Letter 254

To the Same Person. You ask me what is meant by what is written: that "Joseph did not know Mary until she had given birth" [Matthew 1:25]. That is to say, he did not know, nor was he aware, that Mary would be shown to be the Theotokos [Mother of God]. But after the marvelous birth, the shepherds reported the words of the angels, that "Christ the Lord has been born for the world in the city of David" [Luke 2:11], and "glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace" [Luke 2:14], and what follows.

Πυνθάνῃ μου, τί ἐστι τὸ γεγραμμένον, ὅτι « Οὐκ ἐγίνωσκεν Ἰωσὴφ τὴν Μαρίαν, ἕως οὗ ἔτεκεν. » Τουτέστιν, οὐκ ᾔδει, οὐδὲ ἠπίστατο, ὅτι Θεοτόκος ἡ Μαρία δειχθήσεται. Μετὰ δὲ τὸν παράδοξον τόκον, ἀπήγγειλαν οἱ ποιμένες τοὺς λόγους τῶν ἀγγέλων, ὅτι « Ἐτέχθη παρὰ τῷ κόσμῳ Χριστὸς Κύριος ἐν πόλει Δαυΐδ » καὶ « δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις Θεῷ, καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς εἰρήνη » καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς.