Some thoughts and comparison between the Arabic homily attributed to "Theophilos of Landra," seemingly a Coptic author, and the Greek homily attributed to "Theoteknos of Livias."
Title/Citation:
HOMILY FOR THE 16TH OF MESORÉ, THEOPHILOS OF LANDRA
Ms. Vatican Arabic 698; ff 41v-48v.
For the contents of the manuscript (which also includes two other assumption-related works), see the link (link to contents)(direct link to manuscript). I'm extremely indebted to the work of Pilar González Casado, who in 2013, provided the edited Arabic and a Spanish translation (link to thesis, of relevance are pp. 316-325 for the Arabic, pp. 529-536 for the Spanish).
By contrast, the Greek is found in Sinait. gr. 491, 4. 238r-246r, and includes the Protoevangelium of James and the Legend of Galbius and Candidus, see the link (link to contents)(direct link to manuscript). The Greek (with a French translation) is also published by A. Wenger (L'assomption De La T.s. Vierge Dans La Tradition Byzantine Du Vie Au Xe Siecle: Etudes Et Documents Broché (1955), on whom Daley's translation in On the Dormition of Mary (1998) seems to be fully dependent. It is Wenger's Greek (and French) and Daley's English that I refer to whenever referencing the Greek version. The Greek version lists the author as Theoteknos of Livias. I'm referring to both the Greek and the Arabic as "versions," although perhaps Greek was the original and the Greek manuscript should therefore be thought of as a copy, not a version.
Prologue:
0. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one God. Let us begin with the help of the Most High God and with his best assistance to write a homily that was delivered by the holy Theophilos, bishop of Landra, about the assumption into heaven of the pure body of the Virgin, holy Mary, Mother of God, our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, Son of God. May her intercession be with us, amen. It is read on the 16th of Mesoré [...] the peace of God, amen.
This prologue is not found in the Greek version.
Text:
1. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! Because of the Resurrection of the Lord, Jesus, the Messiah, our Savior, everyone rejoiced. Let us rejoice now, let us glorify him with eternal spiritual glory, and praise the One who fulfilled his plan for our salvation.
There is a very similar sentence in the Greek, although the working out of the plan is here placed in the past, rather than as an ongoing thing in the Greek.
[He who], after his pure incarnation taken from the holy Virgin Mary, after his Resurrection from the dead, his ascension to heaven, and sitting at the right hand of his Father, from whom he had never been separated, after the passing of time, sent all his holy apostles along with the Most Pure, so that they would be informed of the promise destined for her on high.
A reference to Mary never having known marital union is present in the Greek, though not shown here. Also the first sentence of the next paragraph is part of the end the sentence above in the Greek.
She who is higher than the heavens and more exalted than the seraphim was raised to heaven. If He granted and prepared the Kingdom of Heaven for his saints and also opened paradise to the thief on the right, by a single word, how much more [would he do for] her who was worthy to be his dwelling, since He chose to incarnate from her.
Wider is used rather than "higher" in the Greek, and consistently the reference seems to be to cherubim in the Greek, rather than seraphim. Interestingly, the supplied material bracketed material is matched in the French/English, although Daley waxes poetic inserting a sense of eagerness that seems unnecessary.
Against the Devil, prince of evil, who caused Eve to transgress, He unleashed all his power. Through Mary, by her, all the women upon whom he had cast the curse, have attained freedom; for as the apostle Paul said, they have been saved by the motherhood of this holy, this holy virgin, praised, pure, and worthy of all joy.
Seemingly minor differences here, with the "worthy of joy" and "praise" being pushed forward relative to the Arabic.
She became a mother and pure virgin, without stain. She nursed with milk the one who made water spring from a rock and who needs no food. She embraced in her arms her Creator, who was her son without having known a man [and who] deserved this for us. She became a seraphim created from pure and spotless clay.
The Spanish and apparently also the Arabic here have an interesting characteristic that they present Mary as becoming a seraphim, rather than beginning as one.
The Greek also has Γίνεται (Ginetai), which is most naturally translated as "become." Daley seems to follow Wenger's French, naît, although adopting the Arabic "clay" reading that Wenger notes in an addendum.
