Part Four Chapter Three
The Incarnation: Its Mode

    1. We must hold these truths about the mode of the Incarnation: that the angel announced to the most Blessed Virgin Mary that the mystery of the Incarnation was to be accomplished in her, that the Virgin believed, was willing, and agreed, that the Holy Ghost descended upon her to sanctify her and cause her conception. By His power 'the Virgin conceived the Son of God whom the Virgin bore, and after His birth she remained a virgin' (St. Augustine, Sermo 196). She conceived not only the flesh but the flesh infused with a soul and united to the Word, liable to no sin but completely holy and immaculate. Hence she is called the Mother of God and the sweetest Virgin Mary.
    The method by which God became Incarnate, that is enfleshed, is discussed in this section of the Breviloquim. There are many conceivable ways that the Incarnation could have taken place, for example, it is possible that Word would have assumed human nature without being born. This was not the method by which the Word assumed human nature because it was not the most proper, most fitting way for the assumption of human nature. Since the Incarnation sought to include and sanctify all aspects of human life, it was more fitting that the Incarnation would itself assume all aspects of human life, and this includes birth.
    It would not be reasonable for the Word, who is reason, to assume human nature and to be born of a woman who was either unwilling, undesirous, or imperfect for giving birth to the Godman. Rather, as St. Bonaventure pointed out, the Word assumed human flesh from a willing and capable mother, that is, the Blessed Virgin Mary. An archangel, Gabriel, announced to Mary that she had been chosen for this awesome task, and she consented to this role. After her acceptance, the power of the Holy Spirit is said to have descended upon her to sanctify her and cause her conception.
   The conception which took place within the Virgin Mary was, by all means, a remarkable event. Within her the Word took upon the nature of humanity and assumed all that is had of a person who has human nature, that is an animated human body; the Word took upon Himself human flesh and a human soul. Even though He was man, the Word did not take upon Himself any sin: His Mother had already been purified by the Immaculate Conception from the taint of sin, and she had been sanctified before her conception of the Godman, allowing her to be completely holy and without sin. As the perfect and pure woman, cleansed from original sin in conception, and having lived a pure and sinless life she had no taint of sin within, and thus there was no taint of sin in the flesh of Christ. For the flesh of Christ was nothing other than the flesh which was taken from the Virgin Mary and given life by the power of the Holy Spirit; since there was no sin within this flesh, He could be joined to it, and thus, free from sin within His human side. Thus, the Blessed Virgin Mary is said to be the Mother of the most pure God, God the Word, who is both God and man, and man without the stain of sin.

    2. The explanation of this is as follows: The Incarnation is a work the derives from the first principle, in so far as it is redemptive, in a most appropriate, all-embracing and complete way. It befits His Wisdom to work appropriately, His bounty to work in an all-embracing way, and His power to work perfectly.
    The Incarnation is the joining of God with man, that is, God with creation, so that all of creation can be redeemed. The Incarnation is said to redeem in an appropriate manner, acting upon all that is found in creation, and is said to have the power to bring about the redemption of all creation. By the mere fact of God becoming a part of creation, that is, by becoming a creature, the Incarnation allows for all of creation to be affected by the power which is brought about from such an act. For God took upon Himself a universal quality, that of creature, which is shared by all of creation. Thus the Incarnation must be considered all-embracing. It would be foolish to think that God, who saw His creation, the cosmos, fallen and in need of repair would act to redeem only a part of it, and either neglecting the rest, or trying to find another, different method for the redemption of the rest of the cosmos. Since the nature of the cosmos is said to be good, there is every reason for the first princple, God the Word, to find the most appropritate way to work out the redemption, not only of man, but also all that is found in the heavens (spiritual world), and on the earth (material world). The bounty, that is, the grace which is released, is released to the whole of the cosmos, and the power of God is able to be perfectly put to use. The Incarnation thus is appropriate to God, because it is able to redeem not only man, but anything found within creation. Hence St. Paul is correct when he states that all of creation was groaning in labor for the time of the Incarnation (cf. Romans 8:22), for all of creation is able to gain grace and redemption from the Incarnation: all of creation is able to be freed from its subjection to sin.

