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Dear Friends of the Incarnation,
As a follow-up, I am sharing the four responses I recently received from our zoom class participants. I had written the other day about sharing with me your "favorite" text from those provided for our class from the Holy Fathers on the Incarnation. Interestingly, I received different responses. A positive example of diversity! Not having asked our contributors ahead of time, I am presenting them anonymously. If you still would like to share your favorite with an explanatory sentence or two, please feel free to go ahead.
1) I choose St. Gregory of Nazianzos. Although it was a tough choice, I prefer St. Gregory's explanatory style of writing as compared to St. Ephraim's bolder style. I also prefer St. Gregory's approach to incarnation which centers on Christ and how human beings "fit in" as opposed to St. Ephraim's approach which is to communicate the moral implications of Christ's nativity.
2) With respect to my favorite text, I think I would go with St. Nicholas Kabasilas. For me, the idea that Mary was more than a simple vessel, more than a random teenage girl, is a paradigm shift. My protestant training claimed that about her. And, unsurprisingly, she was therefore not to be venerated in their tradition. As I’m learning about the true doctrine, I’m beginning to understand why she higher than the angels. Her will was a part of the incarnation. It was “the work of the will and the faith of the Virgin.”
3) I think for me personally the most helpful text was the one by St. Ephrem the Syrian. Being one who enjoys Philosophy and Theology as an intellectual discipline, it’s important for me to be reminded the reason for which we do Theology. It is important that because Christ became incarnate, we must forgive our brother and not hold anger or bitterness in our heart, nor become puffed up in pride. If Christ could deign to be born in a lowly manger, how can I stand to judge my fellow man for the wrong they've done to me? Theology is always imminently useful to me here and now in its repercussions, which is an important grounding for me personally. As far as beauty and depth of writing, I think I would be hard-pressed to find anyone surpassing St. Romanos the Melodist and his Kontakion on the Nativity of Christ!
4) As far as the Incarnation quotes are concerned: my choice is the Sticheron for Vespers of Nativity. Firstly the poetry is beautiful. Secondly I love the idea that we offer God our humanness in the person of the Theotokos. He accepts and needs our humanity in His greatest act - that blows my mind!
