Combefis, in his Library of the Fathers, volume VIII, page 45, first published under the name of Saint Maximus this sermon drawn from a manuscript codex of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, which Andreas Gallandius afterward reprinted in volume IX, page 594, of the new Library of the Fathers. Since we lack the testimonies both of other codices and of collectors, we can bring forward no greater argument of the truth. But that it was falsely attributed to Maximus, the dissimilarity of diction makes plain. That it ought to be entitled 'On the Annunciation,' and not indeed 'On the Assumption,' anyone reading it will clearly recognize.
Knowing, dearly beloved brethren, that we owe much to our Author as created, and more as redeemed, let us reverence the commerce of our redemption, and let us honor that most sacred womb from which God united to man appeared; and if we cannot do so by merits, at least let us celebrate it with our services; knowing that the darkness of our error was driven away by the splendor of her childbearing: because what, through the negligence of the first-formed man, the defiant first mother had lost by arrogance as much as by gluttony, the childbearing of this sacred Virgin not only restored what was ruined, but also bestowed things eternal. And therefore with all proclamations let us venerate the authoress, who, while she conceived her Author from heaven, brought forth for us the Redeemer in the world.
And because, in the stead of a mother, she is established for us as the figure of the Church, may she herself look upon it amid the seething storms of the world; may she also, amid the courses of this world, cherish it with daily prayer: for there is no doubt that she who merited the price for our liberation can bestow her intercession. Meanwhile let our prayer be directed rather to the Lord, that, for the honor of His name, we may with due diligence venerate the womb which He entered to sanctify. May that be to us for a remedy, which through her gave us the ransom. Deservedly, therefore, blessed Mary is exalted by us as singular, who offered a singular commerce to the world; deservedly she rejoiced even among women, when she bore in her chaste womb the singular medicine.
She felt indeed the weight of her womb, she who had not lost the modesty of chastity; she marveled at the marks of childbearing, she who as a virgin had known no defilements. O truly fruitful virginity, which by a new and unheard-of manner could be made both mother and virgin! For she bore and carried Him in whom she was created, since indeed He Himself is the Author of Mary who was born of Mary. Thus in an unspeakable manner blessed Mary, mother and virgin, while she received the fruit of pregnancy, did not incur the loss of her integrity. In her the heavenly providence so disposed the condition of His own coming, that she should rather show obedience to the command than acknowledge her own honor from the angel.
For she does not withhold faith from the messenger, she who understands the dignity of the angel announcing to her and saying: The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you. And therefore also that which is born of you shall be called holy, the Son of God (Luke I). Being admonished, she believed what she heard; being sanctified, she merited what she believed. In short, she raised herself so far to the heights of heaven, that she received the Word who was in the beginning with God, that is, the Son, from the highest citadel of heaven. And when she mingled the mystic secret of divinity with our flesh and frailty, the divinity lay hidden in the man, that in the divinity the humanity might not perish. And under the veil of the flesh assumed it is concealed.
More preciously He redeemed the lost than the defended and the captives taken by the threatening enemy. O immense loving-kindness, and O majesty to be proclaimed beyond what can be spoken! The inner parts of the maiden were being filled with the Holy Spirit, and the womb of the unwedded Virgin swelled as the seed of the Word grew. They were being filled, I say, the hidden inner parts filled with the sacred fruitfulness of the Spirit, and there was hope in the birth where there had been no pleasure in intercourse. The most precious Mother stood amazed, and within herself she marveled in silence at the newness of things. She feared amid the surge of ambiguous thought, and struck by the greatness of the angelic salutation, she was wondrously astounded. For, knowing her own integrity, she marveled at the fullness of her womb. O happy Mary! O glorious mother!
O sublime mother, to whose inner parts the Author of heaven and earth is committed. O happy kisses pressed upon the sucking lips! when, amid the sure signs of an infancy that could reckon, as a true son born of you He played with you His mother, while as true Lord from the Father He commanded. For conceiving your own Author, you brought Him forth—poor in time, whom you had had as your Creator before time. O happy childbearing, praiseworthy to the saints, necessary to the lost, fitting for the ruined! Who, after many injuries of the assumed flesh, at last scourged with whips, given gall to drink, fixed to the gibbet, in order to show a true mother, showed Himself a true man by suffering torments.
But you, blessed and glorious Virgin Mary, are praised in these things and for the sake of these things, you who so merited the gift of fruitfulness that you did not lose the privilege of virginity. For you are blessed among women, you, chosen before all the throngs of virgins, you follow the Lamb wherever He goes. You invite the virgin choirs, estranged from the enticements and allurements of the flesh, through whitening lilies and blushing roses, to drink at the fountain of everlasting life. You, in that most happy region of the blessed, having attained the first dignity, wandering with dewy soles amid the delights of paradise, and passing with tender knee through the grassy choirs, with a blessed palm gather unfading violets.
For you, joined without end to holy minds, associated with angels and archangels, do not cease to cry out unceasingly with tireless voice: Holy, Holy, Holy. But what shall I say, poor in talent? Since whatever I shall say of you is surely less than your dignity deserves. If I call you the mother of the nations, you excel it; if I call you the form of God, you stand worthy; if I call you the nurse of the heavenly bread, you fill us with the sweetness of milk. Suckle then, O mother, our food; suckle the heavenly bread; suckle Him who is with the angels; suckle Him who made you such, that He Himself might be made in you. He who, being conceived, brought you the gift of fruitfulness, and, being born, did not take away the glory of virginity.
He who, before He was born, created you His mother, that from there He might proceed out of His own bridal chamber, in which He could be seen with mortal eyes. How great was this condescension, that the King should be created from you whom He created; that He should be carried by the hands which He created; that He should suck the breasts which He filled? What praises, therefore, shall we utter to the charity of God, what thanks shall we render to Him, who so loved us, that for our sake He became man, that He might enter the womb of our condition, that He might undergo the humiliations of an infant new-born, that He might endure all the necessities of humanity? Rendering therefore, as far as we are able, thanks to our Creator, let us with joy celebrate the birthday of the most precious Mother.
For it is worthy that we should serve with the highest devotion her through whom the ensigns of virginity have budded forth for us: since she herself was a virgin before marriage, a virgin in marriage, a virgin while pregnant, a virgin while giving birth, a virgin given to a husband, and a mother not by a husband. For the almighty Son of holy Mary in no way, by being born, took away the virginity which He chose when about to be born. Let virgins therefore exult: a virgin bore Christ. Let them not think anything taken away from that which they had known: she remained a virgin after childbirth. Let widows exult, celebrating the birthday of a virgin: the widow Anna acknowledged the virgin mother. Let married women exult, keeping the solemnities of blessed Mary: the married Elizabeth was greeted by the Virgin Mother of the Lord.
Let boys exult, vowing continence to the Boy. For He Himself preserved the integrity of boyhood, He who brought fruitfulness to His mother and did not take away her virginity: to whom be honor unto ages of ages. Amen.