Homily II — Laid in the tomb and taken up on the third day
From there she is brought down to most holy Gethsemane. Again there were kisses and embraces, and again praises, holy hymns, invocations and tears, and streams of sweat poured down from anguish and longing; one could see sweat and tears vying with each other in their flowing. And so the all-holy body is laid in the all-glorious and wondrous tomb, and from there, on the third day, it is lifted up to the halls of heaven.
For it was fitting that this dwelling worthy of God, the spring of the water of forgiveness, which no one dug; the unploughed field of the heavenly bread; the unwatered vine of the cluster of ambrosia; the evergreen and fruitful olive tree of the Father's mercy, should not be shut up in the hollows of the earth. Rather, just as the holy and undefiled body, which came from her and took its subsistence in God the Word, rose from the tomb on the third day, so she too had to be snatched from the tomb, and the Mother brought over to her Son; and as he had come down to her, so she, the dearly loved, had to be carried up to the greater and more perfect tabernacle, into heaven itself (Hebrews 9:11; Hebrews 9:24).
It was fitting that she who had welcomed God the Word as a guest in her womb should be settled in the dwellings of her own Son; and as the Lord said that he must be in the house of his own Father (Luke 2:49), so the Mother too had to make her home in the palace of her Son, in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God (Psalm 135:2). For if the dwelling of all who rejoice is there (Psalm 87:7), where should the cause of joy be? It was fitting that she who kept her virginity unharmed in giving birth should have her body kept incorrupt even after death. It was fitting that she who carried the Creator as an infant in her bosom should abide in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the bride whom the Father had espoused should live in the bridal chambers of heaven. It was fitting that she who had seen her own Son on the cross, and had received into her heart the sword of the pain she had escaped in giving birth (Luke 2:35), should behold him seated with the Father. It was fitting that the Mother of God should possess what belongs to her Son, and be venerated by all creation as the Mother and handmaid of God. For the inheritance always passes down from parents to children; but now, as a wise man said, the springs of the sacred rivers flow upward. For the Son has made all creation subject to his Mother.
Greek
Ἐντεῦθεν πρὸς τὴν Γεθσημανῆ τὴν ἱερωτάτην κατάγεται· πάλιν τε ἀσπασμοὶ καὶ περιπλοκαὶ, καὶ πάλιν ἐγκώμια, ὕμνοι ἱεροὶ, καὶ ἀνακλήσεις καὶ δάκρυα, ἐξ ἀγωνίας καὶ πόθου κρουνοὶ ἱδρώτων περιῤῥεόμενοι· καὶ ἦν ἰδεῖν ἱδρῶτας καὶ δάκρυα τοῖς γεύμασιν ἁμιλλώμενα. Καὶ οὕτως τὸ πανάγιον σῶμα τῷ πανευκλεεῖ καὶ ὑπερφυεῖ ἐπιτίθεται μνήματι· κἀντεῦθεν τριταῖον πρὸς οὐρανίους δόμους μετεωρίζεται. Ἔδει γὰρ τοῦτο τὸ θεοπρεπὲς ἐνδιαίτημα τὴν ἀνόρυκτον πηγὴν τοῦ τῆς ἀφέσεως ὕδατος, τὴν ἀνήροτον ἄρουραν τοῦ οὐρανίου ἄρτου, τὴν ἀνάρδευτον ἄμπελον τοῦ τῆς ἀμβροσίας βότρυος, τὴν ἀειθαλῆ καὶ καλλίκαρπον ἐλαίαν τοῦ πατρικοῦ ἐλαίου, τοῖς κενεῶσι τῆς γῆς μὴ καθείργεσθαι· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ τὸ ἐξ αὐτῆς τῷ Θεῷ Λόγῳ ἐνυποστὰν σῶμα τὸ ἅγιον καὶ ἀκήρατον, τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ μνήματος ἐξανίστατο, οὕτω δὴ καὶ ταύτην ἐξαρπασθῆναι τοῦ τάφου, καὶ πρὸς τὸν Υἱὸν τὴν μητέρα μεθαρμοσθῆναι, καὶ ὥσπερ αὐτὸς πρὸς αὐτὴν καταβέβηκεν, οὕτως αὐτὴν τὴν προφιλῆ πρὸς αὐτὴν ἀναφέρεσθαι, τὴν μείζονα καὶ τελειοτέραν σκηνὴν, εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν οὐρανόν. Ἔδει τὴν τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον ἐν τῇ αὐτῆς νηδύϊ ξενοδοχήσασαν, ἐν ταῖς τοῦ ἑαυτῆς Υἱοῦ κατοικισθῆναι σκηναῖς· καὶ ὥσπερ ὁ Κύριος ἔφησεν, ὡς ἐν τοῖς τοῦ οἰκείου Πατρὸς εἶναι ὀφείλεται, καὶ τὴν Μητέρα ἔδει ἐν τοῖς τοῦ Υἱοῦ βασιλείοις αὐλίζεσθαι, ἐν οἴκῳ Κυρίου, καὶ ἐν αὐλαῖς οἴκου Θεοῦ ἡμῶν. Εἰ γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ πάντων τῶν εὐφραινομένων ἡ κατοικία, ποῦ τῆς εὐφροσύνης τὸ αἴτιον; Ἔδει τῆς ἐν τῷ τίκτειν φυλαξάσης τὴν παρθενίαν ἀλώβητον, ἀδιάφθορον τηρηθῆναι τὸ σῶμα, καὶ μετὰ θάνατον. Ἔδει τὴν ἐγκόλπιον ὡς βρέφος τὸν Κτίστην βαστάσασαν, τοῖς θείοις ἐνδιατρίβειν σκηνώμασιν. Ἔδει τὴν νύμφην, ἣν ὁ Πατὴρ ἐνυμφεύσατο, τοῖς οὐρανίοις ἐνδιαιτᾶσθαι θαλάμοις. Ἔδει τὴν ἐν σταυρῷ τὸν ἑαυτῆς Υἱὸν κατοπτεύσασαν, καὶ τῆς ὠδῖνος, ἣν τεκοῦσα διέφυγε, τὴν ῥομφαίαν δεξαμένην ἐγκάρδιον, τῷ Πατρὶ καθορᾷν συγκαθήμενον. Ἔδει τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ Μητέρα τὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ κατακτήσασθαι, καὶ ὑπὸ πάσης ὡς Μητέρα Θεοῦ καὶ δούλην προσκυνηθῆναι τῆς κτίσεως. Ἀεὶ μὲν γὰρ ἐκ τῶν τεκόντων ὁ κλῆρος εἰς τοὺς παῖδας κάτεισι. Νῦν δὲ, ὥς τις ἔφη σοφὸς, ἄνω ποταμῶν τῶν ἱερῶν χωροῦσι πηγαί. Ὁ γὰρ Υἱὸς τῇ Μητρὶ τὴν σύμπασαν κτίσιν κατεδουλώσατο.