Lectio
altera
Ex Epístolis sancti Athanásii epíscopi
(Epist. ad Epictetum, 5-9: PG 26, 1058. 1062-1066)
Verbum nostra
suscepit ex Maria
Verbum semen
Abrahæ apprehéndit, ut ait Apóstolus, unde débuit per ómnia frátribus similári,
et corpus assúmere nobis símile. Proptérea ígitur adest vere María, ut ab ea
illud assúmat et tamquam próprium pro nobis illud ófferat. Partum mémorat
Scriptúra, et ait: Pannis eum invólvit: ac beáta prædicabántur úbera, quibus
ipse lactátus est, et quasi partu vulvam adaperiénte oblátum est sacrifícium.
Et Gábriel quidem caute ac prudénter annuntiábat illi, dicéndo, non
simplíciter, quod in te nascétur, ne extrínsecus corpus ipsi indúctum
putarétur; sed, ex te, ut, quod gignebátur, ortum ex illa duxísse crederétur.
Ita autem se res
habébat, ut nostra Verbum suscípiens, offerénsque in sacrifícium, pénitus
absúmeret, ac deínceps suis nos índuens, Apóstolo hæc dicéndi occasiónem daret:
Opórtet corruptíbile hoc indúere incorruptiónem, et mortále hoc indúere
immortalitátem.
Hæc autem non
fictióne facta sunt, quemádmodum nonnúlli existimárunt, absit! sed, Salvatóre
vere hómine facto, hinc totíus hóminis salus consecúta est. Verum nequáquam
fictítia res est salus nostra, neque solíus córporis; sed vere totíus hóminis,
ánimæ scílicet et córporis, salus in ipso Verbo facta est.
Humánum ítaque
natúra erat, quod ex María pródiit, secúndum divínas Scriptúras, verúmque erat
Dómini corpus: verum, inquam, fuit, cum idem atque nostrum exstíterit. Soror
étenim nostra est María, omnes quippe ex Adámo orti sumus.
Quod enim a Ioánne
dícitur: Verbum caro factum est, eádem est significatióne, ut ex símili
loquéndi modo deprehéndere licet: apud Paulum quippe scriptum est: Christus
factus est pro nobis maledíctum. Nam humáno córpori, ex Verbi communióne et
coniunctióne, ingens facta est accéssio: ex mortáli enim factum est immortále,
et, cum animále esset, factum est spiritále, cumque ex terra factum esset,
cæléstes portas penetrávit.
Porro Trínitas,
étiam Verbo ex María corpus suménte, Trínitas semper est, neque accessiónem
admíttens, neque diminutiónem; sed perfécta semper est, et in Trinitáte una
Déitas agnóscitur, et sic unus Deus Verbi Pater in Ecclésia prædicátur.
Tweede
lezing
A letter of St Athanasius
The Word took our
nature from Mary
The Word took to himself the sons of
Abraham, says the Apostle, and so had to be like his brothers in all things. He
had then to take a body like ours. This explains the fact of Mary’s presence:
she is to provide him with a body of his own, to be offered for our sake.
Scripture records her giving birth, and says: She wrapped him in swaddling
clothes. Her breasts, which fed him, were called blessed. Sacrifice was offered
because the child was her firstborn. Gabriel used careful and prudent language
when he announced his birth. He did not speak of “what will be born in you” to
avoid the impression that a body would be introduced into her womb from
outside; he spoke of “what will be born from you,” so that we might know by
faith that her child originated within her and from her.
By
taking our nature and offering it in sacrifice, the Word was to destroy it completely
and then invest it with his own nature, and so prompt the Apostle to say: This
corruptible body must put on incorruption; this mortal body must put on
immortality.
This
was not done in outward show only, as some have imagined. This is not so. Our
Saviour truly became man, and from this has followed the salvation of man as a
whole. Our salvation is in no way fictitious, nor does it apply only to the
body. The salvation of the whole man, that is, of soul and body, has really
been achieved in the Word himself.
What
was born of Mary was therefore human by nature, in accordance with the inspired
Scriptures, and the body of the Lord was a true body: It was a true body
because it was the same as ours. Mary, you see, is our sister, for we are all
born from Adam.
The
words of St John, the Word was made flesh, bear the same meaning, as we may see
from a similar turn of phrase in St Paul: Christ was made a curse for our sake.
Man’s body has acquired something great through its communion and union with the
Word. From being mortal it has been made immortal; though it was a living body
it has become a spiritual one; though it was made from the earth it has passed
through the gates of heaven.
Even
when the Word takes a body from Mary, the Trinity remains a Trinity, with
neither increase nor decrease. It is for ever perfect. In the Trinity we
acknowledge one Godhead, and thus one God, the Father of the Word, is
proclaimed in the Church.