    3. Because the Incarnation derives from the first principle redeeming in a most appropriate way, and the appropriate mode is that the medicine for the sickness should flow from contraries both as to the reparation for the fall and the remedy for the injury, for mankind had fallen by the suggestion of the devil, by the consent of a deceived woman, and by a generation motivated by a concupiscence communicating original sin to posterity, it was appropriate that on the contrary there should be the good angel leading to good, and the Virgin believing and consenting to the proffered good, and the charity of the Holy Ghost sanctifying and fecundating for an immaculate conception so that thus "contraries might be cured by contraries" (Gregory, Homilia in evangeliis, II, 32, 1). Hence a woman, deceived y the devil and known sensually and corrupted by man, transmitted sin, disease, and death to all mankind, so a woman, enlightened by the angel and sanctified and fecundated by the Holy Ghost, gave birth to an off-spring, free from all the corruption of mind and body, who gives grace, health, and life to all who come to Him.
    Since the fall of humanity is said in Scripture to be derived from a fallen angel, a deceived woman, and a deceived man, it is fitting that there is a reversal of this fall in a reversal of the events of the fall. Since a fallen angel is said to have deceived a woman, and through her fallen man has been established in the cosmos, here we see that the redemption of man it is through an unfallen angel, an unfallen woman, and an unfallen man. In the fall, it was Satan who led Eve to disobedience, in the redemption it was Gabriel who led the Virgin Mary into accepting the task of willful obedience. As it was Eve who brought disobedience to Adam, and thus destruction to mankind, so it is Mary who brought obedience back to mankind, and brought forth in such righteousness the salvation of mankind, and from mankind, the cosmos. This is of course what is St. Bonaventure meant when he wrote, the appropriate mode is that the medicine for the sickness should flow from contraries both as to the reparation for the fall and the remedy for the injury, that is, the medicine for the sickness (sin) should flow from a source which is contrary to the means by which the sickness has been established in the world.
    "And just as it was through a virgin who disobeyed that man was stricken and fell and died, so it was through the Virgin, who obeyed the word of God, that man resusciated by life received life" (St. Irenaeus, Proof of the Apostolic Teaching, trans. Joseph P. Smith, S.J. in Ancient Christian Writers No. 16, 33, Newman Press, New York: 1952). Early within the history of the Christian faith, this parallel between Adam and Christ, and Eve and Mary was seen. The two stories, that of the fall and that of the restoration of man, share similarities in events, but they are also seen to represent contraries to each other. It is because of the fall that Eve, who was supposed to be the mother of humanity in life, is now the mother of death (Hence a woman, deceived by the devil and known sensually and corrupted by man, transmitted sin, disease, and death to all mankind) while it is the Theotokos, who accepted humble obedience to her destiny, who now has been given the title Eve and is now the Mother of Life (a woman, enlightened by the angel and sanctified and fecundated by the Holy Ghost, gave birth to an off-spring, free from all the corruption of mind and body, who gives grace, health, and life to all who come to Him). For indeed, as St. Irenaeus has pointed out, man is resusciated by life, that is, by Jesus Christ who is the "bread of life" (John 6: 35), and He gives life and light to all men (cf. John 1: 4).
    It must not be forgotten that St. Bonaventure in his examination of the Virgin Mary has brought about the necessity for the Holy Spirit to partake in the restoration of man, that is, for the Holy Spirit to have a role in producing the Incarnation. This can be understood easily when one ponders about the relationship and role of the Holy Spirit. In the Nicene Creed, the role of the Spirit is said to be the "Lord and Giver of Life." The Holy Spirit, as the one whose role shines forth in beauty, love, and life, gives to the World, in a harmonious action of restoration, the love of God. The Holy Spirit does this by Holy Virgin Mary, who had never known any man, and not knowing any man, she gives birth to the bringer of life, Jesus Christ. As the bringer of life, Jesus not only brings life to man's dead spirit, but Jesus Christ also brings to man, and from man the cosmos, a greater relationship with the Holy Spirit. Thus Christ said in Scripture that when He is gone, He would send to the world the one who is to come, that is, the Holy Spirit. By the power of the Holy Spirit, life is given to the flesh of Christ, and the Incarnation is given to the cosmos; and from the Incarnation, the cosmos receives the blessing of Christ, which is a greater relationship to that same Holy Spirit Who has given life to Christ's flesh. We share with Christ the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit not only gives us physical life, but is now able to join us, in Christ, with the Godhead in the mystical union of love.

