Commentary on Luke

John of Cressy

Wonder! God is come among humanity; he who cannot be contained is contained in a womb; the timeless enters time, and great mystery: his conception is without seed, his emptying past telling! So great is this mystery! For God empties himself, takes flesh and is fashioned as a creature, when the angel tells the pure Virgin of her conception: "Rejoice, you who are full of grace; the Lord who has great mercy is with you!"

Rejoice, O Jerusalem, and celebrate, all who love Zion! Today the ancient bond of the condemnation of Adam is loosed. Paradise is opened to us: the serpent is laid low. Of old he deceived the woman in Paradise, but now he sees a woman become mother of the Creator. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! The sinful vessel that brought death upon all flesh has become the first fruits of salvation through the Theotokos for all the world. For from her the all-perfect God is born a child, and by his birth he sets the seal on her virginity. Through his swaddling clothes he looses the bands of sin. And through becoming a child he heals Eve's pangs in travail. Therefore let all creation sing and dance for joy, for Christ has come to restore it and to…

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• More works by John of Cressy

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