Vigils Reading

O EMMANUEL

From a commentary by St Cyril of Alexandria

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Isaiah speaks at some length of Cyrus, king of the Medes and Persians.

Raised up against the Chaldeans, he was urged on by God himself, who opened

their bronze doors to him and shattered their iron bars. Having conquered the

land of Babylonia and laid it waste, Cyrus released enslaved Israel from captivity

and caused the foundations of the temple in Jerusalem to be laid.

But this is only part of the story, for after indicating that the rejoicing and

the release from captivity were for those of Israelite blood and them alone,

Isaiah goes on to apply these images to Emmanuel, who was consecrated by God

the Father to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the

blind; that is to say, to deliver those inescapably bound by the chains of their

own sins, to declare them free from tyranny, and so to prepare the inhabitants of

the earth to return to himself, to be led by him to God the Father.

He has become the mediator between God and ourselves, and through

him we have been reconciled in the one Spirit to the Father. He is our peace.

He himself has rebuilt his own holy temple, which is the Church, and has taken

her to himself as a pure virgin, having neither spot or wrinkle, nor any such

imperfection. Thus one can easily see in Cyrus and his deeds an image of the

divine blessings bestowed by God upon all the inhabitants of the earth.

Let heaven rejoice, and let the clouds rain down justice. Let

earth open and bring forth both mercy and justice. Mercy is the love

which is the fulfillment of the law, for it goes hand in hand with the justice of the

gospel that Christ himself teaches us and bestows on us. It could also be said

that mercy and justice coming forth and growing from the earth is our Lord5

Jesus Christ himself. For if we think it strange that the earth is commanded to

bring forth justice, let us remember that Emmanuel himself wrought justice in

the midst of the earth. That is, Christ did not bring his own body down to us

from heaven, but was born in the body of a woman who was one of the

inhabitants of the earth.