Epiphanius II

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Epiphanius II

 
	 7th - 8th century AD 
	 De Laudibus Virginis (=‘In Praise of the
		Virgin’ 
	  
		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. 
		 
	  
	  
		 
		  Overview of documents in this
			 section  
		 
		 
		   
			  
				 
				  
 
 
 Tradition 
				  Mary - why a priest?  
				  Theologians and writers 
				  Picture gallery  
				  Mary and Holy Orders 
				  Mary as sacrificial priest 
				  Mary, the model of priests 
				 
			 
  
		 
		 
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			 priests?  
		 
	 


 
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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.

Epiphanius II

7th - 8th century AD

De Laudibus Virginis (=‘In Praise of the Virgin’