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| Archimandrite Ephraim of Philotheou. |
"Today the Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One." What can I, the unworthy and filthy one, say about the grandeur of the innumerable dispensations of the Most High God!. I am astonished and unable to look directly at it as I contemplate this mystery.
How did
God condescend to be an infant in a cave of irrational beasts?. How was He
wrapped in swaddling clothes and carried in the holy arms of the holy Virgin,
He Who was born by the Father without a mother!. "Great art Thou, O Lord, and
wondrous are Thy deeds, and no word sufficeth to hymn Thy wonders!"
"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!"
My soul
shall rejoice in the Lord; I shall noetically smother with kisses that most
sweet and blessed Infant, so that He may deliver me from my irrational
passions.
Christ
commanded that we forgive our enemies seventy times seven every day. How much
more so does He forgive, He Who is the Abyss of forgiveness!.
If you
were able to count the drops of rain and the grains of sand, you would be able
to measure a small part of the infinite compassion of the infinite God.
Let us
fall down before the heavenly Queen, the immaculate Theotokos, the Maiden
quick-to-hear, that she may help us, for "no one who runs to thee is
turned away ashamed, but he asks for a favor and receives the gift from thee;
to the profit of his request." After God, only she is able to help us. Let
us trust in her, and we shall not be put to shame.
I pray
from my heart that you are well and rejoice in peace of soul, for the peace of
God is nothing but a place of God, repose, bliss, and divine delight:
The
peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, is given to souls that
struggle as a prize and royal gift; it is a property of the children of God. In
order for it to dwell in the soul of a Christian, first, godly labor is
necessary-labor of a spiritual nature. Then it takes discernment and a
blameless, clear conscience shining brighter than the sun, which knows that one
has done what he should.
Then
this soul receives the precious gift of "the peace of God" and
delights in it and converses like a bride with her most beautiful Bridegroom
Jesus about their eternal marriage and the spiritual riches of heaven. And
while one thinks about these things, the peace increases, and one ends up in
very sweet tears.
“Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men”.(Luke2: 14).
We
forget that we should bow our heads in veneration of this great God, the most wondrous.
Inexpressible, unsearchable, boundless, and most sweet God. If each one of us
had thousands of mouths, we would still be unable to extol Him worthily and
fittingly for His countless gifts for us!. This is why the Apostle Paul, after
repeated ecstasies and theorias and delights of God, was often overcome with
amazement and cried out those immortal words: "Oh, the depth of the riches
of the wisdom and knowledge of God!. How unsearchable are His judgments and His
ways beyond finding out!".
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| Fresco of the Nativity of our Lord, in Arakos, Cyprus, 1192. |
"Who
has known the mind of the Lord? Or who bas become His counselor?". Who
can know how the infinite Nous works, not only in the heavenly realm, but also
in the earth and the underworld?.
Just
think-effortlessly, without toil, He feeds every living thing: men, the
animals, the fields, the reptiles, the fish, the microbes, the millions of
living creatures. He cares for everything and looks after everything.
"How
magnified are Thy works, O Lord! In wisdom hast Thou made them all; the earth
is filled with Thy creation", "He spake and they came to be; He commanded,
and they were created!" Let there be light, and there was light; let there
be earth, and there was earth; let there be stars, sun, and moon, and there were
these stupendous creations, these colossal, huge bodies, hanging and moving in
space, which illuminate and beautify the sky-all came to be at a single
command of God!.
"The
Word became flesh and dwelt among us", the Word
of the Father.
"In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God." He came and took on flesh and became man, and the world came into
being through Him-He made the world! He gave us the right to become children of
God. He came to His creatures, and they did not receive Him. Now just think-He
made the world and the people, and they were cold and callous and did not
receive Him. He came as a stranger; He was given hospitality on the wood of the
Cross instead of on a mattress; He was given hospitality in a grave; the earth
was shaken, the veil was rent, the sun was darkened, the universe was
terrified!
The Word
became flesh What grandeur this hides!. God became man, He descended from the
heavens; the bodiless God, the infinite, incomprehensible Spirit came and dwelt
within human nature in order to save it. He became a slave to deliver us from
slavery; He became man, so that we may become gods by grace; "You are
gods, and all of you are the sons of the Most High." We have become a
special people, a holy nation, a priesthood of God, through the advent of the
divine Child!. The divine Word-Who lives, reigns, and governs all of creation-
the Only-begotten Word of God, the boundless sweetness of God's existence, the
glory and hymn of the martyrs, the endurance of the holy monks, the sole
Bridegroom of pure souls. And as many as received Him, to them He gave the
right to become children of God-who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of
the flesh, but of God. Those who will be saved are not born of the will of the
flesh and desire, but of God, and they will reign beside Him.
"We
have received grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace
and truth came through Jesus Christ." He gave us the Ten Commandments; He
gave us precepts in the new grace of the Gospel, and disregarding the
gratitude we owed Him, He gave us even more grace!. And from His fullness we
have received grace for grace. God was not deprived by giving us His glory, but
He gave out of His abundance.
God is
perfect, incomprehensible, blessed unto the ages of ages; He came and saved us
gratis. We owe him our entire existence- and even if we gave it to him, we
would have done nothing, we would have merely done our duty.
He is
our Creator; He is our Savior.
Reference:
Counsels
from the Holy Mountain. Elder Ephraim of Arizona.1999.
https://orthodoxwiki.org/Ephraim_(Moraitis)_of_Philotheou