Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Stephen J. Shoemaker is associate professor of religious studies at the University of Oregon. He lives in Springfield, OR.

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The Life of the Virgin

YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS

Contents

PREFACE and acknowledgements..........................................................ixINTRODUCTION..........................................................................1ONE: Birth and Childhood..............................................................36TWO: The Annunciation.................................................................50THREE: The Nativity...................................................................61FOUR: The Presentation in the Temple..................................................75FIVE: The Revelation (or The Epiphany)................................................92SIX: On the Passion...................................................................101SEVEN: On the Resurrection............................................................119EIGHT: The Dormition..................................................................130NINE: Conclusion......................................................................149APPENDIX: A Guide to Liturgical Reading of the Life of the Virgin.....................161NOTES.................................................................................165Index of Names and Subjects...........................................................205Index of Biblical Citations and References............................................211

Chapter One

The praise and glory, laud and honor of our all-holy, incorruptible, and most blessed queen, the Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary, and the story of her immaculate and blessed life from birth until the Dormition written by our blessed father Maximus the Philosopher and Confessor. Kyrie eleison.

1 Hear this, all you nations, and take heed, all you inhabitants of the earth (cf. Isa 34.1)! Come all believers and gather all lovers of God, kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all judges of the earth, boys and girls, the old with the young, every tongue and every soul, let us hymn, praise, and glorify the all-holy, immaculate, and most blessed Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary,

the throne of the king more exalted than the cherubim and seraphim, the mother of Christ our God, the city of God of which glorious things are spoken (cf. Ps 86.3), chosen before the ages by the ineffable forethought of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit, the source of the living water, the Paradise of the tree of life, the growing vine from which drink of immortality was brought forth, the river of the living water, the ark that contained the uncontainable, the urn of gold that received the manna of immortality (cf. Heb 9.4), the unsown valley that sprouted forth the wheat of life, the flower of virginity, full of the perfume of grace, the lily of divine beauty, the virgin and mother from whom was born the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, the treasure house of our salvation that is more exalted than all the powers of heaven.

All nations that have received the preaching of the gospel, raise your hands and praise her with voices of joy, with sweet words, with clear voices, with loud voices, for it is the duty of every tongue and every nature of humankind to glorify and praise the one from whom our salvation came to be. But how could this be? For it is fitting that, when the creator and God of all wanted to come among humankind, as the blessed and all-praised one was found worthy and her inheritance divinely graced, her beauty pleased the king (Ps 44.12), and he saw fit to dwell within her. So now we who wish to prepare this praise of her, let us receive a tongue that is worthy and a mind sufficiently eloquent for her glory and praise. But there is no one among the human race who is able to praise and glorify the holy Theotokos worthily and fittingly, not even if the myriads of tongues were brought together, and even if all the nations of humanity came together, they would not be able to attain the worthiness of her praise and glory. Nevertheless, since it is not possible to be worthy of undertaking the task of her great glorification, we will, according to our ability, show eagerness to laud and praise the mother of God, our hope and refuge. For just as her gracious son and God does not expect the highest ability from anyone, so his all-holy mother will receive this offering of praise according to our feeble ability with mercy, as is befitting her sweetness.

2 Let us relate, then, with the grace and assistance of the all-holy Theotokos, whence she appeared, and who her parents were, and how her upbringing and immaculate conduct were, and what great glorification was accomplished in her from her birth until her Dormition, because her grace and assistance have given us sufficient ability and speech to open our mouth. Nevertheless, if we should say something about her king and son according to our ability, it would not be inappropriate, because all glory and praise are his, for the blessing and glory of his immaculate mother are from him and by him. Now, then, everything that we will relate and make known is trustworthy and reliable, true testimonies taken from the assembly of the pious: first of all, from the holy evangelists and apostles; then from the holy and deeply devout Fathers, whose words are full of all wisdom and were written by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and their works are beautiful and virtuous. These are Gregory of Neocaesarea theThaumaturge, the great Athanasius of Alexandria, the blessed Gregory of Nyssa, and Dionysius the Areopagite, and others similar to them in virtue. And if we say some things from the apocryphal writings, this is true and without error, and it is what has been accepted and confirmed by the above-mentioned Fathers. For so the blessed Gregory of Nyssa says, "I have read in an apocryphal book that the father of the all-holy Virgin Mary was renowned for his observance of the Law and was famous for his charity."

3 He was named Joachim from the tribe of David, the king and prophet, and his spouse was Anna. And he was childless until old age, because his wife was barren. Nevertheless, according to the Law of Moses, an honor was afforded to women who gave birth that was not given to the childless (cf. Protev 1.7). Now, then, Joachim and Anna were esteemed and honored in deed and word, because they were known to be from the lineage of Judah and David and the succession of kings. And ultimately the tribes of Judah and Levi were united; that is to say, the royal and the priestly tribes were mixed, for so it is written concerning Joachim and Joseph, to whom the holy Virgin was betrothed. Although he was called from the house and the tribe of David according to the nearer side (cf. Luke 1.25), both sides nevertheless became one, the one by nature, which was from David, and the other through the Law, which were the Levites. So the blessed Anna was also an obedient branch from this tribe, and she foretold that the king born from their child would be a high priest as God and human being. But on account of the Law of Moses and the reproach of senseless people, childlessness greatly distressed the honorable and glorious parents of the Virgin when they were wanting a child to be born from them to eliminate not only their own reproach but that of the whole world and to lead it up to a higher glory (cf. Protev 1.5–6, 1.9–10, 2.6–7). Then the blessed Anna, like the first Anna, the mother of Samuel, went to the Temple, and she prayed to the creator of all things to give her the fruit of childbirth so that she would dedicate to him as a gift what had been given by him (cf. 1 Sam...