St. John of Damascus: Annunciation of Our Lady

● “So then, after the assent of the holy Virgin, the Holy Spirit descended on her, according to the word of the Lord, which the angel spoke, purifying her and granting her power to receive the divinity of the Word, and likewise power to bring forth.”

─St. John of Damascus: Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book III, Chap. 2. 

● “Today is the crowning of our salvation, and the manifestation of the mystery which was from eternity. The Son of God becometh the Son of the Virgin, and Gabriel giveth the good tidings of grace. Therefore with him let us cry to the Mother of God, Hail! full of grace, the Lord is with thee.”

─Byzantine Menaea, Troparian for the Feast. (ca. 6th cent.)

Annunciation, by Alessandro Allori.
Oil on canvas, 1603; Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence.

St. John Damascene: On Guardian Angels

“THEY are the guardians of the divisions of the earth; they are set over nations and regions allotted to them by their Creator. They govern all our affairs and bring us help. And the reason surely is because they are set over us by the divine will and command and are ever in the vicinity of God.”

~St. John of Damascus: Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, 3, 2.

The Congregation of the Archangels, by Angelos Akotantos

(15th-century Icon-painter and hagiographer).

Tempera on panel; Vatopediou Monastery, Mount Athos.

John Damascene: "No one has seen God"

That the Deity is incomprehensible

"NO ONE has seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. The Deity, therefore, is ineffable and incomprehensible. For no one knows the Father, save the Son, nor the Son, save the Father. (Mt 11:27) And the Holy Spirit, too, so knows the things of God as the spirit of the man knows the things that are in him. (1 Cor 2:11) Moreover, after the first and blessed nature no one, not of men only, but even of supramundane powers, and the Cherubim, I say, and Seraphim themselves, has ever known God, save he to whom He revealed Himself.

"God, however, did not leave us in absolute ignorance. For the knowledge of God's existence has been implanted by Him in all by nature. This creation, too, and its maintenance, and its government, proclaim the majesty of the Divine nature. (Ws 13:5) Moreover, by the Law and the Prophets in former times and afterwards by His Only-begotten Son, our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ, He disclosed to us the knowledge of Himself as that was possible for us. All things, therefore, that have been delivered to us by Law and Prophets and Apostles and Evangelists we receive, and know, and honour , seeking for nothing beyond these. For God, being good, is the cause of all good, subject neither to envy nor to any passion. For envy is far removed from the Divine nature, which is both passionless and only good. As knowing all things, therefore, and providing for what is profitable for each, He revealed that which it was to our profit to know; but what we were unable to bear He kept secret. With these things let us be satisfied, and let us abide by them, not removing everlasting boundaries, nor overpassing the divine tradition (Prov 22:28)."

~St. John Damascene:  Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, 1, 1.

John Damascene: "Queen over all created things”

“FOR the Anointer and the Anointed were one and the same, anointing in the capacity of God Himself as man. Must there not therefore be a Mother of God who bore God incarnate? Assuredly she who played the part of the Creator's servant and mother is in all strictness and truth in reality God's Mother and Lady and Queen over all created things.”

~St. John Damascene (born 676; died between 754 and787):  Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Bk. 4, Ch. 14.

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“O THOU, the world’s most blessed Queen, save them that from their soul confess thee Mother of God; for thou art an invincible mediatrix, who truly didst bear God.”

~Byzantine Oktoechos, Canon of the Sixth Tone, Fifth Ode. (ca. 9th cent.)

John Damascene: On the Assumption

“IT was fitting that she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the Creator as a Child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the spouse, whom the Father had taken to Himself, should live in the divine mansions. It was fitting that she, who has seen her Son upon the Cross, and who had thereby received into her heart the sword of sorrow which she had escaped in the act of giving birth to Him, should look upon Him as He sits at the right hand of the Father. It was fitting that God’s Mother should possess what belongs to her Son, and that she should be honored by every creature as the Mother and as the Handmaid of God.”

~St. John Damascene (8th cent.): Homily 2 on the Assumption, 14.

Assumption of the Virgin, by Fancisco Camilo.
Oil on canvas, 1666; The Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

John Damascene: Assumption of the Virgin

“EVEN though, according to nature, your most holy and happy soul is separated from your most blessed and stainless body and the body as usual is delivered to the tomb, it will not remain in the power of death and is not subject to decay. For just as her virginity remained inviolate while giving birth, when she departed her body was preserved from destruction and only taken to a better and more divine tabernacle, which is not subject to any death…. Hence I will call her holy passing not death, but falling asleep or departure, or better still, arrival….

"Your stainless and wholly immaculate body has not been left on earth; the Queen, the Mistress, the Mother of God who has truly given birth to God has been translated to the royal palaces of heaven…

"Angels and archangels have borne you upwards, the impure spirits of the air have trembled at your ascension. The air is purified, the ether sanctified by your passing through them. . . the powers meet you with sacred hymns and much solemnity, saying something like this: Who is she that comes forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, elect like the sun? [cf. Cant 6:9] How you have blossomed forth, how sweet you have become! You are the flower of the field, a lily among the thorns [Cant 2.1] . . . Not like Elijah have you entered heaven, not like Paul have you been rapt to the third heaven; no, you have penetrated even to the royal throne of your Son himself . . . a blessing for the world, a sanctification of the universe, refreshment for those who are tired, comfort for the sorrowing, healing for the sick, a port for those in danger, pardon for sinners, soothing balm for the oppressed, quick help for all who pray to you. . .

“Good Mistress, graciously look down on us; direct and guide our destinies wheresoever you will. Pacify the storm of our wicked passions, guide us into the quiet port of the divine will and grant us the blessedness to come.”

~St. John Damascene: Excerpts from Hom. 1, on the Assumption of the Virgin.

Assumption of the Virgin, by Benozzo Gozzoli. Transferred fresco;
Biblioteca Comunale, Castelfiorentino.