Christmas Rosary (*),

1 - Christ was born, so glorify Him. Christ came from heaven, so welcome Him. Christ came to earth, so glorify Him. “Praise the Lord, all the earth” (Psalm 96:1).

Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad for the heavenly One who has come to earth.

Christ became incarnate. Rejoice with joy and fear. Fear because of sin, and joy because of hope.

Christ came from a virgin, so live as virgins so that you women may become mothers of Christ.

Who does not worship the One who was from the beginning? Who does not glorify the One who is the last?

2- The darkness clears up again(1)Once again the light shines. Once again darkness falls as punishment on Egypt.(2)Once again, God's people are enlightened by a pillar of fire (see Exodus 21:13).

The people sitting in darkness saw light (Isaiah 9:2), understood the divine mysteries, “old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

The letter recedes, the spirit advances. Shadows flee while truth(3) It takes its place.

The example of Melchizedek has been fulfilled (Psalm 110:4), who was without a mother now became without a father.

Natural laws have been dissolved. The heavenly world must be completed.(4).

Christ commands us not to set ourselves against Him: “Clap your hands, all you nations” (Ps. 47:1), for a child is born to us and a son is given to us, on whose shoulder the government will be (because his shoulder was lifted up by the cross), and his name will be called the Angel of Great Counsel (see Is. 9:5).

Let John cry out, “Prepare the way of the Lord” (Matthew 3:3), and I will speak of the power of this day:

The bodyless became incarnate

The word has a body

The invisible became visible

The intangible becomes tangible

The non-temporal has a temporal beginning.

Son of God becomes Son of Man

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”

The Jews stumble, the Greeks mock, and the heretics gossip.

They will believe in Him when they see Him ascending into heaven, and if they do not believe then, they will see Him coming from heaven and sitting as a judge. These things will happen later.

Two names for the celebration: Theophany and Christmas:

3. Today, the celebration is of the divine manifestation, that is, the birth. This one celebration is called by two names because God appeared to men through birth. The Word is an eternal being from the eternal being above every cause and a Word (for there is no Word before the Logos) who became flesh for us in order that, as He gave us existence, He might also give us the better existence from which we fell because of our evils, or rather, in order that He might restore us to it through His incarnation. Thus the name “Theophany” was given to this manifestation, and likewise the name “Nativity” was given to His birth.

Why do we celebrate this holiday?

4 - For us this is the concept of celebration, and this is what we celebrate today: we celebrate the coming of God to mankind so that we may go and dwell beside God, or rather return to Him, so that by putting off the old man, we may put on the new man. And as we died in Adam, so we can live in Christ, being born with Him, crucified with Him, and buried with Him so that we may rise in His resurrection. For we must be changed in a good and righteous way. Just as good things (the first paradise state) were followed by bad things (the state of the fall), so it is rather necessary that good things come from bad things. “For where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more” (Rom. 5:20).

And if you taste the food(5) He brought condemnation, how much more will the sufferings of Christ justify us. Let us then celebrate, not in the manner of the noisy pagan festivals, but in a divine manner, not in the manner of the world, but in a spiritual manner. Not as our own feast, but as the feast of Him who is ours (that is, Christ), or rather, of our Lord. Let us celebrate, not in terms of sickness, but in terms of healing. Let us celebrate, not in terms of creation, but in terms of re-creation.

How do we celebrate Eid?

5. And how is this celebration to be? Not by decorating doors, nor by holding dance parties, nor by decorating the streets, nor by delighting our eyes, nor by delighting our ears with loud music, nor by delighting our noses with indecent feminine scents, let us not spoil the sense of taste, nor allow the sense of touch to delight in touching indecent things. These senses which can be easy entrances to sin; let us not be effeminate by wearing soft and expensive clothes, the beauty of which lies in their uselessness. Let us not adorn ourselves with precious stones and shining gold, and with dyes which distort the natural beauty which is in the image of God, nor by mockery and drunkenness which are always accompanied by fornication and licentiousness (see Romans 13:13), for evil teachings come from evil teachers, or better said, for evil seed produces evil plants, so let us not lie on soft bedding which pleases the self, the belly, and passing desires. We do not drink wines mixed with the scent of flowers, nor eat the delicious food that the chefs cook with skill. We do not anoint ourselves with costly perfume. We do not let the earth and sea offer their precious waste as a gift, for I call luxury waste; let us not discuss sins with one another (for everything in excess of necessary need is excess). While others of our own clay and nature are starving, and in extreme need.

6. Let us leave all these things to the pagans and to the pagan festivities, whose gods delight in the smell of roasted sacrifices, and to whom they offer worship with food and drink, for they are inventors of evil, and priests and servants of demons. But we who offer our worship to the Word, if we must enjoy anything, let us enjoy the Word, the divine law, and the Scriptural evidences, especially those which speak to us on subjects such as the one of today’s celebration, so that our enjoyment may be close to Him who has gathered us together to celebrate (to Christ) and not far from Him. Do you want me (for today I will set the table for you, my guests) to set before you the account of these events (the birth) in the most abundant and beautiful words I can, so that you may know how a stranger can(6) To feed the citizens of the country, to feed the city dweller, to feed those who do not care for pleasures, to feed those who delight in pleasures, and to feed those who are poor and have no home and nothing, to feed those who are famous for their wealth.

Educational Introduction to God (Theology):

I will begin with this: Purify your minds, ears, and thoughts, you who rejoice in these things, for our talk will be a holy talk about God; so that when you leave the place you will have truly enjoyed hearing those joyful things that will never end or fade away.

The talk will be quite full and at the same time brief, so that you will not be bothered by missing some facts, nor will it be boring due to excessive length.

7. God was always, is now, and will always be forever, or rather, is always. For “was” and “will be” are parts of time and of our changing nature. But He is an eternal “being,” and this is the name He gave Himself when He appeared to Moses: “I am He that am” (Exodus 3:14). For He gathers and contains all “being,” and is without beginning in the past, and without end in the future; like a great sea of being, limitless and uncontainable, wholly transcendent of any concept of time and nature, and can scarcely be comprehended by reason alone, but only in a very vague and weak comprehension, not of His essence, but of what is around Him.(7), that is, his perception of the combination of various external phenomena, to present a picture of the truth which soon eludes us before we can grasp it, disappearing before we can perceive it. This picture flashes in our minds only when the mind is pure, like lightning which flashes quickly and disappears. I think this perception is so that we are attracted to what we can perceive (for that which is not fully perceived frustrates every attempt to approach it), and on the other hand the unperceived excites our admiration and wonder, and this wonder creates in us a greater longing, and this longing purifies and cleanses us, and the purification makes us like God. And when we become like Him, I dare say that He speaks to us as His relatives in union with us, inasmuch as He knows those who are known to Him. The divine nature is limitless and difficult to comprehend. All that we can understand of it is its infinity, and even if one thinks that God, being of a simple nature, is therefore either completely incomprehensible or can be understood completely. Let us also ask, what is meant by the phrase “of a simple nature”? For it is certain that this simplicity does not represent its nature itself, just as composition is not in itself the essence of composite beings.

8. Infinity may be thought of from two sides, that is, from the beginning and from the end (for whatever is beyond the beginning and the end and is not contained within them is infinite). When the mind looks to the upper depth, and, having no place to stand on, and leaning on external appearances to form an idea of God, it calls the infinite, which is unapproachable, the untemporal. When the mind looks to the lower depths and to the depths of the future, it calls the infinite the immortal and imperishable. When it brings together its summary of all directions, it calls the infinite the eternal, for eternity is neither time nor a part of time, for it is immeasurable. Just as time is for us what is measured by the rising and setting of the sun, so is eternity for the eternal.

We will now suffice with talking philosophically about God, because time does not allow, since the subject of our discussion now is the economy of incarnation and not the nature of God (theology). But when I say God, I mean the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Because divinity does not extend beyond the Trinity, otherwise there would be a host of gods, nor is it limited to a scope smaller than the Trinity, lest we be accused of having a very poor and feeble concept of divinity, and lest we be accused of being Judaizers by preserving monotheism, or of falling into paganism by having many gods. For the same evil exists in both, Judaism and paganism, even if it exists in two opposing directions. This then is the “Holy of Holies.”(8) Hidden from the Seraphim is the one who is glorified in the hymn of the Three Sanctifications, and the three are attributed to one title, which is the Lord and God, as one of our predecessors spoke about.(9) In a very beautiful and sublime way.

Creation of the mental world:

9 - But since the movement of self-reflection alone cannot satisfy “goodness,”(10), but goodness had to be poured out and spread out from itself, in order that those who receive from its benevolence might multiply (for this was essential to the highest goodness), therefore God first thought of creating angels and heavenly powers. And the idea of this became a work accomplished by His Word and perfected by His Spirit. And so also were created the second luminous creatures, as servants of the first light, whom we perceive as rational spirits or as immaterial and immortal fire, or as another nature approaching as near as possible to all the previous description. I want to say, that they could not move toward evil, but could only move toward good because they were near God and were enlightened by the first rays from God, as the earthly ones receive the second illumination; but I am compelled to stop considering them as not at all able to move toward evil, but to speak of them only as having difficulty moving toward evil because of Him who, because of His splendor, called Josephus.(11)But he became darkness and was called darkness because of his pride, he and the powers under his leadership, and they became creators of evil by their rebellion against God, and they also became instigators of us to evil.

Creation of the material world:

10. Thus was this intellectual world created from the abundance of God's goodness, as far as I can contemplate these things and deal with great things in my poor language. And having found his first creation in a good condition, he thought of creating a second world, a material and visible world, and this world is a complex system between heaven and earth and all that exists between them, and it is a creation worthy of admiration when we look at the beauty of everything in it, and it is more worthy of admiration when we observe the agreement and harmony between the creatures and each other, as one agrees with the other and all with each other in a beautiful system so as to form the complete and integrated system of one world. And this is to show that he can bring into existence not only a nature similar to himself but also a nature entirely different from him. For intellectual beings are similar to the Divine, and are perceived only by the intellect; but all creatures known by the bodily senses are entirely different from the Divine, and the most remote of these creatures are those without soul and without movement. But one of the impetuous may say, what does all this concern us? One of the enthusiastic believers participating in the celebration might ask, “Is the horse prodded so that you may reach the goal?” “Tell us about the feast and the things for which we have gathered today.” That is what I will do. Right away, although I have begun with lofty matters that my love for them compelled me to do, in addition to what our talk about the feast requires.

Creation of man:

11. So, the mind and the body (material), each distinct from the other, remain within the limits of its own nature, and bear within themselves the greatness of the Creator Word, and are silent praisers and most moving witnesses of His omnipotent work. There was not yet a being composed of both (mind and sense) together, nor any union of these opposite natures, a supreme example of the wisdom and diversity in the creation of natures, and all the richness of goodness was not yet known. And because the Creator Word decided to show the richness of this goodness, and to create one living being composed of both together, - that is, of the visible and invisible natures - therefore He created man. And He created the body from the matter that was already there, the body, and then He put into it a breath from Himself which was known as a rational soul and the image of God, and then He established him on earth as a second great world in its infancy; another angel, a composite worshipper.(12). He has full knowledge of the depths of visible creation, but of invisible creation he knows only partially; King over the beings on earth, yet under the authority of the King above, earthly and heavenly, temporal yet immortal, visible yet rational, in a position intermediate between lowliness and greatness, himself spirit and body in one person. Spirit because of the grace given to him, and body so that man may be elevated through it. The one so that he may live and glorify God, his benefactor, the other so that he may suffer and through suffering be remembered and corrected if he has become arrogant because of his greatness. A living being trained on earth in order to pass on to another world, as if the ultimate secret was to become a god.(13) By his inclination towards God. I see that the light of truth that we receive here, but in a certain measure, directs us to see and experience the glory of God. Which is the glory of the One who created us.(14), which will then solve us and then reconstitute us in a more glorious way.(15).

