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Note. The homily entitled ‘De laudibus Virginis’ by a certain Epiphanius was wrongly ascribed to St. Epiphanius of Salamis (in Cyprus) of the 4th cent. AD. The author could have been another Epiphanius who also was a bishop in Cyprus and who died in 680 AD. All we know for certain from manuscript evidence is that the text was written before the end of the 8th century.
The text has been published in the Patrologiae Cursus. Series Graeca (PG), Migne, Paris 1857-1866, vol. 43, cols. 492 - 497. Translation by John Wijngaards.
| Mary is a priest | |
| “ . . . . O Virgin, awesome
treasure of the Church who holds the great mystery. I (?) call the Virgin both priest and altar, she, the ‘table-bearer’ who has given us the Christ, the heavenly bread for the forgiveness of sins.” PG 43, 497A |
The Virgin is a
‘priest’ of the Eucharist. ‘Table-bearer’ refers to the eucharistic table. It was also a title of the ‘priestesses’ of Pallas Athene. (See C.B.Hale, Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, Paris 1854, col. 2363-2364.) |
| Mary has given us the Eucharist | |
| “ . . . . You are, o Mary, the
field that was not ploughed. You conceived the Word as a grain of wheat and germinated the shoot. You are the spiritual furrow that holds the fire and the bread of life, the holy Mother of the Saviour who gave birth to the Word of the Father, the Word who was made incarnate from you.” PG 43, 492D |
According to the
prevailing biological view, the mother is like a field into which the father
sows the seed. In Mary’s case there was no human father [=unploughed]. She produced ‘bread’ [=Christ & the Eucharist]. |
| “ . . . . The Virgin is the spiritual table
of faith which provides the world with the fire and the bread of life.”PG 43, 496A |
‘The fire’ alludes to baptism, the ‘bread of life’ to the Eucharist. |
| “ . . . . True vine, carrying fruits and not
withered in your virginity, not pruned but producing grapes, you who made Christ grow as a mature grape. PG 43, 496A cont. |
Again a clear allusion to Christ, given to us as wine in the Eucharist. |
| “ . . . . The Virgin is the spiritual furrow
who has brought the world as spiritual nourishment the burning fire and burning bread of life of which Christ, the Saviour of the world, said: ‘Take and eat! This is my body broken for you and for the forgineness of sins’. The table of the Virgin is rich and full of goodness.” PG 43, 496A cont. |
The Virgin has given the world the table of the Eucharist. |
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