O soul, who by such chastity haste hath made her body chaste!

Oh, the body that has not seen the natural, ascended with the soul.

O mind (filled with) the light there!

What will I say, what will I say (cf. Dan. 10:17), says the prophet in difficulty. God, Whom no place contains, nor does the creation contain, even if it were multiplied innumerable times, the Virgin clothed Him with Her blood, and, what is more, became a beautiful robe for the Beautiful King, although God was not so united to the flesh as the body was united to the garment, and not so did human nature become partaker of the Divine ray. as a garment for royal bliss. After all, as far as the Incarnation of the Saviour is concerned, there has been no merging of natures with each other, but each remains unmixed with the other and retains all its properties. For the rest, [hypostatic union] is as much superior to that image as complete union is a perfect separation. This union cannot be an example for others, nor can it be an example, but it is a very special one, the first and only one: the blood of the Virgin becomes the blood of God. How can I say that? With what he took [from the Virgin] he entered into such perfect communion that it becomes equal to honor, one throne, and co-divine with His Divine nature. To such a height of holiness has the Virgin ascended! That which relates to Her thus surpasses all understanding!

VIII. She was a man; descended from men; She was a partaker of all that is peculiar to our race, but she did not become an heir of the same way of thinking as us, nor was she bound by the same habit of vice, but she resisted sin and corruption, putting an end to wickedness. In this way She became the holy firstfruits and guide on the road leading to God. After all, She had such a disposition of the soul as if She were alone in this world, as if there were no other people, no other creature was created, but She alone was near the One God. She paid no attention to any created thing, nor cared for anything, but as soon as she appeared among men, she withdrew from them for the best part of herself; And having passed through all creation the earth, the heavens, the sun, the stars, and all the countenances that dwell near God, she did not cease before she was united with God, the Pure with the Pure. And she became more sacred before God than sacrifices, more honorable than altars. Of the prophets, the righteous, and the priests, it has become as much holier as the sanctifier surpasses the sanctified in holiness. For no one was holy before the Blessed One appeared, but it was She, the first and only one who completely departed from sin, who appeared as the holy and holy of holies, and, if anything can be called, the highest; And for others she opened the gates of holiness, having adequately prepared herself for the reception of the Saviour, and through this all the prophets, priests, and all in general who proved worthy of the Divine Mysteries were able to become holy.

After all, the first and only Fruit of the Virgin brought holiness to the world, and Blessed Paul speaks of this: Jesus entered into the Holy [of the Saints] as a forerunner for us (Hebrews 11:26). If, before the Saviour came to us, we can hear that many have attained this appellation [of holiness], it is only because they have participated in the Sacraments figuratively. After all, Moses, according to the testimony of Ap. Paul, before Christ was reviled, considered the reproach of Christ to be a greater treasure for himself than the treasures of Egypt (Hebrews 11:26).

Likewise, the baptism, and the giving of spiritual bread and water to the Jews, took place before the bread came down from heaven and before the Holy Spirit was upon them, because Jesus had not yet been glorified (John 7:39). This was also done for the purpose that they might be properly prepared for true holiness and be able to receive the ray from which salvation shone forth, which corresponds to the following words of the Saviour: "For them I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth" (John 12:19). As for those ancients who lived before the appearance of the Saviour, they received sanctification in certain images and shadows. All these who bear witness in faith have not received what was promised, ... that they may not be made perfect without us (Hebrews 11:39,40). Paul.

IX. And what of the prophets, who, if they had not received the gifts of the Virgin, could not have been freed from the fetters of hell? Truly holier is the blessed Virgin of the Angels, Archangels, Cherubim and Seraphim. For if God is the reward of holiness, a reward which, although it is given to all equally, is given to a greater extent to those who have shown greater zeal, then the Virgin necessarily predominates in holiness for the feats suffered. Holiness is measured by closeness to God. It is said that the Cherubim surround God and receive the light that proceeds from Him, but they do not dare to look. In a new and ineffable way, the Virgin received Him in Herself, Who is not encompassed by any place. And it was not some splendor and glory, but She Herself who received the Divine Hypostasis. And as much more clearly than to the Cherubim, God appeared to the Virgin much more than it is possible to express, so much more She is necessarily holier and more sacred.

