη τῇ παρθενίᾳ προσφέρεται, προτιμοτέρα τῆς ἀγγελικής ἐμφανείας τὴν ἀκαθαρσίαν
χρίνουσα, καὶ οὔτε τῷ ἀγγέλῳ ἀπιστεῖν ἔχει, οὔτε τῶν κεχρισμένων ἐξέρχεται.
Ἀπείρηται μοι, φησίν, ἀνδρὸς ὁμιλία· πῶς ἔσται
μοι τοῦτο, ἐπεὶ ἄνδρα οὐ γινώσκω; τὸ γὰρ Ἰωσὴφ μνηστῆρα μέν οἶδα, ἄνδρα δὲ οὐ
γινώσκω. Τί οὖν ὁ νυμφοστόλος Γαβριὴλ; οὐκ ἂν παρίστατο τῷ καθαρῷ καὶ ἀμίαντῳ
γάμῳ; Πνεῦμα ἅγιον, φησίν, ἐπελεύσεται ἐπὶ σέ, καὶ δύναμις Ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει
σοι. Ὡς γαστρὸς ἐκείνης, ἡ δι’ ὑπερβολὴν καθαρότητος τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀγαθὰ πρὸς ἑαυτὴν
ἐπεστάσατο. Ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων μόλις ἂν ψυχὴ καθαρά Πνεύματος ἁγίου
παρουσίας δέξαιτο· ἐνταῦθα δὲ, σκεύειον τοῦ Πνεύματος ἡ σάρξ γίγνεται. Ἀλλ’ καὶ
δύναμις Ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει σοι. Τί τοῦτο σημαίνει δι’ ἀπορρήτων ὁ λόγος; Ὅτι
Χριστὸς θεοῦ δύναμις καὶ θεοῦ σοφία, ὡς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος. Τοῦ οὖν ὑψίστου θεοῦ
ἡ δύναμις, ἥτις ἐστὶν ὁ Χριστός, διὰ τῆς ἐπελεύσεως τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἐμμορφοῖται
τῇ παρθενίᾳ. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἡ τῶν σωμάτων σκιὰ τῷ τύπῳ τῶν προηγουμένων
συσχηματίζεται, οὕτως ὁ χαρακτὴρ καὶ τὰ γνωρίσματα τῆς τοῦ Υἱοῦ θεότητος ἐν τῇ
δυνάμει τοῦ τικτομένου διαφανίζεται, εἴκων καὶ σφραγὶς καὶ ἀποσκίασμα καὶ ἀπαύγασμα
τοῦ δεικνυμένου. (PG 46:1140-41)
English Translation:
The union continued until the
time of betrothal. The Virgin is instructed in the mystery by Gabriel. What
then are the words of the mystery? They are a blessing: “Hail,” he says, “full
of grace; the Lord is with you.” In reply to that first voice addressed to the
woman, the word is now made toward the virgin. That former woman was condemned
to sorrow in childbirth because of sin; but that sorrow is expelled by joy, and
whereas the pains of the one preceded, here the joy gives birth to the pang as
in a midwifing. “Do not be afraid,” he says. Since the expectation of travail
causes fear to this woman, the promise of the sweet travail casts out that
fear. “You shall conceive in your womb,” he says, “and shall bear a son, and
you shall call his name Jesus. For he will save his people from their sins.”
What then is Mary? “Hear the pure voice of a virgin.” The angel proclaims the
birth, and she is placed before virginity — choosing purity rather than even
the splendour of the angelic manifestation, holding herself from impurity —
neither does she find cause to distrust the angel, nor is she driven out from
among the sanctified.
“My speech is that of a man,” she
says; “how shall this be with me, since I know not a man?” — Mary’s question is
a voice of distress, a proof of things done secretly. For if she had been taken
into marriage in the ordinary way by Joseph, how could the one who announces
her childbearing have been shown concerning the one who would bring forth? And
yet how could she be reckoned a mother according to the law of nature? But
since her flesh was devoted to God — as a sacred offering ought to be kept
untouched — therefore, he says, even if an angel were to appear, even if a
sound were to come from heaven, and even so, the Holy Spirit shall come upon
you and the power of the Highest will overshadow you. What does this hidden
saying mean? That Christ is the power and the wisdom of God, as the Apostle
says. Thus the might of the Most High — which is Christ — by the coming of the
Holy Spirit is formed into the virginity. Just as the shadow of bodies is
patterned after the pre-existing types, so likewise the character and the
distinguishing marks of the Son’s deity are made manifest in the power of the
one born: an image, a seal, a kind of overshadowing and a radiance of the one
shown.
Note also that Gregory does not seem to hold to interpretation
of Mary’s question in Luke 1:34 as evidence Mary took a vow of perpetual
virginity before marrying Joseph (although he did hold affirm her perpetual
virginity).
