(Extracts from the Holy Scriptures)

225. The Sacred Song of Our Lady

Who was the first hymn-writer of the New Testament Church? Who was the first of all the New Testament hymn-writers to sing the glory and majesty of the Lord, when He, the King of Heaven, deigned to bow down to heaven and descend from His heavenly throne to our sinful earth? From whose lips came the first song of praise and praise to God, the Savior of our sinful race? From the lips of His Most-Pure and Most-Blessed Mother! She, like the ancient Miriam, the sister of Moses, preceded all our New Testament hymns of praise in honor of Her Divine Son; She sang of His mercy and truth, omnipotence and holiness, even at the time when He, the Lord and Creator of heaven and earth, having received Her human nature from Her most pure blood, as a young child dwelt in Her virgin beds! And what a wonderful, truly Divine song it is! How the heart rejoices when it is sung in the church of God! And it is sung almost every day, at matins, before the 9th ode of the canon (with the exception of some feasts), they are sung, preceded by the solemn exclamation: "Let us magnify the Mother of God and the Mother of Light in songs!" — they sing with incense to the whole church and sing after each verse in honor of the Compiler of this song Herself: "More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, without corruption of God the Word, Who gave birth to the Mother of God, We magnify Thee!" — The soul rejoices with unearthly joy at this singing; and so full of joy is this wondrous song of the Mother of God, that, as one pastor of the Church says, even in the most bitter moments you will forget your grief, and you will rejoice in spirit, if only you have the strength to sing this wondrous song. And this is because it was sung with great joy by the Mother of God Herself, for just think of what joy the heart of the Most Holy Virgin Theotokos was filled with when She sang this hymn for the first time? It is not for our sinful heart to feel this joy: only the Angels of God can understand it... Let us pay reverent attention to the deep meaning of the song itself; and in order to understand it better, let us open the Holy Gospel and listen to what the God-speaking Luke preaches about when and on what occasion the Mother of God sang Her wondrous song.

"In thy days" — soon after the annunciation of the Archangel to the Most Holy Virgin Mary about the conception and birth of the Son of God from Her — "and Miriam... go to the mountain country of Judea, to go "with diligence" (with haste), for all of Her, the Grace-filled, was now filled with heavenly joy, and who does not know, who has not experienced how a strong feeling of joy prompts us to quickly share it with people close to us? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks! And with whom was it closest to the Blessed Virgin to share Her joy, if not with Her close relative, the righteous wife of the elder – the priest Zachariah – Elizabeth, about whom, moreover, from the same Archangel She learned that she, reproached by everyone for barrenness, had been visited by God with His mercy, that she, Elizabeth, had now conceived a son in her womb, and rejoiced in great joy in God the Savior? And behold, the Most Holy Virgin was coming, going with diligence to the heavens, "to the city of Judah," which lay southwest of Jerusalem; "And she went into the house of Zachariah, and kissed Elizabeth. And as Elizabeth heard the kiss of Mary (as soon as the elder Elizabeth heard the familiar voice of her beloved relative), the child leaped in her womb: and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit..." And then a mystery was revealed before the spiritual eyes of the Mother of the Baptist, unknown to any of the people; she knew who had come to visit her, and out of the abundance of happiness she "cried out" (cried out) "with a great voice, and said, Blessed art Thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb: and whence this may come to me (wherefore have I, a sinner, deserved such great honor, such happiness), that the Mother of my Lord may come to me; For behold, as the voice of Thy kiss was in my ear, the child leaped with joy (joyful trembling) in my womb: and blessed art Thou, who believed, for all that the Lord has spoken to Thee shall come to pass!"

The humble Virgin Mary was deeply touched by this extraordinary meeting; from the lips of Elizabeth She heard the repetition of the Archangel's gospel; and it was then that from Her most pure lips poured out an inspired song to the glory of God the Savior. "And Miriam said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour." In Him alone is all My happiness, all my joy, all my blessedness; I Myself am a useless servant, He is My Saviour: "As He looked down" (He graciously looked) "upon the humility of His servant" (upon My poverty and insignificance), "Behold, from henceforth they shall bless Me" (they shall bless and exalt Me as the Mother of God), "all begotten" (all men, all nations), all those who believe in My Son and God, "for Thou hast done unto Me greatness, O Mighty One" (He, the Almighty, hath done a great work with Me), and may "His name be holy" — glory to Him, the All-Holy, Who works wondrous miracles! "And His mercy" — His ineffable mercy — is poured out and passed from fathers to children, from ancestors to descendants "into generations of generations to those who fear Him. Make power with Thy arm" — He manifested the power of His omnipotence: scatter (scatter, weaken, despise) "the proud thoughts of their hearts," haughty in their knowledge and origin, "bring down the mighty from the throne" — humbled the pride of the presumptuous pagans, choosing the humiliated Jewish people to accomplish salvation: "and lift up the humble: those who hunger" (heartily desiring salvation) "fill with good things" — generously endowed with the blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven — and let the rich (proudly boast of their imaginary virtues) go away (left with nothing). "Receive" – again the Jewish people took under Their paternal care – "Thy servant Israel, remember Thy mercies", fulfilling the ancient promises, as they had spoken through the prophets about the coming Saviour "to our father, to Abraham and his seed" (his descendants); and this mercy of God will last to all people from now on and forever!