6 She is born [pure and immaculate, like the cherubim]. Indeed, while she was still in the hips of her father Joachim, her mother Anne received the announcement from a holy angel in these terms: “Your posterity will be celebrated throughout the universe”. Therefore Hannah presented her to the temple of the Lord. And during the entire time of her stay, the Virgin stood near the King Christ, at his right, in a garment woven with gold, like a shimmering apparition (of grace), according to the words of the prophet: “Listen, my daughter, look and give ear; forget your people and your father's house and the king will be enamored of your beauty. Since he is your Lord, bow down to him”.
I suspect that Wenger's reason for "born" and Daley's reason for "begotten" is because of the context appearing to relate to the beginning of Mary's life. Between the two, "begotten," has the advantage polemically of sounding a bit like conception, and the advantage contextually of linking more specifically to Joachim's role. That said, the "born" or "begotten" is a slender reed for the Immaculists, because it breaks if they put too much weight on it, as both the Greek and Arabic suggest a change from a previous state.
When she was under the care of Joachim, her father, and Anna, her mother, an angel announced to them: "Your offspring will be spoken of throughout the world. For this reason, offer her to the temple of God forever."
This version replaces being "in the loins" of Joachim with being under the care of both parents. This is an odd change, as the angel's announcement in the Protoevangelium of James is definitely in the former case, not the latter case. Moreover, the seeming quotation has likewise been altered relative to PoJ. In substance, though, the sentence corresponds.
It happened to the Virgin as it had been said, for the Virgin stands at the right hand of God, the King, dressed in gold; as the prophet David said: "Listen, daughter, and see; incline your ear; forget your people and your father's house. The king longed for your beauty, for he is your lord, before him you shall bow."
Rather than "Christ the King," this version has "God, the King," a change that makes more sense in the supposed historic context.
She deserves ineffable joy, therefore the prophets predicted: "Sorrow and joy will pass through her heart [when she] sees that a man has been born without the involvement of a man and with divine intervention."
This version replaces the sword with sorrow.
According to the explanation of the prophet, He who is unseen, was seen. The immeasurable one was in the house of our poverty with the tax collectors, stood like a slave before Pilate, was hung on the cross and was in a sealed tomb, and despite all this, He was not separated from the Father by reason of His conception. Therefore, the Virgin came to be in great tribulation and truly the spear of doubt entered her soul.
This version seems to improve on the comparison to the publicans, enhancing the contrast. This version also adds the part about "and despite all this, He was not separated from the Father by reason of His conception."
This version is also more explicit in saying that the spear (presumably for "sword") of doubt entered Mary's soul.
But she also rejoiced at the Resurrection, for behold, she saw the Resurrection and the Ascension to heaven of Him who was born from her womb, incarnated in a body without the involvement of a man. He is seated next to the Father. Therefore, joy and gladness came to her.
Seems very similar to the Greek, except that a reference to "the blameless one" is omitted.
This deserved the holy one who gave birth to this Son: she saw Him ascend on high upon a lofty throne; before Him every knee bends in heaven and on earth, every tongue praises Him, and He will come to judge the living and the dead; she also deserved to be carried [to the tomb] by the holy apostles, for she is the mother of all; as the only Son of God called the disciples "brothers," because they are His brothers in terms of the holy body, not in terms of divinity. May the pure, holy, and chaste dwelling of God be glorified, from which the blessed divine Light shines!
The Greek omits the explanation for why the disciples are called "brothers."
After the apostles and angels placed the body on the earth, with glory and praise, it was raised to heaven with the soul [...] to God.
Similar in the Greek.
If the Lord, seeing the disciples sad at the time of His passion, told them, "I am going to prepare a place for you," how could He not prepare a place for His Mother, who is greater than all, [who] means more to Him than all creatures [and] who is pure, without stain!
Daley seems to have inserted a "right of access" into the English,, but otherwise the content seems similar, although the Arabic seems to add the gloss that his mother means more to him.
The holy soul and body were raised together to heaven by the angels with praise and with honor. If as a girl she accepted food from the angels in the temple of God, how could she not deserve to be served by the celestial powers, since she was the dwelling of the Lord!
Similar to the Greek.
The holy Virgin pleased God the Father, the holy Virgin pleased the Son, the eternal Word, begotten by the Father before all ages, the Virgin pleased the Holy Spirit, the life-giving Lord, who makes all things pleasing, maker of everything and of the heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. If Enoch, as he pleased God, was taken up so that he would not see death, how could the soul with the body of her who served the divine grace not reach the bliss of paradise, where the divine light always shines!
