Nikolai Velimirovich
Just as a mother bends down and leans over a tearstained baby in a crib, so does the descent of the Creator of men into this temporal and visible world correspond to His miraculous existence in eternity.
[...] “When Mary asked, “How can this be, since I have no husband?” the archangel of God answered: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”
If anyone among you asks in amazement, how this is possible, God’s herald of glad tidings will answer him, just as he answered the Most Holy Virgin when he said: “For with God nothing will be impossible” (cf. Luke 1:28-37).
Instead of questioning and probing, silence and gladness are more fitting here – silence on account of the sublime mystery, and gladness on account of the almighty power of our God and Creator.
The Son of God and the Son of the Virgin – the One Begotten in heaven and Born on earth, existing in eternity and in time. This is your Messiah, O chosen people, and your Savior.
Begotten in eternity of the Father without a mother. Born in time of the Mother without a father. Whoever wishes to understand this completely, let him say whether he fully comprehends the grain of sand beneath his feet, or a leaf on a tree, or the stars in the firmament.
Has he understood the tiniest creature of God, which he tramples, or sees, or touches? [...] This world is miraculous; the whole world breathes miracles. This world is mysterious; the whole world is censed with the incense of awesome and sublime mysteries.
How much more miraculous is the Creator of this world? At any point where eternity comes into contact with time, where heaven comes into contact with earth, a great light appears. And it is light which is incomprehensible to you, and not darkness.
The Holy Virgin in Nazareth was that blessed point, where eternity came into contact with time, where heaven came into contact with earth. And from that point a great light came forth, which began to shine over the entire world. It is light which is incomprehensible to you, blessed people, and not darkness.
[...] We know…that the Holy Spirit descended upon the Virgin Mary in Nazareth, and that the power of the Most High overshadowed her.
Thus eternity came into contact with time, heaven with earth, the spiritual with the physical, and the great Light appeared, which has illumined the world and you who are in the world.
Nikolai Velimirovich (1880-1956; Orthodox Church): The Faith of the Chosen People,