    4. Because the Incarnation derives from the first principle redeeming in a most all-embracing way -- for the fall of man and of angels is redeemed by the incarnate Word, both those in heaven and on earth, and in the case of the fall of man, as regards both sexes -- it was most proper, in order that the cure be all-embracing, that there should be a concourse of angel announcing the virgin woman conceiving, and man the conceived offspring. Hence the angel Gabriel was the messenger of the eternal Father, the immaculate Virgin was the temple of the Holy Ghost, and the conceived offspring was the very person of the Word. Thus it was most fitting that in the all-embracing redemption there should be a concourse of the three in triple hierarchy, namely, the divine, the angelic, and the human, to represent not only the Trinity of God but also the greatness of the benefit bestowed and the liberality of the supreme Redeemer. And because liberality is appropriate to the Holy Ghost, as is sanctification of the Virgin in whom the conception of the Word was accomplished, it follows that, though the word was done by the whole Trinity, yet by appropriation the Virgin is said to have conceived by the Holy Ghost.
    Because the Incarnation sought to bring about a cosmic union, that is, because the Incarnation sought to bring about universal restoration and unification in the cosmos, St. Bonaventure pointed out that the Incarnation sought to bring a cure to the cosmos in a most all-embracing way. To represent this, St. Bonaventure pointed out elements of the story of the restoration: it was most proper [...] that there should be a concourse of angel announcing the virgin woman conceiving, and man the conceived offspring. How is this to be considered all-embracing? First, it shows that the intellectual realm, that is, the spiritual realm, has been brought into the process of restoration,. This is accomplished by the presence of the angel Gabriel in the annunciation. Secondly, it is shown that this restoration will affect not only the spiritual realm, but also the physical realm: thus it is said that a man would be the conceived offspring. However, beyond these two elements, there are many other elements of restoration which can be seen in the Incarnation, as other Saints point out. For example, through the Incarnation, any separation or gulf between the genders male and female brought about by the fall of man (as Eve deceived Adam, there formed a rift between man and woman, albeit not on the level of nature) was bridged. We can see that this is accomplished through the work of the Holy Spirit, Who took flesh from a woman and used it to create man. However, the greatest gulf which is found in the cosmos is that of the cosmos with God. For sometime, somehow it must be said that all of creation, the cosmos, fell and fell in such a way to bring some form of modal separation between creation and the Creator, and that this occurred before the fall of man (because we have in the story of the fall of man, a fallen creature-- a fallen angel). The Incarnation was set about to be the means by which even this gap is bridged, with the union of creation with the Creator. Thus, we see, that the mode of the Incarnation is indeed all-embracing, where the divisions found within creation are seen to be bridged.
    Next, St. Bonaventure pointed out that the all-embracing side of the Incarnation is not only on the side of the Incarnation embracing all elements of creation, but that the whole of the Trinity together brought about and embraced the Incarnation as the means of cosmic restoration. St. Bonaventure previously stated that the operation of the Trinity flowed from the whole Trinity (4-2), and here he brought about an example of this operation flowing from the whole of the Trinity: Hence the angel Gabriel was the messenger of the eternal Father, the immaculate Virgin was the temple of the Holy Ghost, and the conceived offspring was the very person of the Word Gabriel is seen to represent the work of the Father, the Holy Virgin Mary is seen to be the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the offspring is of course Jesus Christ, God the Son.
    Thus it was most fitting that in the all-embracing redemption there should be a concourse of the three in triple hierarchy, namely, the divine, the angelic, and the human, to represent not only the Trinity of God but also the greatness of the benefit bestowed and the liberality of the supreme Redeemer. St. Bonaventure pointed out that there are many levels of representation going on in the annunciation. That there are three different parties involved is an indication that the way God acts is in representation of His Trinity. However, it is also a representation of the liberality of the supreme Redeemer, that is, in the great, broad means by which God is seen to redeem creation. For we see in this part of the drama that God, angel, and man are seen to be represented, and in doing so, we see that there is thus a representation of all levels of reality. For since the Divinity is the first principle, we see that the Divinity represents the highest, eternal, immutable realm of being. Combined with the Divinity, we have the archangel Gabriel, who is a spirit, that is, a creature which dwells within the realm of the mind. The intellectual realm, being higher and more real than the material realm, is thus being represented by the presence of Gabriel. Man represents both the spiritual, mental realm, but also the physical realm, and man is the one who bridges all levels of reality together. Thus, the representation of man is not just the representation of physical reality (for that could have been accomplished by other means), rather, we have here a representation of the bridging of and joining of all natures into a simple unity. It is thus said to be that the Holy Spirit brought forth the production of the flesh of Christ because liberality is appropriate to the Holy Ghost, as is sanctification of the Virgin in whom the conception of the Word was accomplished. For the Holy Spirit is rightfully called the Lord and Giver of Life, and thus, it is proper to consider the Holy Spirit to be central in the role of the conception of the Godman, even though the word was done by the whole Trinity.

    5. Lastly, because the Incarnation comes from the first principle redeeming in a most complete way, it follows that in the conception there ought to be completeness in the offspring, the act of conception, and the conceiving power. Because the proper completeness ought to exist in the offspring, in the present conception there was not only an implanting of seed but a union, arrangement, and vivification by the soul and a deification by the united Deity so that the Virgin really conceived the Son of God because of a union of flesh with the Deity by the mediation of a rational spirit through whom the flesh was made suitable for union through a congruous medium. -- Because there ought to be a proper completeness in the act of conception, and three of the four modes of producing man had already been used: the first from neither man nor woman, as in the case of Adam; the second from man without woman, as in the case of Eve; and the third from woman and man as in the case of all those who are born in concupiscence; it was fitting that for the completeness of all, the fourth way should be introduced, namely, from woman without the seed of man by the power of the supreme Creator. -- Because there ought to be a proper completeness in power, it follows that in the conception of the Son of God there was a simultaneous concurrence of a power inborn, a power infused, and a power uncreated: the inborn power prepared the matter, the infused power separated it by purification, and the uncreated power perfected it instantly, a thing which could not have been done by a created power except successively. Thus the most holy Virgin Mary became a mother in a most complete way conceiving the Son of God Himself without man through the fecundation of the Holy Ghost. Because in the mind of the Virgin, the love of the Holy Ghost alone glowed, the power of the Holy Ghost wrought wonderful things in her flesh, by a grace partly arousing, partly aiding, partly raising nature according to the exigency of that wonderful conception.
    The act of redemption, because it is from God, must be considered to be perfect and complete in the way it was achieved. Since God is the source, it would be inconceivable that something would be left out: either in the means of salvation, or the method by which the means was brought forth. Hence, St. Bonaventure has told us that it follows that in the conception there ought to be completeness in the offspring, the act of conception, and the conceiving power. There are three elements which are to be discussed in the method of the Incarnation: there is the one who is Incarnated, that is, God the Son: He is the offspring. There is the one who has conceived, that is, the Virgin Mary. And there is the one who has brought it about that God the Son could be conceived of a Virgin, that is, the Holy Spirit. In the offspring, that is, in God the Son, there needs to be a complete union between the two natures: and this would mean, since He is already fully divine in nature, that He would have to take on a fully human element, and that completely and perfectly. The act of conception is done by the proper and complete consent of the Virgin Mary. Out of perfect and free obedience, an obedience which is free from any constraint by the removal of original sin and her continued purity in life by being free from all actual sin, the Virgin was able to freely and completely assent to the Incarnation, and in doing so, allowed for the Holy Spirit to bring about a complete and perfect conception.
   Because the proper completeness ought to exist in the offspring, that is in Jesus Christ, God the Son, in the present conception there was not only an implanting of seed, that is, there was not only the implanting of a pure and perfect man, but a union, arrangement, and vivification by the soul and a deification by the united Deity so that the Virgin really conceived the Son of God because of a union of flesh with the Deity, that is, there has been fully established a hypostatic union so that God the Son would be fully joined to the flesh assumed from the Virgin Mary, that she is not to be called just the mother of a man, or just the mother of Christ, but rather, she is indeed the Mother of God. God took upon Himself human nature, and deified the flesh by which He took upon Himself, so that just as divinity is said to have been lowered to be made man, so humanity has been raised so that it can be said to have become God. There is thus a perfect and full union, which represents the completeness of the offspring: for the offspring is not only man, but rather, the offspring is God who is all in all, and by which all things have been made and in whom all things are made. However, it must be said that this union of human flesh with the divine nature was not imperfect, but rather it is by the mediation of a rational spirit through whom the flesh was made suitable for union through a congruous medium, that is, because the human side of Christ is indeed human, it had not only a soul, but a rational spirit. As a rational spirit is intellect and spirit, it is indeed an image of God, and through which there is enacted a perfect mediation between the divine nature and the material side of human nature, that is, the flesh. Thus Nicholas of Cusa, for example, in his work, On the Filiation of God, states of the relationship of God and the intellect in the following way: " Indeed, just as God is the actual essence of all things, so is the intellect, the separated and united in itself, vitally and reflexively, a living similitude of God. Therefore, as God Himself is the essence of all things, so the intellect, the similitude of God, is the similitude of all things. "(Trans. William F. Wertz Jr., in Toward a New Council of Florence: On the Peace of Faith and Other works by Nicholas of Cusa, Schiller Institute, 1993, p. 188). As it is an image or similitude of God, and in that sense, is a representation of all things, it is thus proper that the spirit of man is said to be the mediation between the two natures in the Godman.