Similar to the Greek. However, at this point in the text, it seems that the Arabic pages may have been slightly shuffled, as the next few paragraphs (on Arabic sheets 44r-44v) should be (assuming the Greek to be correct) after the material at Arabic sheets 45r-45v. The Greek order makes more sense than the Arabic order, and the Arabic order is "fixed" by simply swapping the position of a single folio of the Arabic.
Indeed, the holy apostles were present, and the apostle Paul carried the body with them from Mount Zion to a village called Gethsemane, where the Savior was betrayed. There too will be the place of judgment, where the books will be opened, the Ancient of Days will sit, and the river of fire will cause the weeping of sinners. Every day we await the judgment there to give account to the Son of God, because the Ancient of Days gave him the judgment, and because the Lord promised his disciples that they would sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel.
Transposed material starts here. This is the same as the Greek although it specifically calls out that the sinners will be weeping.
They carried the body of the holy one with all honor and with angelic glory to the honored place. The Jews, those who oppose God, the Lord, approached when they saw in that hidden place the venerable body laid upon the bier. They went with the people cunningly to insult that body honored by God in the temple, where the seven lamps that do not go out are, in which pure oil lights the altar of burnt offerings to show us the Holy of Holies.
Similar to the Greek.
The Virgin was snatched away and disappeared from the sight of all of them.
There is a difference from the Greek here, in that this proposes that Mary was removed, whereas the Greek merely proposes that the attackers were struck blind. The Arabic sense does not seem to fit well contextually, as the remainder of the context suggests she was still on the bier.
Any hand of the Jews that touched the bier was cut off and torn. Therefore, the exalted body became praised. All of them believed and prostrated themselves before the Mother of God, even those who denigrated her, began to glorify her as the Mother of God. Their intentions fell apart upon contemplating the wonders, that is, the marvels of God that were manifested because of the Mother of the Lord. An immeasurable miracle occurred when those two hands were cut off and all believed in the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, born of her, and in her.
Similar to the Greek. Daley (with Wenger) inserts the healing of the hands as somehow implied by the text (and presumably based on the accounts on which this account is based).
There the one who is of David according to the flesh was manifested, so that they would not be unbelieving like those who now hesitate. Just as that holy body performed the miracle, in the body of the Mother of God continues the incorrupt virginity, as now deserves this indescribable Ark in which is the jar of manna and Aaron's rod from which the fruit sprouted.
The "those who now hesitate" is couched more as an answer to an objection that this is impossible in the Greek, but the overall point seems about the same. This ends the sheet that was out of order.
If the prophet Elijah, in a chariot of fire, was raised to heaven by the command of the Lord, how could she not be raised [to heaven], the one extolled by the prophets?
Now we return to the flow of the text having talked about Enoch. This is similar to the Greek.
These prophesied her gift of beatitude, for just as the moon shines among the stars, so she shines among the prophets, as she deserved, and all the angels of heaven rush to serve her.
Similar to the Greek.
Although she tasted death, the body did not decompose nor was it reached by corruption or transformation, and it was preserved. With the pure soul, she was raised to heaven by the holy angels and the powers. She was more exalted than Enoch, than Elijah, than all the prophets, than the apostles, and than the heavens; for in her only is God who chose her.
While the Greek affirms that Mary is below God, the Arabic seems to justify her being above everything else because God was in her.
All this God arranged for our salvation. Divinity is not located in any place, it is not encompassed by knowledge and its dignity is indescribable. The Lord, the Word, chose to incarnate in her, as the prophet had said: "The Lord said you are my Son, today I have begotten you." He is with us today, [and] makes known to us that he assumed our flesh from the holy and was conceived without the involvement of a man.
The portion beginning "The Lord, the Word ..." begins a gap in the Greek, which Daley has filled in using the Arabic. Thus, the differences here are merely translation differences.
He also said: "In the womb before the morning star I have begotten you." It means that He was begotten by the Father before all time, was blessed by the Holy Spirit, existed from the beginning, and will exist.
The final portion of the "existed from the beginning and will exist" (as found in the Spanish) differs somewhat from Wenger's French and (consequently, one presumes) Daley's English.
