- If God had taken upon Himself a human body, He would not have wanted to be more beautiful than this Child.

Having said this, he rebuked his companions, the other robbers, and did not allow them to offend these travelers in any way. Then the Most-Pure Mother of God said to that thief:

- Know that this Child will reward you with a generous reward for having protected Him.

This thief was the same one who later, at the crucifixion of Christ, was hanged on the cross on the right side, and to whom the Lord said: "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). And the prophetic prophecy of the Mother of God was fulfilled, that "this Infant shall reward thee."

When they entered the land of Egypt and were within the borders of the Thebaid, they approached the city of Hermopolis [2]. Near the entrance to this city grew a very beautiful tree, called "Persea," which the inhabitants of the place, according to their idolatrous custom, worshipped as a god, because of his height and majestic beauty, worshipping him and offering sacrifices to him, for in that tree lived also a demon, which they worshipped. When the Most-Pure Mother of God with the Divine Infant approached that tree, immediately it shook violently, for the demon, fearing the coming of Jesus, fled. And the tree bowed its top to the very ground, giving due worship to its Creator and His Mother, the Most-Pure Virgin, moreover, it protected them from the heat of the sun with the shade of its many-leaved branches, and thus gave the weary most holy travelers the opportunity to rest. And that tree remained in such a bent form as a clear sign of the coming of the Lord into Egypt. After the Lord with His Matter and Joseph rested under this tree, this tree received healing power, for from its branches all kinds of diseases were healed. Then the holy travelers first of all entered that city and the idolatrous temple that was in it, and immediately all the idols fell. Palladius mentions this temple in Lausaica [3]: "We saw," he says, "there (in Hermopolis) an idolatrous temple, in which at the time of the coming of the Saviour all the idols fell to the ground. Likewise, in a certain village called "Siren," three hundred and sixty-five idols fell in one temple, while Christ entered there with the Most Pure Mother" [4].

And in all Egypt at the time of the coming of the Lord, idols were broken, and demons fled from them, and in this event was fulfilled what the holy prophet Jeremiah prophesied when he was in Egypt, when he said: "All idols must fall, and all images of the gods will be crushed when the Virgin Mother comes here with the Child born in a manger." From the time of this Jeremiah prophecy, it was the custom of the Egyptians to depict the Virgin resting on a bed, and near Her the Infant lying in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes, and to worship this image. When King Ptolemy once asked the Egyptian priests why they were doing this, they answered: "This is a mystery proclaimed to our most ancient ancestors by a holy prophet, and we await the fulfillment of that prophecy and the revelation of this secret."

After this, the holy travelers turned a little away from the city of Hermopolis and, looking for a place to stop, they entered a village called "Natarea", lying not far from Heliopolis [5]. Joseph left the Most-Pure Virgin Mary with Christ the Lord near this village, and he himself went to the village in order to acquire what he needed. And that fig tree, which sheltered the holy pilgrims under it, bifurcated from top to bottom and lowered its top, forming as it were a canopy or tent over their heads: and below, at its root, it formed in that cleft a kind of depression, convenient for dwelling, and there the Most-Pure Virgin with the Child lay down and rested from the journey. To this day, this place is held in great veneration not only by Christians, but also by the Saracens, who to this day (as it is related by reliable eyewitnesses) light a lamp with oil in a cleft in a tree in honor of the Virgin and Child who rested there. Joseph and the Most Holy Mother of God wanted to stay in that village, and having found a hut for themselves not far from that tree, they began to live in it. Another miracle was accomplished by the power of the Divine Infant, for there, near their abode and near that miraculous tree, suddenly appeared a spring of living water, from which the Most-Pure Virgin drew for Her own needs and in which She arranged bathing for Her Infant. That spring exists to this day, having very cold and healthy water. And what is even more surprising is that in all the land of Egypt this is the only source of living water, and it is famous in that village. Thus ends the narrative of the stay of the Most-Pure Mother of God with Christ in Egypt, where they stayed for several years. But there is no exact information about how many years the Lord spent in Egypt. St. Epiphanius says that - two years, and Nicephorus three years, and Georgy Kedrinus five years; others, like Ammonius of Alexandria, think that seven years. In any case, there is no doubt that before the death of Herod, just as the Gospel says: "And there he was until the death of Herod" (Matt. 2:15).

After the murder of the Bethlehem infants, and after the accursed Herod had died an evil death, the angel of the Lord again appeared in a dream to Joseph, commanding him to return from the land of Egypt to the land of Israel, "for (he said) those who sought the life of the child died." Joseph arose, took the Child and His Mother, and went to Judea, which was the best and largest part of the land of Israel. When he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in the place of Herod his father, he was afraid to go there. For Herod left behind him three sons: the first Archelaus, the second Herod Antipas, and the third, the youngest, Philip. All of them, after the death of their father, went to Rome, to Caesar, because of rivalry, since each of them wanted to receive the kingdom of his father. Caesar, not giving any of them royal honor, divided the kingdom into four parts, calling them tetrarchy. To his elder brother Archelaus he gave Judea, to Herod Antipas he gave Galilee, and to his younger brother Philip the land of Trachonite; And he gave Abilius to Lysanias, the youngest son of Lysanias the elder, who had once been a friend of Herod, and who was later killed by him out of envy. Dismissing them all from Rome, Caesar promised Archelaus royal honor, if only he would show good and careful management of his part. But Archelaus was no better than his cruel father, torturing and killing many, for when he came to Jerusalem, he immediately killed three thousand people in vain, and ordered many citizens to be tortured on the day of the feast, in the midst of the temple, before the whole assembly of the Jews. On account of his cruelty, he was, after several years, slandered, deprived of power, and exiled to prison.

To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

The Life of the Righteous King David [1]

The holy king and prophet David came from the tribe of Judah. His father Jesse was one of the elders of the city of Bethlehem and had eight sons, of whom David was the youngest. When David reached adolescence, his father entrusted him with the task of tending his flocks. The lad lived in solitude among the flocks, guarding his parental property, when a lion or a bear came and carried away a sheep from the flock, David chased after them and took away the prey; when the beast rushed at him, David took him by the braids, smote him and killed him. The Lord preserved the lad, for he was pious and did not like idleness, he made himself a musical instrument with strings, and in his leisure hours he practiced singing and playing this instrument. David turned the God-given ability for this art to the service of God, to the glorification of His holy name; constantly abiding in the contemplation of God, the lad, clanking on the strings, sang the wisdom and goodness of the Heavenly Father, manifested in all of God's creation and in human life.

At that time, Saul was the king of Israel. By some of his actions he showed disobedience to the commandments of the Lord and showed that he placed his own strength and desires above the will and mercy of the King of kings. Then the Lord commanded the prophet Samuel to declare to Saul:

- Because you rejected the word of the Lord, and He rejected you, so that you would not be a king.

Soon after this, the Lord sent Samuel to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for "among his sons I have provided myself with a king," said the Lord. Arriving in Bethlehem, the prophet ordered the elders of the city to prepare to offer sacrifice to the God of Israel, inviting Jesse and his sons to do so. When the children of Jesse came. Samuel, seeing the eldest of them, Elian, thought that he was the chosen one of God, but the Lord said to the prophet: