A constant theme in the hymns of Ephrem is the paradox of Christ’s two natures: his definite humanity and his certain divinity. Anna in her blessings of the baby gives praise equally for both natures.
Anna embraced Him; she placed her mouth
upon His lips, and [then] the Spirit rested
upon her lips, like Isaiah
whose mouth was silent [until] a coal drew near
to his lips and opened his mouth.
Anna was aglow with the spirit of His mouth.
She sang him a lullabye, “Royal Son,
despised son, being silent, You hear;
Hidden, You see; concealed, You know;
God-man, glory to Your name.”
Blessed are you, fair old Anna,
whom the silent Infant made a prophetess,
for His hidden silence roared in your mind
so that in you He might sing of His exploits.
In you he interpreted His deeds as a child,
but He will complete Himself as an an adult --
the Infant Who, although silent, sang in every tongue,
Who is the Lord of all mouths.
Blessed are you, old woman, treasure of perception,
whom this ancient Babe met.
You, therefore, old woman, he espoused first of all,
the Babe Who came to espouse souls.
He made you the first of all of them,
and by your old age he put childishness in its proper place.
He polished a mirror [and] set it up for children
to learn modesty.
-Ephrem the Syrian (306-373), Hymns on the Nativity , Hymn 6, strophes 13-14; and Hymns on Virginity (ie Mary, the Mother of Jesus), Hymn 35, strophes 15-16. All translations are from Ephrem the Syrian: Hymns, tr. Kathleen E. McVey, The Classics of Western Spirituality, Paulist Press, 1989).