The text in question comes from 45v of the Arabic manuscript, which reads (including the next line to be safe):
According to my translation, this should be:
(45) Before the morning star I gave birth to you, meaning his birth from the Father before all ages, and he prayed with the Holy Spirit for what was from the beginning and what was destined to happen. The ascension of the body of the saint and its ascension to heaven took place on fifteen days of Augustus, which is the sixteenth of the month of Misra, and it was joy...
This suggests that the Wenger/Daley version is a bit closer to the Arabic sense.
The assumption of the body of the holy one and her ascent to heaven was on August 15, which is the 16th of the month of Mesoré.
This portion, taken from the Arabic by Daley, is naturally the same. However, it should be noted that the "month of Mesoré" refers to a Coptic month. The wording of the Arabic translation seems to suggest that originally the work was written by a someone not Coptic, and hence the August 15 date needed to be converted to the Coptic calendar.
The heavens and the earth rejoiced, the angels sang psalms, and men praised the mother of the heavenly King who gave the Messiah to mankind. Glory to the pure Mother of God, to the Ark full of glory, to the unsplit Rock, to the Fountain of Life who is the Messiah who says: "Whoever is thirsty, let him come to me and drink"! May He be praised as He deserves! I can say that this most Pure and entirely holy woman, if she was rejected in the world when she was with the body on the earth, in heaven she came to resemble the cherubim.
With the angelic songs, we return to a comparison between the Greek and Arabic. The "Ark full of Glory" is "the three-storied ark" in the Greek. The Greek has just that she conversed with the angels, not that she came to resemble them. However, such coming to resemble them would explain the previous comment about her becoming like the cherubim.
She ascended with the angels, and she is the intercessor for men before the pure King, who has forgiven the sentence decreed against us.
Daley's English has "ambassador" rather than "intercessor," though one wonders which is closer to the author's intended sense.
Her body is honored and praised by the Psalms and by the voices of the prophets. Her teachings are found in the Law [from where] they were taken, as happened to the prophet Moses in relation to those who, rejecting grace, opposed God, doubting or being hypocritical.
Once again, at this point, we encounter a re-ordering of the pages, which seems to be resolved if what is now Arabic folio 46 should have been before Arabic folio 45. The phrase "doubting or being hypocritical" replaces "enemies of God" in the Greek.
Now Moses tells them: "The Lord our God will raise up a prophet like me," that is, God and man at the same time, since Moses was considered God by Pharaoh. Then he said to them: "Listen to him in everything he speaks to you, for anyone who does not listen will perish."
A reference to the "O unbelieving ones" is omitted by the Arabic, but otherwise this seems similar.
Mary was not glorified by her people, being her brother. She has said who [that] Moses was and even that he was God and man, for the Lord was born from Mary. God became man and they did not accept [his] manifestation. However, they will see it. It will happen to you that you will see what you have not seen: God coming gloriously on the clouds of heaven. Then they will accept [her who is] of the lineage of David and will glorify her saying: "You are of our race and of our flesh, now we know that you are more exalted than the exalted beings of heaven, and that you have become the spouse of the heavenly King."
The phrase "God became man and they did not accept [his] manifestation" seems to be omitted in the Greek. On the other hand, the Arabic omits: "Then they will be converted, and will beat their breasts and call her blessed, along with Anna, the bosom that nursed her."
Now we know what the prophets preached about you and among them there was one who said of you: "He descends upon you like the dew on the fleece." Another called you the moon of your sky saying: "The sun rose and the moon remained with its form." It means that the Messiah was born from her and her virginity remained as it was.
The Arabic omits several Scriptural quotations found in the Greek here, specifically Isaiah 7:14 (a virgin shall conceive), Ezekiel 44:10 (a gate looks to the East), and Daniel 2:34 (holy stone cut from a mountain) before the moon reference.
Truly, the fools have gone astray, they have been ignorant and have ruined their lives! It happened that they were extinguished because they slandered and did not accept the Sun of the earth that has this gift. It also refers to her the smoke that the prophet Isaiah saw when he beheld the Lord sitting on the throne of his glory, and [the beings] with six wings resonated saying: "Holy, holy, holy!" and they glorified him; when he saw that house filled with smoke. That house was an example, and now we understand what the prophets wrote for us.