The paradisiacal state of man:

12. This being (i.e. man) was placed by the Creator in Paradise (whatever Paradise this may be), and He honored him with the gift of freedom of will, so that his enjoyment of God might be by free choice, thanks to the gift of God who planted this freedom in him, and so that he might cultivate the immortal plants which signify the divine concepts, the simplest and the most perfect at the same time, naked in his simplicity and his unartificial life, and without any covering or veil, because it was fitting for him who was in the beginning (i.e. the first man) to be thus. And He also gave him a law by which to show his freedom of choice. This law was a commandment concerning the plants which he might eat, and the plants which he should not touch. This last plant was the tree of knowledge, not because it was evil when it was planted at first, nor because it was forbidden to man out of envy (on God’s part, and let us not let the tongues of God’s enemies speak thus, as we do not imitate the serpent!).

Fall:

And this tree would have been good if man had eaten of it at the right time (for the tree, according to my view, was the vision of God which is safe only for those who have perfected themselves by training and asceticism to approach it without risk), but it is not good for those who have not yet trained and for those who are greedy in lust, as strong food is of no use to those who are still weak and need milk (see Heb. 5:12). But because of the devil’s envy and seduction of the woman who yielded to being weaker, and in her turn incited Adam because she was more able to influence him, and alas for my weakness! (for the weakness of my first father is my weakness), for he forgot the commandment given to him, and yielded to eating of the deadly fruit, and thus was immediately expelled from Paradise and from the tree of life and from the presence of God because of his sin, and wearing the skins probably means that he put on the rougher body, which is subject to death and is contrary to the first)(16).

As a first result, they felt ashamed and disappeared from the face of God. Here the first man got a gain for himself, which is death, and the cutting off of sin, so that evil would not become immortal, and thus the punishment was transformed into mercy, because I believe that God imposes punishment out of mercy.(17).

God's plan for salvation:

13. And after God had first punished man—in many ways, for his sins were many (which sprang from the root of evil, and which arose from various causes and at different times), chastened him by word, and by law, and by prophets, and by kindnesses, and by threats, and by floods and fires, and by wars, and by victories, and by defeats, and by signs in heaven, and by signs in the air and in the earth and in the sea, and by sudden changes of men and cities and peoples—all these things were intended to destroy evil—and finally man needed a more powerful medicine because his diseases were getting worse: such as fratricide, adultery, false oaths, and perverse crimes, and the first and last of all evils, namely, idolatry and turning worship to creatures instead of the Creator (see Rom. 1:18-32). And since these needed greater help, they received one who was greater. This is the Word of God Himself—the eternal One who is before all ages, the invisible, the unsearchable, and the incorporeal, the beginning from the beginning, the light from the light, the source of life and immortality, the image of the original and first beauty, the unfading seal, the unchanging image, the Word and revelation of the Father.(18)This came to his picture.(19)And he took a body for our body, and united himself with a rational soul for my soul, in order to purify the likeness by his likeness, and became a man like us in everything except sin, for he was born of the Virgin who was first purified in soul and body, by the Holy Spirit (because it was necessary that the birth of sons should be honored, and also that virginity should receive greater honor), and thus he remained God after taking on human nature, One person with two naturesBody and soul, deify the body. What a new mingling, the self-existent comes into being, the uncreated is created.(20)The uncontained is contained. By a rational soul mediating between the divine and the physical bodyHe who bestows riches becomes poor, because he took upon himself the poverty of my body, that I might take the riches of his divinity. He who is full empties himself, because he emptied himself of his glory for a short time, that I might have a share in his fullness. What goodness is this?! What mystery surrounds me?! I shared in the image; I did not preserve it, so he shared in my body in order to save the image and to make the body immortal. He enters into a second communion with me, much more wonderful than the first, and inasmuch as he then gave the better nature, he now shares in the worse.(21)This last act (the incarnation) is more worthy of God than the first (the creation), and is very sublime in the eyes of those who understand.

