Ave Maria Meditations
The Son of God chose not for His Mother a woman of wealth or property, but that blessed Maiden whose soul was adorned with all the virtues. It was because the Blessed Mary had preserved her purity more perfectly than any other of our human kind that she conceived Christ, our Lord, within her womb. Let us, then, have speedy recourse to this most holy Virgin, the Mother of God, that we may obtain the help of her patronage. Come, then, all you maidens, whosoever you may be, take refuge with the Mother of our Lord; for, under her protection, she will keep for you inviolate the fairest and most precious of all your possessions.
The blessed and ever-virgin Mary, my dearly beloved Brethren, was indeed most wonderful. For, what has ever been, or can at any time be, discovered greater or more illustrious than she? She, in her sole self, is greater than the heavens and the earth. And what is holier than she? Neither Prophets, nor Apostles, nor Martyrs, nor Patriarchs, nor Angels, nor Thrones, nor Dominations, nor Seraphim, nor Cherubim, nor, finally, any other creature whatsoever, whether visible or invisible, can be found greater or more excellent than she. She is both the handmaid and the Mother of God, and at one and the same time both maiden and mother.
She is the Mother of Him who was begotten of the Father before all ages, and who is acknowledged as the Lord of all by Angels and by men. Would you know how much more eminent is this Maiden than the heavenly Powers? ‘They stand by, in fear and trembling, veiling their faces, while she presents the human race to Him whom she brought forth. Through her also we obtain the remission of our sins. Hail, then, O Mother!..Pray for us assiduously to Jesus, thy Son and our Lord, that through thee we may find mercy in the day of judgment, and may attain to the good things which are reserved for them who love God, by the grace and bounty of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be glory and honor and empire, now and forever and ever. Amen.
Saint John Chrysostom
