Origen of Alexandria — Commentary on Scripture

And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

This sacrament 2 of preparation is even now fulfilled in the world, for even now the spirit and power of John must come upon the soul, before it believes in Jesus Christ.

Luke 1:22

And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.

When the priest Zechariah offers incense in the temple, he is condemned to silence and cannot speak. Or better, he speaks only with gestures. He remains unable to speak until the birth of his son, John. What does this mean? Zechariah's silence is the silence of prophets in the people of Israel. God no longer speaks to them. His "Word, which was with the Father from the beginning, and was God," has passed over to us. For us Christ is not silent.…Christ ceased to be in them. The Word deserted them. What Isaiah wrote was fulfilled: "The daughter of Zion will be deserted like a tent in the vineyard or like a hut in the cucumber patch. She is as desolate as a plundered city." The Jews were left behind, and salvation passed to the Gentiles.

Luke 1:24

And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,

And therefore he says, Five months, that is, until Mary should conceive, and her babe leaping with joy should prophesy.

Luke 1:27

To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

For if she had had no husband, soon would the thought have stolen into the Devil's mind, how she who had known no man could be pregnant. It was right that the conception should be Divine, something more exalted than human nature.

Luke 1:28

And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

The angel greeted Mary with a new address, which I could not find anywhere else in Scripture. I ought to explain this expression briefly. The angel says, "Hail, full of grace." … I do not remember having read this word elsewhere in Scripture. An expression of this kind, "Hail, full of grace," is not addressed to a male. This greeting was reserved for Mary alone.

Luke 1:29

And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

For if Mary had known that similar words had been addressed to others, such a salutation would never have appeared to her so strange and alarming.

Luke 1:30

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

For if Mary had known that similar words had been addressed to others, such a salutation would never have appeared to her so strange and alarming.
When the angel saw that she was troubled at this unusual salutation, calling her by her name as if she was well known to him, he tells her she must not fear, as it follows; And the angel said, Fear not, Mary.

Luke 1:32

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

See then the greatness of the Saviour, how it is diffused over the whole world. Go up to heaven, see there how it has filled the heavenly places; carry thy thoughts down to the deep, behold, there too He has descended. If thou seest this, then, in like manner, beholdest thou fulfilled in very deed, He shall be great.

Luke 1:39 · 2 passages

And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;

For Jesus who was in her womb hastened to sanctify John, still in the womb of his mother. Whence it follows, with haste.

Better men go to weaker men to give them some advantage by their visits. Thus the Savior came to John to sanctify John’s baptism.… Jesus was in her womb, and he hastened to sanctify John, who was still in his own mother’s womb. Before Mary came and greeted Elizabeth, the infant did not rejoice in her womb. But as soon as Mary spoke the word that the Son of God, in his mother’s womb, had supplied, “the infant [John] leaped in joy.” At that moment Jesus made his forerunner a prophet for the first time.

Luke 1:41

And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

(vid. etiam Tit. Bos.) He was not filled with the Spirit, until she stood near him who bore Christ in her womb. Then indeed he was both filled with the Spirit, and leaping imparted the grace to his mother; as it follows, And Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. But we cannot doubt that she who was then filled with the Holy Spirit, was filled because of her son.

Luke 1:42

And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

Elizabeth, who was filled with the Holy Spirit at that moment, received the Spirit on account of her son. The mother did not inherit the Holy Spirit first. First John, still enclosed in her womb, received the Holy Spirit. Then she too, after her son was sanctified, was filled with the Holy Spirit. You will be able to believe this if you also learn something similar about the Savior. (In a certain number of manuscripts, we have discovered that blessed Mary is said to prophesy. We are not unaware of the fact that, according to other copies of the Gospel, Elizabeth speaks these words in prophecy.) Mary also was filled with the Holy Spirit when she began to carry the Savior in her womb. As soon as she received the Holy Spirit, who was the creator of the Lord’s body, and the Son of God began to exist in her womb, she too was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Luke 1:43-44

And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

(non occ. vide Theoph. et. Tit. Bost.) Now in saying this, she coincides with her son. For John also felt that he was unworthy of our Lord's coming to him. But she gives the name of "the mother of our Lord" to one still a virgin, thus forestalling the event by the words of prophecy. Divine foreknowledge brought Mary to Elisabeth, that the testimony of John might reach the Lord. For from that time Christ ordained John to be a prophet. Hence it follows, For, to, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded, &c.