The Greek contains a reference to the Protoevangelium's "fruit of righteousness," which is not found in the Arabic. The Arabic, meanwhile, has "It happened that they were extinguished because they slandered and did not accept the Sun of the earth that has this gift."
But what now happens, in our opinion, is this: he who does not confess the Messiah before men, the Messiah will not recognize him before his Father. All of us, however, confess the Messiah, praise his Father, glorify the Holy Spirit, and sing to the Mother of God. We come with the angels praising her to celebrate the feast of the tribes, let us invoke her!
I did not find this invocation of Mary in the Greek, although frankly the jumping back and forth between places may have created some confusion. We now jump back (in the Greek) to the earlier section, where there seems to be mention of invoking the name of God.
How much better is now this immeasurable ark, which from the beginning had the favor of God! This now is the ark, the vessel, the throne, and the heaven! This is the one the Holy Scriptures have deemed worthy; of her spoke the prophet Daniel; in her all these things have been revealed and also the veiled face, which we have clearly seen, praised be God!, and for her sake the prophet Moses covered himself with the veil.
The text is a somewhat similar to the Greek here, although some of the phrasing is more different than in other places. For example, "immeasurable" is not a characteristic of the ark in the Greek and the reference to "from the beginning" having "the favor of God" is not something I could pin down from the Greek.
Her body was guarded by the holy disciples and kept by God through them, so that they were favored on the way, namely Peter and Paul who, although they had offended the Lord's name, gave testimony with their deeds, found themselves amid a great noise and within a great earthquake, saw the body of the holy and Virgin ascending to heaven with the Messiah, so that a prominent place might be prepared for the intercessor next to her Son, so that she might live there with the archangels, with the multitude of prophets and with the apostles, gathered next to the teacher and prophetess who is the joy of all virgins, who sought her Son's house and found it, as it is written in the Song, and [sought him also] in the walls there are by the mountains, like Aaron, in the likeness of the allusion to the gazelles, in the likeness of the first glance and in the likeness of the camels, which longed for the springs of water and did not find them in the pastures. She found Eve, the strayed. She found Adam who had lost himself through his disobedience. You said: "Live and come," so that the Word of God might enter into him, so that he might live in him and open paradise.
While this is somewhat the same as the Greek, the description of her as "intercessor" seems to have been added, and a Scriptural citation of Song of Solomon 4:10 "Breath on my garden," is omitted. The Greek "Advocate" is replaced by "Word of God."
The comforting Paraclete offered his mercy to receive the thief saying: "Amen, amen, I tell you truly, you will be with me today in paradise." Woe to you, who marvel at this event, that a thief goes to paradise and that the priests are excluded from it! They do not even dare to look at it, because the spear of fire guards the way back to Life, while the good thief approaches it. Meanwhile, those who knew the Law and studied it were deprived of grace and cast out, so that they would not be praised by their races.
"Spear" for "sword" of course. The explicit references to the Paraclete is perhaps a better alignment for the "Advocate" (as the meaning is related) mentioned in the previous section. This also ends the out-of-order material.
The feasts of the assumption to heaven of the glorious body of the Virgin [are because] He shone on earth thanks to the good and teacher Virgin.
This definitely refers to an assumption of the body, not merely the spirit, in a way that the Greek does not.
In heaven, she has become the intercessor for all, she has become distinguished with God, has received an excellent spiritual gift, has given the word of grace and the knowledge of wisdom, because she comes from Wisdom, which is found on the paths and speaks publicly in the alleys and in the assemblies, saying [Wisdom]: "He is our Lord and our God, Jesus, the Messiah, the incomprehensible Wisdom and the unending source." He took the body of the Virgin, was the fruit of her womb, without her losing virginity.
This seems similar to the Greek.
This is the Mother of the Messiah who says: "He who believes, as the Scripture says, from his inner being shall flow rivers of living water." It alludes to that water which the prophet asked for in his thirst; just like the camels long for the springs of water, so Lord! my soul longs for you.
It is interesting that "deer" have become "camels" in the process (presumably) of translation.
"And He speaks publicly in the alleys," he travels the world, heads towards the mystery, and brings peace to the world.
Similar to the Greek.
The Messiah, who is our peace, says to his disciples: "My peace I leave to you so that you may give it to each other." This signifies the love for one another, for He died because of them and for them.
Although it discusses similar themes, here the Arabic seems to provide a different explanation of the peace of Christ.
