Praise to the Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, as She Is Called
by Petros Siwnec'i (c. 500-557)
translated by Dr. Roberta Ervine
Associate Professor of Armenian Studies, St. Nersess Armenian Seminary
Petros Siwnec'I was bishop of the influential Armenian Metropolitan See of Siunik.
A profound theologian and prolific translator, he was known for his devout faith and virtuous Christian lifestyle and
was widely esteemed by his contemporaries and successors. He authored a number of other encomia in the style
of this one. He also penned doctrinal works, biblical commentaries an, liturgical hymns.
You the multitude of this Christ-loving gathering have made this day a feast of the
new and marvelous joy. In it we will rejoice with fantastic rejoicing. For lo, the heavens
call out to the earth with the sound of good news, and announce the bursting forth of glory
in the town of Bethlehem. Today, we are desirous of David's well, in which God's river
pours with copious flow, giving drink to the universe. Truly, I tell you that that early
archetype was imprinted with the truth, for the Mother of our Lord became a well, of itself
springing up with living water. From it the one who kept it did not dare to drink, for with
spotless purity was sealed her virgin flesh, from which the Sun of Righteousness arose and
with His flashing rays of light illuminated the world.
Now, what shall I say, or what shall I speak? For mind and tongue are unable to
offer up worthy honor to this virgin festival. Word cannot measure the love which God has
for humanity, nor can any number account for the multifaceted honor of Mary. Oh, who has
ever heard such wonders-that the Lord and Creator undertook to be born as a child of His
handmaiden and clay vessel? Yes! Yes! Because He desired to raise up the first father and
the first virgin from their fall, He was truly encapsulated in the womb; He truly became the
Child Who is born this day! For this reason we too honor this day more than words can tell;
we understand earth to be more lofty than the heavens, and the Virgin to be more glorious
than the East. We exalt the shepherds above the angels, and we recognize the manger to be
more choice than the cherubim. Jerusalem, too, shone more brilliantly than the fiery
chariot.
We have not labored to contrive these words as mere rhetoric, born of our own
thought; before us, the divinely-written Scriptures foretold the same. For the One Whose
Being created rationality within the natures of angels and men at their fashioning, the
Self-existent Father today begot, as it were, from His very self. The same Father sang
through the mouth of David, "You are my son; today have I begotten Thee."
Now come you, on this day when the Creator of days and words took upon Himself to
be born again, bring me words to say: what words can we offer sufficient to relate the
praises of such a day? If we imply that the earth is higher than the heavens, is it so vain
a boast? Were not the heavens the dwelling place of the ministering spirits, while the earth
became the special city of the God of all? As the prophet openly trumpeted, "This is our
God, alongside whom no other is of any account!" After this, He appeared on earth and walked
about with human beings!
And if we envision the Virgin Mary more glorious than the East, have we inflated our
thought more than we ought? Not at all. The East is the more honorable because the day's
fire rises through it; but it is not to be compared with the maidservant Mother of our Lord,
in whom the God of all dwelt and like the sun arose upon the world.
And if we stated that the manger is greater than the cherubim, have we made a
puerile comparison between things which are not alike? Is not the One sitting today in the
manger as in His Father's bosom the [very] One at the wonder of Whom the six-winged beings
tremble from a distance?
Hence, the prophetic mouthpieces of grace, looking at all this and making the
appropriate connections, compared the things below with those above and, more particularly,
they concluded that the things below are more exalted than those above. For the One at Whose
presence the heavens melt like wax is today contained and constrained in a cave. The word
of Proverbs too wondered in amazement at this, "What land is this into which the light will
fall?" For He fell from the Paternal bosom like fiery lightning and was swaddled, harmless,
in earth's darkness. As it was foretold, "The earth: from it will arise bread, and
underneath it fire circulated," which another prophet interprets clearly [saying], "You
brought forth bread from the earth," that is, [He brought forth] His body from the Holy
Virgin, Mary.
Oh, unspeakable blessings sealed the virgin womb, which the prophetic spirit
[speaking through] David's mouth called "a holy mountain." "Its foundation," he said,
"is on His holy mountain." Verily, on this holy mountain were the two worlds, the divine
and the human, affirmed in an inseparable union. Therefore let no one dare to call the One
Who was born of the Holy Virgin a mere mortal, for He Himself, the Exalted One, laid that
foundation in her. As the angel announced, "What is born of her is of the Holy Spirit." It
says, "The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob." The
Unbeginning Word of God made the virgin flesh a second "gate of Zion," for when the angel
greeted her, the Word entered into her through her ears, and for nine months took on
substance within her body. The Lord who gives immortal life did not scorn to be born
through the same means as all mortal beings.
What a great mystery! He entered in and came out, and the gate of her virginity
was preserved intact. Now, O Mother of God, in what terms shall we bring forth your praise?
Lo, you became
Paradise, planted by God;
Pleasant vineyard;
Unconsumed burning bush;
Holy mountain;
Rock from which gushed water;
Rod which budded;
Golden vessel;
Container of fragrant incense;
[Movable ark;
[House of living water;]
Good plant;
Place of sapphires;
City of God;
Enclosed garden;
Sealed spring;
Hill of frankincense;
Valley of lilies;
Thirsty land;
Swift cloud;
Untrod wilderness;
Bolted door;
Scroll which cannot be read;
Rational land;
Dawn of peace.
All these [names] did the prophets give to you of old. …Now, by what other examples can we
give you your due, Holy Mother of God? Have you not gone beyond all words? Are you not
truly above all beings? Did you not transcend mortal thought, when "the Holy Spirit came
down upon you and overshadowed you with the power of the Most High?" Truly, this is so. For
You received God;
You conceived God;
You felt the pangs of God;
You gave birth to God;
You held the uncontainable God in your arms;
You suckled God;
You nursed God;
You dandled God;
You swaddled the One whose throne is the heavens and whose footstool is the earth, whose
whole Essence the heavens of the heavens are not sufficient to contain.
How can I even enter a competition [in your praise]? How can expressions of your
bliss lead me waveringly on? Lo, there are the heavens which with their fiery flame on
Mount Sinai caused the foundations of Sheol to shake, quivering; and the hands which made
those heavens and the earth come forward today like those of a child holding a cup in his
hands, offering it to a young girl.
Now, this praise [of mine] is none other than the fulfillment of your own prophecy,
that "Hereafter all nations shall call me blessed." So I beseech you, holy Mother of God,
intercede with your Son and our God, that He may always deliver from temptation this people
who have believed in Him [Who came] through you and offer praise to the One born of you,
now and unto the ages of ages, Amen.
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