Likewise, of those things in which Divine Wisdom is predominantly manifested, She overcomes in purity and holiness. For even in the visible world, that which is near the light is seen as purer than the rest. And although God is equally present in all things, it is possible to point out the difference in His appearance to creatures. If this is so, who will deny that the Virgin is holier than all men and angels? And if through angels the covenant of God, the Old Law, was given to men [... Through the angels, the word proclaimed was firm... Paul (Hebrews 2:2)], and all the other signs of justice and power, the Virgin did not proclaim God only within these limits, but revealed to people the Divine Wisdom of God Himself, not in signs and images, but directly God Himself, the Saviour, and [revealed] not only to men, but also to the Principalities and Powers, so that now she might be made known, as the Apostle says. Paul-... and to the principalities, and to the powers in heaven, the manifold wisdom of God (Ephesians 3:10). And he didn't say, "... that it might be made more famous than before, when it was known, however imperfectly," but simply "that it might be made known," showing, I think, that the knowledge which existed before the Blessed Virgin was so obscure that it could not be measured with the other knowledge which had been grown. And, as befits it, it shone the Sun of righteousness not only for people, righteous and unrighteous, evil and good, but also for the most mundane Powers.

Thus, the Virgin is so much higher than all creatures, as that which the Saviour has made as the economy of our salvation cannot be compared with anything else that exists. For if She made the angels so perfect in comparison with themselves, that, according to the judgment of the Apostle, their former blessedness cannot be compared with the latter, then let us appreciate Her superiority as it really is.

For if the lesser is blessed by the greater (Hebrews 7:7), what is the difference between doing good and receiving good deeds? That is why the prophet saw the Virgin as the Throne of God, high and exalted, with the Seraphim standing around the Throne (cf. Isaiah 6:12). And they didn't just stand there, but with fear and trembling, not daring to look directly at him. It is also written that they never sleep, and there is no end to their praises to God. And all this is all the more true for the Blessed One, the more She received the Divine Light. And I say this not only in reference to what happened after Her departure from here, but also in relation to Her sojourn in this world, for She does not fall asleep as well as the Powers that are before God, and manifests a pre-eminent zeal for God over others, in order to enjoy all the Divine gifts. Wherefore that which befits the other saints after separation from the body, that which is indispensable to possess virtue and goodness, is acquired by the Virgin even before leaving the body.

X: And, of course, it was in accordance with [Her dignity]. For the body that was able to be so far away (from the ordinary lot) surely surpassed its name. It was no longer a spiritual body or anything like it, but, according to the saying of Ap. Paul, the spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:44), for the Spirit began to dwell in him and changed all the boundaries of nature. In addition, that which does not allow the saints to change inwardly while being present, was abundantly inherent in the Blessed Virgin. For even the saints, being filled with every desire to be near the limit of what they desired, when all the power of reason was directed to the contemplation of the truly Existent, could not give room to any other [desire], nor turn away their eyes and minds, even though everything visible was set before them. Who does not know that all this was inherent in the Virgin to a degree beyond reason, and that She alone accepted God in an indescribable way?

From this it is clear that even before Her repose, She was invariably possessed of this wondrous virtue and pre-natural good. And she was a partaker of the good things to come, and in the present age she reigned in the kingdom prepared for the righteous, and lived a life hidden in Christ, revealed to Her, a steady life in the midst of the fluid. After all, it behooved the Blessed One to possess all that was named in a new way, before which the laws of nature would have receded. This was shown by Her Own when She sang the Divine blessings received by Her: "The Mighty One hath made Me great" (Luke 1:49).

XI. Oh, New Rewards! Oh, their labors are equal to them! For after the rewards and crowns, I mean the Sun of Righteousness, Whom She received and with Whom She was united, and instead of the joy that was set before Her (cf. Hebrews 15:2), She knew sickness and sorrow for our sake. She became a partaker of the Son in the disgrace and reproach, in the poverty which He had endured, and in every experience which He had received with long-suffering in the presence of the named parent [Joseph], sharing the fate of the Son for the good of my salvation. She was with Him both at the beginning of miracles and at the correction of [our] nature. She had compassion for Him, who endured ill-will from those He had favoured, so that She Herself was not immune to the hatred with which He was hated. She was the first, out of an abundance of love for mankind, to move the Son to good deeds [to the human race], even to the time when He said, "My hour has not yet come" (John 2:4). In this way He clearly showed what freedom of appeal to Him He gave to the Mother, so that She could change the boundaries of the times that He Himself had set.