She Was Found With Child of The Holy Spirit

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Keraza Magazine issue 33-34 August 22, 2014

When the Holy Spirit came upon the Virgin and the power of the Highest overshadowed her, she passed through three stages. The first is the stage of pregnancy: "She was found with child of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:18); the second is the stage of birth: "Mary, of whom was born Jesus" (Matthew 1:16); and the third is nurturing and sustaining the Child: "And the Child grew" (Luke 2:40). As St. Mary, in her person, represents each human being, likewise it is allotted for each person walking along the path of the Lord to pass through these three stages, until Christ is formed in him/her, culminating in full unity with Him.

This is what St. Maximus the Confessor reaffirms by saying, "The divine Logos, who once for all was born in the flesh, always in His compassion desires to be born in spirit in those who desire Him. He becomes an infant and moulds Himself in them through the virtues."¹ This means that our inner man is the womb of our souls in which the divine embryo dwells through the Holy Spirit, yet not without faith. We find this in St. Paul's saying, "That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith" (Ephesians 3:17), and in St. Maximus’ words, "Christ is conceived in us through faith, is carried in our womb, and is born through the virtues." The Holy Spirit did not begin His work in the Virgin, except at the instant when she "believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord" (Luke 1:45).

The stage of conception represents a stage of putting off the old man, with all its dead works, and developing the new man "who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him" (Colossians 3:10). Just as the embryo has to be born when it has been fully formed (lest it die if it remains in the womb longer than necessary), likewise, the soul has to know that the "full time came for her to be delivered" (Luke 1:57), and that insisting on remaining in this stage is akin to a false pregnancy bringing forth nothing but wind. The words of Isaiah apply to many, "We have been with child, we have been in pain; we have, as it were, brought forth wind" (Isaiah 26:18), and, "You shall conceive chaff, you shall bring forth stubble" (Isaiah 33:11). As for the stage of delivery, it is the stage of joyful illumination which comes in the fullness of time when the light is born in the soul, and from her to others who rejoice with her (Luke 1:58). Yet, St. Paul warns us that the soul, after she has been illuminated, must progress to the third stage, the phase of growth and perfection, "Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection" (Hebrews6:1), "...till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13).

As the diligent soul passes through these three stages, like the Virgin, the open books on Judgment Day witness to her saying, "This person’s soul, in whom Christ was born, was found with child of the Holy Spirit, and in her the child grew."

Amen, may the Holy Spirit grant for all our names to be written in the Book of Life, through the intercessions of our Mother the Virgin St. Mary who became the example and guide along the way to unity with God.

Bishop Youssef
Bishop, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States

¹ Corinth, S. N. (Ed.). (1979-95). The Philokalia: The Complete Text (Vol. 2). (G. Palmer, P. Sherrard, & K. Ware, Trans.) London: Faber and Faber Ltd, 165-166.