    Next, St. Bonaventure points at there is a completeness in the conception because it represents the fulfillment of conception itself: for it produces the one kind of conception which has not previously been encountered in history. There are four kinds or ways that conception could take place. The first is that by which man is said to be made without any other material, any other prior existence of humanity being represented: the first from neither man nor woman, as in the case of Adam. The second is that form where, from a man, a woman is made, as in the case of Eve. Already we have seen in these two possible occurrences unique elements about them: for the first, Adam, being the first man, must be said to be made through neither man or woman (even if he were the endpoint of a previous species and the beginning of the human species, as would be expected in evolution, though he would have been born of a female, one could say he was not born of a woman). The second is said to have been made of Adam, of a man, to produce a woman. Although evolutionarily this is not understandable, there is left for us a riddle of the meaning and implication of this form of generation when we read of it in Genesis. The third form, where a man and woman produce a new person through procreation, is of course the norm of our species. The fourth, however, is a reflection of the second: where man is said to be the means of producing a woman, the fourth is where a woman is said to produce, without procreative union, a male. And since the other occasions have been said to have occurred, either allegorically or literally it matters not, there is one form which has not been achieved, and for the complete harmony, this fourth method was used by the Holy Spirit in order to achieve a proper completeness in the act of conception.
   The power by which the conception is said to have taken place must be understood in such a way that there are three elements of power being concurrently used. For in the conception, it is said that flesh is taken from the Holy Virgin, separated and made its own, and then given life of its own by the power of the Holy Spirit. For this to occur, there are three elements which must be understood: the power or energy within the flesh itself, that is, a power inborn, a power which is given to the flesh to separate it from its source in order for it to be its own power, that is, a power infused, and then there is the power which is joined with it, that is, the uncreated energy of God, or as St. Bonaventure calls it, an uncreated power. Thus he points out there are three powers being discussed: the power of the flesh, that is the inborn power-- Mary the Virgin, there is the power of the flesh once it is separated and made a pure flesh and life of itself-- that is, the power infused, and then there is the uncreated power of God which is joined to the flesh, so that the flesh after the Incarnation is said to have two powers or energies: the power of God and the power of man. Because the inborn power is said to prepare the matter, the energy of the Virgin Mother in her life is said to be this power, because she prepares herself all her life in her purity for this wonderful moment of the Incarnation; because the power is said to be infused, there we see that the flesh, which is pure from the Virgin Mother, is separated and said to be purified (or, made perfectly for the Incarnation of a man, not a woman), it is thus given or infused with life and energy of its own, and lastly, as has been said, joined from outside is the uncreated power of God to this flesh, in the person of the Logos, through the operation of the Holy Spirit who has that same, one uncreated energy.Thus the most holy Virgin Mary became a mother in a most complete way conceiving the Son of God Himself without man through the fecundation of the Holy Ghost.
    Because in the mind of the Virgin, the love of the Holy Ghost alone glowed, that is, because Mary had lived a beautiful life of purity, she is said to have had one glory and one love: that is, for the will of God, she is said to have had within herself only the love for that which is Beautiful in and of itself: God manifested as the Holy Spirit. Thus, because of her love for Beauty, the Holy Spirit, she is said to have perfectly opened herself up to the Holy Spirit to become, in that sense, the spouse of the Holy Spirit, and thus the power of the Holy Ghost wrought wonderful things in her flesh, that is, in her mystical union with the Holy Spirit, she is said to have conceived in her flesh the blessed fruit of her love, Jesus, by a grace partly arousing, for she is said to be fully in love with and joined in mystical unity with Love the Holy Spirit is said to enflame her love in the treasure of grace: partly aiding, for by joining in the mystical union with the Holy Spirit in love, one is said to be aided by grace for one is joined in perfectly with that grace, and thus, that grace is seen to be raising nature according to the exigency of that wonderful conception, for it is through this grace that deification occurs: first in Christ, then in Mary, then in all humanity, then throughout the cosmos.

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