He humbled himself for your sake, so do not despise his humility:

14. What will the objectors and blasphemers of the Godhead say, those who accuse all things worthy of praise, those who make light dark, who are not educated in wisdom, those for whom Christ died in vain, those ungrateful creatures who are the work of the evil one? Has this kindness been turned into a complaint against God? Do you look upon Him as small because He humbled Himself for you? Do you consider Him small because He is the good shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep (John 10:11), who came to seek the sheep that had gone astray over the hills and mountains where sacrifices were offered to strange gods, and when He found Him, He carried Him on His shoulders—on which He carried the wood of the cross—and restored Him to the higher life, and when He restored Him, He counted Him with those who had never gone astray? Do you despise Him because He lit a lamp which was His body, and swept the house, purging the world from sin, and sought the drachma, that is, the royal image which had been buried and covered with lusts, and gathered together His angels, His friends; when He found the drachma, He made them partakers of His joy, and whom He also made partakers of the mystery of the Incarnation? After the lamp of the Forerunner which prepared the way, comes the light which surpasses it in brightness, and after the “voice” comes the “word,” and after the friend of the bridegroom comes the bridegroom, the friend of the bridegroom who prepared the way for the Lord as a chosen people, cleansing them with water to prepare them for the Holy Spirit? Do you blame God for all this? Is it on this basis that you consider Him lowly because He fastened the belt around His waist and washed the feet of His disciples (John 13:4), and showed that humility is the best way to exaltation? He humbled Himself for the sake of the soul which had stooped to the bottom in order to raise it up with Him, that soul which was staggering to fall under the weight of sin? How can you not also accuse Him of eating with tax collectors and at tax collectors’ tables (see Luke 5:27), and of taking tax collectors as disciples, in order to gain… and what does he gain? The salvation of sinners. If this is the case, should we blame the physician for bending over wounds and enduring the stench in order to give health to the sick, or should we blame the One who, out of mercy, bends down to save an animal that has fallen into a pit, as the law says (see Deut. 22:40; Luke 14:5)?

15 - Christ was sent, but he was sent as a human being because he had a dual nature.(22). For he was weary, hungry, thirsty, pained, and wept, according to the nature of a being with a body. And if the expression “sent” is used of him, it means that the good pleasure of the Father must be considered a mission, and that he refers all that pertains to himself to this mission, in order to honor the eternal principle, and also because he should not be regarded as an opponent of God. It is written of him that he was betrayed and also delivered himself up; it is also written of him that he was raised up by the Father and that he was taken up; and on the other hand, that he also raised up himself and ascended up. What is mentioned first in each phrase is of the will of the Father (that he was delivered up and that he was raised up); the second part of each phrase refers to his own power. Do you think of the first things that make him seem lowly, but you ignore the second that exalts him. You take into account that he suffered, and do not consider that this suffering was done by his will. See, even now the Word suffers. Some honor him as God, but confuse him with the Father; others despise him as a mere body and separate him from the Godhead. Who pours the cup on?(23) His wrath is greater? Or rather, who are those whom He forgives? Those who mix Him up in an outward manner, or those who divide Him? The former were to be distinguished, the latter were to be united.(24) (With the Father). The first according to the number of persons, the others according to divinity. Do you stumble over His body? This is what the Jews did. Perhaps you want to call Him a Samaritan? I will not mention what they said about Christ after that (see John 8:48). Do you deny His divinity? This was not done even by the demons. Alas, how less faithful you are than the demons! And more ignorant than the Jews! For these Jews understood that the name Son indicates that He is equal in rank (i.e. equal to God), but those demons knew that the One who cast them out was God, because they were convinced of this by what happened to them. But you do not recognize equality nor acknowledge His divinity. It would have been better for you to be either a Jew or a demon (to express it in a funny way) than for evil and blasphemy to prevail over your mind while you are uncircumcised and in good health.

