V. Tremendous, verily, is the mystery connected with you, O virgin mother, you spiritual throne, glorified and made worthy of God. You have brought forth, before the eyes of those in heaven and earth, a pre-eminent wonder. And it is a proof of this, and an irrefragable argument, that at the novelty of your supernatural child-bearing, the angels sang on earth, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards men,” by their threefold song bringing in a threefold holiness. Blessed are you among the generations of women, O you of God most blessed, for by you the earth has been filled with that divine glory of God; as in the Psalms it is sung: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, and the whole earth shall be filled with His glory. Amen. Amen.” And the posts of the door, says the prophet, moved at the voice of him that cried, by which is signified the veil of the temple drawn before the ark of the covenant, which typified you, that the truth might be laid open to me, and also that I might be taught, by the types and figures which went before, to approach with reverence and trembling to do honour to the sacred mystery which is connected with you; and that by means of this prior shadow-painting of the law I might be restrained from boldly and irreverently contemplating with fixed gaze Him who, in His incomprehensibility, is seated far above all. For if to the ark, which was the image and type of your sanctity, such honour was paid of God that to no one but to the priestly order only was the access to it open, or ingress allowed to behold it, the veil separating it off, and keeping the vestibule as that of a queen, what, and what sort of veneration is due to you from us who are of creation the least, to you who art indeed a queen; to you, the living ark of God, the Lawgiver; to you, the heaven that contains Him who can be contained of none? For since you, O holy virgin, hast dawned as a bright day upon the world and hast brought forth the Sun of Righteousness, that hateful horror of darkness has been chased away; the power of the tyrant has been broken, death has been destroyed, hell swallowed up, and all enmity dissolved before the face of peace; noxious diseases depart now that salvation looks forth; and the whole universe has been filled with the pure and clear light of truth. To which things Solomon alludes in the Book of Canticles, and begins thus: “My beloved is mine, and I am his; he feeds among the lilies until the day break, and the shadows flee away.” Since then, the God of gods has appeared in Sion, and the splendour of His beauty has appeared in Jerusalem; and “a light has sprung up for the righteous, and joy for those who are true of heart.” According to the blessed David, the Perfecter and Lord of the perfected has, by the Holy Spirit, called the teacher and minister of the law to minister and testify of those things which were done.
VI. Hence the aged Simeon, putting off the weakness of the flesh, and putting on the strength of hope, in the face of the law hastened to receive the Minister of the law, the Teacher with authority, the God of Abraham, the Protector of Isaac, the Holy One of Israel, the Instructor of Moses; Him, I say, who promised to show him His divine incarnation, as it were His hinder parts; Him who, in the midst of poverty, was rich; Him who in infancy was before the ages; Him who, though seen, was invisible; Him who in comprehension was incomprehensible; Him who, though in littleness, yet surpassed all magnitude— at one and the same time in the temple and in the highest heavens— on a royal throne, and on the chariot of the cherubim Him who is both above and below continuously Him who is in the form of a servant, and in the form of God the Father; a subject, and yet King of all. He was entirely given up to desire, to hope, to joy; he was no longer his own, but His who had been looked for. The Holy Spirit had announced to him the joyful tidings, and before he reached the temple, carried aloft by the eyes of his understanding, as if even now he possessed what he had longed for, he exulted with joy. Being thus led on, and in his haste treading the air with his steps, he reaches the shrine hitherto held sacred; but, not heeding the temple, he stretches out his holy arms to the Ruler of the temple, chanting forth in song such strains as become the joyous occasion: I long for You, O Lord God of my fathers, and Lord of mercy, who hast deigned, of Your own glory and goodness, which provides for all, of Your gracious condescension, with which You incline towards us, as a Mediator bringing peace, to establish harmony between earth and heaven. I seek You, the Great Author of all. With longing I expect You who, with Your word, embracest all things. I wait for You, the Lord of life and death. For You I look, the Giver of the law, and the Successor of the law. I hunger for You, who quickenest the dead; I thirst for You, who refreshest the weary; I desire You, the Creator and Redeemer of the world. You are our God, and You we adore; You are our holy Temple, and in You we pray; You are our Lawgiver, and You we obey; You are God of all things the First. Before You was no other god begotten of God the Father; neither after You shall there be any other son consubstantial and of one glory with the Father. And to know You is perfect righteousness, and to know Your power is the root of immortality. You are He who, for our salvation, was made the head stone of the corner, precious and honourable, declared before to Sion. For all things are placed under You as their Cause and Author, as He who brought all things into being out of nothing, and gave to what was unstable a firm coherence; as the connecting Band and Preserver of that which has been brought into being; as the Framer of things by nature different; as He who, with wise and steady hand, holds the helm of the universe; as the very Principle of all good order; as the irrefragable Bond of concord and peace. For in You we live, and move, and have our being. Wherefore, O Lord my God, I will glorify You, I will praise Your name; for You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth; You are clothed with majesty and honour. For what is more splendid for a king than a purple robe embroidered around with flowers, and a shining diadem? Or what for God, who delights in man, is more magnificent than this merciful assumption of the manhood, illuminating with its resplendent rays those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death? Fitly did that temporal king and Your servant once sing of You as the King Eternal, saying, You are fairer than the children of men, who among men art very God and man. For You have girt, by Your incarnation, Your loins with righteousness, and anointed Your veins with faithfulness, who Yourself art very righteousness and truth, the joy and exultation of all. Therefore rejoice with me this day, you heavens, for the Lord has showed mercy to His people. Yea, let the clouds drop the dew of righteousness upon the world; let the foundations of the earth sound a trumpet-blast to those in Hades, for the resurrection of them that sleep has come. Let the earth also cause compassion to spring up to its inhabitants; for I am filled with comfort; I am exceeding joyful since I have seen You, the Saviour of men.
Source: Oration Concerning Simeon and Anna (New Advent)