Sundays with the Fathers -- December 21 (Fourth Advent)*

(* I have been and remain somewhat ambivalent about this feature. As should be apparent, this blog is primarily a professional one, focused on topics related to my research and academic interests. This is so not because I'm such a self-important tosser, but simply because in the midst of my busy schedule any "distraction" -- such as, say, a blog -- needs to keep me focused on the things that sit towards the top of my list of priorities. I should further note that I'm simply no good at writing on "devotional" or "edifying" topics ... but I do follow the lectionary with decent regularity, and if anyone had something beyond utter tripe to say about these, it was probably the Fathers. Without further ado, I'm giving you the first Sunday comments -- which, of course, won't always be from a commentary -- by one of their number on one of the Sunday readings.)

The Passage: Luke 1:26-38

The Father: Ambrose

The Issue: Why does Luke mention Mary as both espoused and a virgin?

The Text: "Divine mysteries, indeed, lie hidden, and none among men can easily know God's counsel, according to the prophecy, but from the deeds and precepts of our Lord and Savior, we can understand this to be a deliberate plan, that she who was espoused to a man was chosen above all to obey the Lord. But why did she not become pregnant before she was espoused? Perchance, lest it should be said that she had conceived through fornication. And Scripture fittingly mentions both that she was espoused and that she was a Virgin: Virgin, that she should be seen as not having known a man; espoused, lest she whose swollen belly presented a sign of a seducer be branded with the dishonour of violated virginity. But the Lord preferred that some should doubt concerning His Birth, rather than concerning His Mother's honour -- for He knew that the modesty of a virgin is tender, and the rumour is slippery --, nor did He think that the credibility of His origin should be added to His Mother's wrongs. Thus, Saint Mary's Virginity is preserved unimpaired by shame and inviolable by rumour; for it behoves the Saints also to have testimony from outsiders, nor was it fitting that the veil of excuse be abandoned through ill repute by those living as virgins, because even the Mother of the Lord was seen as disgraced."

-- Exposition of the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke (Expositio Evangelii Secundum Lucam)