Luke 1:46 · 3 passages

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,

Elizabeth prophesies before John. Before the birth of the Lord and Savior, Mary prophesies. Sin began from the woman and then spread to the man. In the same way, salvation had its first beginnings from women. Thus the rest of women can also lay aside the weakness of their sex and imitate as closely as possible the lives and conduct of these holy women whom the Gospel now describes.

Let us consider the Virgin's prophecy. She says, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior." Two subjects, "soul" and "spirit," carry out a double praise. The soul praises the Lord, the Spirit praises God—not because the praise of the Lord differs from the praise of God but because he who is God is also Lord, and he who is Lord is also God.We ask how a soul can magnify the Lord. The Lord can undergo neither increase nor loss. He is what he is. Thus, why does Mary now say, "My soul magnifies the Lord?" … My soul is not directly an image of God. It was created as the image of an Image that already existed.… Each one of us shapes his soul into the image of Christ and makes either a larger or a smaller image of him. The image is either dingy and dirty, or it is clean and bright and corresponds to the form of the original. Therefore, when I make the image of the Image—that is, my soul—large and magnify it by work, thought and speech, then the Lord himself is magnified in my soul, because it is an image of him. Just as the Lord is thus magnified in our image…

Let us consider the Virgin's prophecy. She says, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior." Two subjects, "soul" and "spirit," carry out a double praise. The soul praises the Lord, the Spirit praises God—not because the praise of the Lord differs from the praise of God but because he who is God is also Lord, and he who is Lord is also God.We ask how a soul can magnify the Lord. The Lord can undergo neither increase nor loss. He is what he is. Thus, why does Mary now say, "My soul magnifies the Lord?" … My soul is not directly an image of God. It was created as the image of an Image that already existed.… Each one of us shapes his soul into the image of Christ and makes either a larger or a smaller image of him. The image is either dingy and dirty, or it is clean and bright and corresponds to the form of the original. Therefore, when I make the image of the Image—that is, my soul—large and magnify it by work, thought and speech, then the Lord himself is magnified in my soul, because it is an image of him. Just as the Lord is thus magnified in our image of him, so too, if we are sinners, he diminishes and decreases.
But surely the Lord is not diminished, nor does he decrease. Rather, we create other images in ourselves instead of the Savior's image. Instead of being the image of the Word, or of wisdom, justice and the rest of the virtues, we assume the form of the devil.

Now if the Lord could neither receive increase or decrease, what is this that Mary speaks of, My soul doth magnify (magnificat) the Lord? But if I consider that the Lord our Saviour is the image of the invisible God, and that the soul is created according to His image, so as to be an image of an image, then I shall see plainly, that as after the manner of those who are accustomed to paint images, each one of us forming his soul after the image of Christ, makes it great or little, base or noble, after the likeness of the original; so when I have made my soul great in thought, word, and deed, the image of God is made great, and the Lord Himself, whose image it is, is magnified in my soul.

Luke 1:47

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

But the soul first magnifies the Lord, that it may afterwards rejoice in God; for unless we have first believed, we can not rejoice.

Luke 1:48 · 2 passages

For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

But why was she lowly and cast down, who carried in her womb the Son of God? Consider that lowliness, which in the Scriptures is particularly praised as one of the virtues, is called by the philosophers "modestia." And we also may paraphrase it, that state of mind in which a man instead of being puffed up, casts himself down.

"For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed." If I take "all generations" literally, I apply it to believers. But, if I search for something more profound, I will notice how valuable it is to join to it, "because he who is powerful has done great things for me." For "everyone who humbles himself will be exalted." God looked upon the blessed Mary's humility, and on account of it "he who is powerful did great things for her, and holy is his name."

Luke 1:50

And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.

For the mercy of God is not upon one generation, but extends to eternity from generation to generation.