This is the peace of which the prophet said: "He loves peace and truth": referring to the Messiah. This land of which he speaks is the Mother of God, from whom has shone and has manifested our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God, who says: "I am the Truth and the Life"
"He loves peace and truth" is not cited in the Greek version and Psalm 84:11 and John 14:6 are presented in the Arabic, but not the Greek. "This land" picks back up to the same aligned message as the Greek.
The prophet also says: "Our land shall also yield its fruit." Now the womb of our Lady has given its fruit in its time, which is the bread that never consumes nor is exhausted, the Messiah, who says: "I am the bread of Life, he who eats of it will live and he who drinks my blood will have eternal life. For my flesh is true food." This fruit that our land has given us is the virgin Mother, who is ours and of the entire world, the Lady of all, who knows the thoughts of all and comforts everyone.
After "This fruit that our land has given us is the virgin Mother" the Arabic again parts ways with the Greek. The Greek suggests Mary is some kind of "universal providence" and "an unassailable fortification" but does not mention her being "the Lady of all" or knowing everyone's thoughts nor yet comforting everyone.
Concluding Thoughts:
Apparently, there is a second Arabic manuscript of this sermon in the collection of the Coptic Monastery of Saint Macarius (Dayr Qiddīs Anbā Maqqār) in Wadi Natrun, Egypt, namely "Saint Macaire 381 (Hag. 15)," (
see the discussion here and
also here, which mentions that the same author may also be known as Theophile de Landra or de Labidu) which does not appears to be digitized yet (
see this news announcement). I have not in any way reviewed that manuscript, though I would - of course - be very interested in any light it might shed on the text of this sermon.
Simon Claude Mimouni (
link) agrees with my reordering of the folios of the Arabic manuscript. Unfortunately, Pilar González Casado seems not to have noticed or been aware of this issue, perhaps because Mimouni is in French. Zanetti's inventory of the monastery's manuscripts likewise does not seem to have been consulted by the otherwise helpful Pilar González Casado.
Appendix I: Greek of Wenger (sections 1-6 only) with new English Translation
Θεοτέκνου ἐπισκόπου Λιβιάδος ἐγκώμιον εἰς τὴν ἀνάλημψιν τῆς ἁγίας Θεοτόκου.
1 «῎Αισατε τῷ Κυρίῳ ἄσμα καινὸν ὅτι θαυμαστὰ ἐποίησεν». Ἐν γὰρ τῇ ἀναστάσει τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ Θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ πάντες ἀγαλλιάσει ἠγαλλιασάμεθα ᾄσμασιν πνευματικοῖς, δοξολογοῦντες τὸν πάντα οἰκονομήσαντα διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν.
2 Μετὰ γὰρ τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν καὶ τὴν εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἄνοδον καὶ τὴν ἐκ δεξιῶν καθέδ [ραν] , ὁ ἀχώριστος τοῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς κολποῖς, μετὰ τ[ῆς] ἀχράντου σαρκὸς ἣν ἔλαβεν ἐκ Μαρίας τῆς ἁγίας [θεοτόκου] , || διὰ νεφελῶν πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους αὐτοῦ μαθητὰς καὶ ἀποστόλους ἐπισυνήγαγεν πρὸς τὴν ἄχραντον καὶ ἀπειρόγαμον καὶ ἁγνήν, ἐπισυνάξας πρὸς αὐτὴν λαβεῖν τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως καὶ ἀναληφθῆναι ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς τὴν πλατυτέραν τῶν οὐρανῶν γενομένην καὶ ἀνωτέραν τῶν χερουβίν.
3 [Εἰ ] γὰρ τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ πᾶσαν τὴν τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείαν έχαρίσατο καὶ λῃστῇ διὰ μιᾶς φωνῆς παράδει[σ]ον ἠνέωξεν, πόσῳ μᾶλ[λ]ον τὴν δανείσασαν αὐτῷ [τ]ὸ οἰκητήριον τῆς νηδύ[ος], ἣν αὐτὸς ἐδημιούργη[σεν], ἣν αὐτὸς ἔπλασεν, [ἐξ ἧς] ἐσαρκώθη, ὡς ... ||
4 ἵνα δι ̓ ἧς ἠπάτησεν ὁ ἀρχέκακος, δι ̓ αὐτῆς καταλύσῃ τὸ κράτος αὐτοῦ καὶ δι ̓ αὐτῆς πᾶσαι αἱ γυναῖκες ἧς εἶχον κατάρας ἐλευθερίας τύχωσιν · «Σωθήσεται γάρ, φησὶν ὁ ἀπόστολος, διὰ τῆς τεκνογονίας».