All this for me:

16. In a little while you will see Jesus come down to purify himself in the Jordan (Matt. 3:17) for my purification, or rather to sanctify the waters by his purity (for he who takes away the sin of the world had no need of purification). The heavens were rent, and the Spirit of one nature with him bore witness to him; and we shall see him tempted and overcome temptations, ministered to by angels (see Matt. 4:1-11), heal every disease and every infirmity (Matt. 4:23), give life to the dead (may he give life to you who died because of your heresy), cast out demons (Matt. 9:33), sometimes by himself and sometimes by his disciples, feed thousands of men with a few loaves (Matt. 14:14), walk on the sea as if it were dry land (Matt. 14:25), be betrayed and crucified, crucifying my sin with him, offered as a sacrifice as a lamb, and again offered himself as a priest offering a sacrifice, buried as a man, rose again as God, and ascended into the heavens to return again in his glory. How many feasts are there for me in every mystery of Christ! And the goal of all these mysteries is my renewal and perfection so that I may return to the first state of Adam.

17. Therefore, I beg you to accept His burden within you (as the Virgin bore Him in her womb), and leap for joy before Him, if not like John the Baptist in his mother’s womb (Luke 1:1), at least like David before the ark of the covenant (2 Sam. 14:6). And you must respect the enrollment by which you were inscribed in heaven, and worship the birth (Luke 2:1-5) by which you were freed from your bodily birth, and honor the little Bethlehem which brought you back again to paradise, and worship the child in the manger by whom you were nourished with the Logos (the Word) after you had been lost. Know your owner as the ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib, according to the saying of Isaiah (3:1), if you are one of the pure who honor the law and are busy repeating its words with fervor, and are worthy of sacrifices. But if you are one of those who are still unclean and are not entitled to eat of the holy things, and are not fit to offer sacrifices, and are from the heathen nations, then hasten with the star and offer gifts with the Magi, gold, frankincense, and myrrh, as to a king and a god and to one who died for you. Glorify Him with the shepherds, praise Him with the choir of angels, and sing your hymns with the archangels. Let this celebration be shared by the heavenly and earthly powers. For I believe that the heavenly hosts share in glorifying with us, and celebrate the great feast with us today, because they love men and love God, as David wrote about such as those who ascended with Christ after his sufferings to receive him, and they called to one another to lift up the everlasting gates (Ps. 24:7-9).

Bethlehem, the Cross and the Resurrection:

18 - There is only one thing connected with the occasion of the birth of Christ, which I want you to hate, and that is the killing of the children by Herod, or rather you should also honor, those who were slaughtered and who were the same age as Christ, these became a sacrifice offered before the new sacrifice (i.e. the cross).

Be a follower of Christ:

When he flees to Egypt, flee with him; and accompany him joyfully in exile. It is a great work to be in fellowship with the persecuted Christ. If he tarries long in Egypt, call him from there by offering him humbly worship there. Follow Christ blamelessly in all his life and all his attributes. Purify yourself and be circumcised; take off the veil that has covered you from your birth. After that, teach in the temple and drive the merchants out of the temple of God. Let them stone you if necessary, for I know well that you will escape from those who stone you like God (see John 8:59). For the Word cannot be stoned. If they bring you to Herod, do not answer most of his questions; he will respect your silence more than the many talks of the people. If they flog you, ask them to complete all the floggings. Taste the gall and drink the vinegar; ask them to spit on your face; accept their blows and insults, and crown your head with a crown of thorns, that is, with the thorns of a godly life. Put on the purple robe and hold the reed in your hand, and accept the worship of those who mock the truth; finally, be crucified with Christ and share in His death and burial with joy, so that you may rise with Him and be glorified with Him and reign with Him. Look at the great God who is worshipped and glorified in the Trinity, and let Him look at you and may He now appear clearly before you, as far as the bonds of the flesh allow, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory from now and forever. Amen.

