Mary's Faith and the Living Temple

Confessing the Son of God undividedly and without confusion as both God and man, proclaiming Emmanuel. And then Martha said to him, «I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God» (John 11:27). Lazarus confirmed this within himself, joined by this faith and hope; for even while he was living and dwelling with the ever-present One, his sisters prayed for him, saying, «Lord, see him whom you love is ill» (John 11:3). Mary, through whom the sister's confession and the brother's faith were unitedhousehold's piety was manifested.

For having taken the ointment, she did not anoint a lifeless stone for the house of God, as Jacob did when he was being wrested away from Esau, but she anointed God, the Creator and Maker of all things, with a living temple united to the Theotokos the Virgin; she was not merely saving a mimicry of the intimacy toward Jacob as a truthful daughter, but was much more surpassing the patriarch in faith and work. Just as he fashioned the shadow, she herself felt the reality and worshiped.

Thus Jacob appears to have done this twice: once in being wrested away from the envy that was bound to murder, and once in having the divine vision in Bethel (Genesis 28). But even so, he is not equalized to the daughter's piety in this respect; for he learned nothing more than to anoint a stone as a type of the cornerstone, but she not only felt and anointed the holy, living, and God-created temple of the Creator and Eternal God, but also, worshiping the God who is unchangeably in it and through it, she confessed one indivisible Lord, perceiving the invisible glory in the seen beauty, and in the felt flesh, she was discerning the unutterable and untouchable God the Word.

For His condescension toward us did not diminish the glory of the invisible God in their eyes, nor did the lowliness of His reflection insult the majestic authority of God in their eyes; nor did the weak enclosure of the flesh diminish the criterion of their intellect against the unapproachable eminence; nor did the love, which has been emboldened toward His descent, strike down the fear and trembling of the unshakeable power; rather, being led toward the invisible by the visible signs, they marveled exceedingly at the paradox of His voluntary poverty, and being enlightened in intellect by the wonders performed word by word, and being instructed in the authoritative nature of His Lordship, they surpassed all in more intense, man-loving humanity; and they worshiped a God who works and strikes out unhindered from His own treasury, providing the charge of miracles through the touch of the hem, and they were astonished beyond measure, understanding the resurrection of the dead through the communion with mortals in death.

Therefore, having overcome fear through affection, they possessed an insatiable longing, and the ministry of the one who is both God and perfect man was poured out into the hearts of the like-minded and like-believing ones; the one Christ worked the human things through His condescension toward us, while the other [the soul/devotion] brought the more God-pleasing and fragrant fruit with haste, pouring out fragrance like upon the altar of His life-giving temple. And this, not as a triviality but as a diligent loving, and kissing the sanctity through the natural enclosure, placed a crown of glory upon her own head, not composed of corruptible and earthly matter, but the glimmerings of divine splendor flashing forth.

If, then, according to Moses, 'everyone who touches the altar shall be sanctified' (Exodus 29:44), what can anyone say concerning her who has touched the Lord, the altar; with what words shall we adorn the unity of these brothers? Indeed, the works of these surll praise. It is enough for you, Martha, the confession of Christ, as a crown of glory; it is enough for you, Lazarus, to be called the friend of Christ, as an inheritance of glory; it is enough for you, Mary, the vote from God. For Mary, it is said, 'has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her' (Luke 10:42).