5 Ταύτην τὴν ἁγίαν καὶ πάγκοσμον, τήν σεμνὴν καὶ πάσης χαρᾶς ἠξιωμένην, τὴν μητέρα καί παρθένον, τὴν ἁγνὴν καὶ ἀμίαντον, τὴν γαλακτοτροφήσασαν τὸν πηγάσα[ν]τα μέλι ἐκ πέτρας, τὸν ἀπροσδεῆ τροφῆς ἀγκ[ά]λαις ἐπετιθηνήσατο καὶ τὸν αὐτῆς δημιουρ[γὸν] υἱὸν ἀσπόρως ἐξ αὐτῆς [ἠ]ξιώθη προσενεγκεῖν.
6 Γίνεται χερουβικῶς ἡ ἐκ π ..... || καθαροῦ καὶ ἀσπίλου. Ετι γὰρ ἐν τῇ ὀσφύει τοῦ πατρὸς ὑπάρχουσα τοῦ Ἰωακείμ, Ἄννα ἡ μήτηρ αὐτῆς ἐξ ἀγγέλου ἁγίου εὐηγγελίσθη λέγοντος πρὸς αὐτήν · «Καὶ λαληθήσεται τὸ σπέρμα σου ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ οἰκουμένῃ » . Διό προσήνεγκεν αὐτὴν τῷ ναῷ Κυρίου . Καὶ πάντα τὸν χρόνον αὐτῆς παρισταμένη παρίστατο ἡ παρθένος τῷ βασιλεῖ Χριστῷ ἐκ δεξιῶν ἐν ἱματισμῷ διαχρύσῳ περβεβλημένη πεποικιλμένη , κα[θ]ώς λέγει ὁ προφήτης [« Α]κουσον , θύγατερ , καὶ ἰδὲ καὶ [κλ]ῖνον τὸ οὖς σου καὶ ἐπι[λά]θου τοῦ λαοῦ σου καὶ τοῦ [οἴκ]ου τοῦ πατρός σου καὶ ἐπι[θυμή]σει ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ [κάλλους σου ὅτι αὐτό]ς ἐστιν ὁ || κύριός σου καὶ προσκυνήσεις αὐτῷ » .
Title: Encomium to the Ascension of the Holy Theotokos by Bishop Theoteknos of Livias.
1 "Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things." Indeed, in the resurrection of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, we all rejoiced and celebrated with spiritual songs, praising Him who has arranged everything for our salvation.
2 After His resurrection from the dead and His ascension to the heavens and His sitting at the right hand [of God], He, who is inseparable from the bosom of God the Father, with the unblemished flesh He took from Mary the Holy Theotokos, gathered all His holy disciples and apostles through clouds to the unblemished, unwed, and pure one, gathering them to her to receive the prize of the higher calling and to be taken up in the heavens, having become broader than the heavens and higher than the cherubim.
3 For if He granted His saints the entire kingdom of heaven and opened paradise to a thief with a single phrase, how much more so the one who lent Him the dwelling of her womb, which He Himself created, which He Himself formed, out of which He was incarnated, as ...
4 so that through her whom the arch-evil one deceived, by her he might dissolve his power, and through her all women who had borne curses might gain freedom; "for she shall be saved through childbearing," says the apostle.
5 This holy and universal, venerable and filled with all joy, the mother and virgin, the pure and unblemished, who nourished the one who brought forth honey from the rock, and who, needing no nourishment, was held in her arms, and her son the creator, who was worthily brought forth from her without seed.
6 She has become cherubic from [clay?/father?] pure and spotless. For while still in the loins of her father Joachim, Anna her mother was evangelized by a holy angel saying to her: "And your seed shall be spoken of throughout the whole world." Therefore, she presented her to the temple of the Lord. And all the while, the virgin stood clothed in gold-spun garments, richly adorned, as the prophet says, "Listen, daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father's house, and the king shall desire your beauty because he is your lord, and you shall worship him."
