On the Coming of Christ

by St. Gregory Nazienzen:

The very Son of God, older than the ages,

the invisible, the incomprehensible, the incorporeal,

the beginning of beginning, the light of light,

the fountain of life and immortality,

the image of the archetype, the immovable seal,

the perfect likeness, the definition and word of the Father:

He it is who comes to his own image and takes our nature for the good of our nature, and unites himself to an intelligent soul for the good of my soul, to purify like by like.

He takes to himself all that is human, except for sin.

He was conceived by the Virgin Mary, who had been first prepared in soul and body by the Spirit.

His coming to birth had to be treated with honor, virginity had to receive new honor...