This book is a Coptic Church translation: This means that not everything mentioned in the translator’s or editor’s comments we agree with, and sometimes we disagree with it and sometimes in the text itself. Please alert us if there is something like this or is not understood… To read the text in English, please click here

(*) This title and all subtitles are created by the translator.

(1) The darkness is dispelled by the birth of the Lord, just as it happened during the creation of the world by the creation of light, which caused the darkness that covered the earth to dispel (see Gen. 2:1 and following).

(2) See Exodus 21:10. Egypt refers to the world in darkness.

(3) Both the “letter” and the “shadows” refer to the Mosaic “law,” while both the “spirit” and the “truth” refer to the new life that appeared in the world at the birth of the Savior.

(4) The heavenly world is completed with the return of mankind to the heavenly home.

(5) Here St. Gregory refers to the “eating of the forbidden fruit” which caused the fall of the first fathers (Gen. 3).

(6) Here he indicates that he is a stranger and not from Constantinople, and he delivers his speech shortly after arriving there, after living in Cappadocia, far from Constantinople, and serving in small and unknown places such as Nazianzus, from which he came.

(7) That is, through his divine actions.

(8) The Holy of Holies here means the Holy Trinity.

(9) Most likely St. Gregory is referring to St. Athanasius the Apostolic, who was so skillfully occupied with teaching about God in his book Against the Arians.

(10) Saint Gregory calls God good, and it was customary for the Fathers to use the attributes of God as names for God.

(11) Josephus means bearer of dawn, or light. The first reference to him was in Isaiah 12:14, but he continued to be called Satana, a word from the Hebrew verb Satan meaning resister.

(12) Either of matter or spirit.

(13) {The footnote here is incorrect in its explanation because it interprets the text in a way that contradicts the explicit text and the teaching of the Holy Bible and the Fathers about deification, as it makes the meaning the virtues… (the network)}

(14) Either of matter or spirit.

(15) Saint Gregory refers to creation through the union of body and soul, and death is the dissolution of this union, and then comes the restoration of this union in the coming age with more glory.

(16) Here St. Gregory explains the concept of leather shirts. {For more, see “And Adam Fell, The Theology of Leather Shirts” by Dr. Adnan Traboulsi… (Al-Shabaka)}

(17) Here we remember the words of the Gregorian Mass: “You turned punishment into salvation for me.”

(18) See the Gregorian Mass, which addresses Christ the Word as “the unspeakable, the invisible, the uncreated, the unbeginning, the eternal, the timeless, the boundless, the unexamined, the unchangeable (i.e., the unchanging).” This shows that the Mass was composed by St. Gregory himself, who delivered this and other sermons and homilies known by his name.
{Only the Coptic Church attributes this Mass to Saint Gregory the Theologian, and uses it... (Al-Shabaka)}

(19) That is, to the human being who was created in his image.

(20) His humanity was created in the womb of the Virgin.

(21) In creation God gave the grace of creation “in the image of God” while in the incarnation he takes on the body: “He took what was ours and gave us what was His.”

(22) {The footnote also attempts to interpret the text… (the network)}

(23) He means the followers of the Sabellian heresy, who said that the Father himself became Christ and was crucified, and after Christ’s ascension he came in the name of the Holy Spirit, meaning that the Trinity is one hypostasis and not three hypostases of one divinity.

(24) He means the Arians.