(Exposition of the Holy Gospel of Luke (1; 39-56))

226. The Nativity of the Forerunner of the Lord John.

When the unsetting Sun, Christ our Saviour, deigned to shine upon the world and, bowing down to the heavens, descended into the most holy of heaven's womb, it was necessary for the Lucifer to appear before Him from the barren old woman to the Holy Forerunner John, so that he might foretell to people the coming of the Lord. And so, when the time of pregnancy was fulfilled for Saint Elizabeth, the wife of the priest Zacharias, she gave birth to a son in her old age, just as Sarah had once given birth to Isaac. Thus the miracle preceded the miracle: before the Most Holy Virgin Mary gave birth to Christ, the aged Elizabeth gave birth to the Forerunner of Christ, so that those who saw the extraordinary birth from a barren old woman according to the laws of nature would then believe in the most supernatural birth from a barren Virgin: for the almighty power of God, which resolved the barrenness of the eldress Elizabeth, could certainly make the incorrupt maiden Mary a Mother, for all nature is obedient to the Creator.

When Elizabeth gave birth to a son, and her neighbors and relatives learned about this, then everyone rejoiced at the mercy of God, which the Lord had shown her, removing from her the reproach of childlessness. And then were fulfilled the words of the evangelist Gabriel, who said to Zechariah, "Thy wife shall bear thee a son, and many shall rejoice at his birth."

On the eighth day after his birth, the priests and other relatives gathered at the house of Zacharias to circumcise the child, and they wanted to call him Zachariah by his father's name, but the mother would not consent to this. Being the wife of a prophet and the mother of the greatest of prophets, Elizabeth herself was filled with the gift of prophethood, and as a prophetess she wished that her son should be named John. Then they turned to the father of the child and began to ask him by signs: what would he like to call his son? The mute Zachariah asked for a tablet and wrote: "John shall be his name." And immediately Zachariah's mouth was opened, and his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak, glorifying God. And they were all amazed at such miracles: they were amazed that the barren old woman had given birth to a son, and that the father and mother had chosen an unusual name for their son, and that after writing this name the mute father began to speak. And fear was upon all who dwelt around them; and they told all these things throughout all the hill country of Judah.

And all who heard of these things said, What will this child be?

And the hand of the Lord was with the child, increasing in him the grace of God, and guarding his life. The rumor of John's miraculous birth reached King Herod.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth, taking refuge in the mountains, fervently prayed to the Lord to protect her with the child. Once she saw from afar the soldiers who were looking for her; And she cried out to the mountain of stone that was before her, "Mountain of God! Hide the mother and child!" and the mountain parted before her, and there hid Saint Elizabeth with her son. And the soldiers returned to Herod empty-handed. Then Herod sent to Zacharias in the church to say: "Give me your son John!" – Saint Zacharias answered: "I now serve the Lord God of Israel, but where my son is, I do not know". And Herod was angry; And he sent to Zechariah another time, commanding him that if he would not give up his son, he should kill him himself. And the fierce murderers came, like fierce beasts, and said with wrath to the priest of God, "Where hast thou hid thy son? Give it to us, so the Tsar commands!" And if you do not give it back, then you yourself will die immediately!" — And Saint Zacharias answered them: "You will kill my body, but the Lord will receive my soul!" — and the wicked rushed at him, and killed him between the altar and the temple. And his holy blood froze on the marble platform like a stone, for eternal rebuke to Herod.

And Elizabeth dwelt in the cave of that mountain, covered by God together with John; and there appeared for them by the command of God a spring of water, and a date palm grew, with fruits, on which they fed. Forty days after the murder of Zachariah, the holy mother of the Forerunner also reposed. And Saint John, nourished by the Angel, grew up and remained in that wilderness, preserved by God, until the day of his appearance to Israel.