Mary as a „beautiful sheep” in the Paschal Homily by Meliton of Sardis

Abstract

Mariology is not the central theme of Meliton's Paschal Homily, but it always appears in the context of reflections on the salvific role of Christ. Mary appears four times in the text, in ch. 66, 70, 71 and 104, three of which in the first part of it, concerning the typological interpretation of Ex 12 (ch. 66, 70 and 71), and once in the Epilogue (ch. 104). In chapter 70, Meliton presents the mystery of the incarnation with the words, “He took flesh from the Virgin (Οὗτος ἐστιν ὁ ἐν παρθένῳ σαρκωθείς)” and exactly the same phrase appears in 104 "He took flesh of the Virgin” (ὁ ἐν παρθένῳ σαρκωθείς). To express the mystery of the incarnation, Meliton uses the Greek verb σαρκόω, which does not appear in the New Testament, nor in the Writings of the Apostolic Fathers or Greek Apologists of the second century. Justin previously introduced Greek neologism to express the mystery of Christ's incarnation using the verb σαρκωποιεῖν (1 Apol. 32:10; 66.2; Dial. 45.4; 84.2; 100.2), but Meliton does not follow him and he is the first Christian author, who introduces the use of the verb σαρκόω to describe the mystery of Christ's incarnation. After him, it will be used by Irenaeus, and interestingly, it will also appear in the Nicene Creed (σαρκωθέντα/incarnatus est) as well as in the Caesarean Symbol (σαρκωθέντα) and Nicene-Constantinople (σαρκωθέντα/ incarnatus est) and will be completed in Nicene Nicene-Constantinople Creed by “he became man” (ἐνανθρωπήσανταἐ/humanatus est). In ch. 66, the theme of the incarnation appears for the first time in the Homily: “in him (= a suffering man) he was also clothed in the womb of the Virgin, from where he came out as a man (αὐτὸν δὲ ἐκεῖνον ἐνδυσάμενς διὰ παρθένου μήτρου καὶ προελθὼν ἄνθρωπος)”. Meliton's Homily clearly combines both Christological schemes of Logos-sarks and Logos-anthropos, not under the influence of the heresy of Apollinarism, but for reasons of simple necessity. On the other hand, Mary appears explicitly expressis verbis in the ch. 71 Homily of Meliton, where we read “he was born of Mary, a beautiful sheep (Οὗτος ἐστιν ὁ τεχθεὶς ἐκ Μαρίας τῆς καλῆς ἀμνάδος)”. In this phrase, we can already see the evangelical verb τεκεῖν used clearly for the birth of Jesus and the anti-docetist ἐκ, which will be used more frequently in the second half of the second century. The text does not mention anything about Mary's virginity, but only makes reference to her name, however, in the context of the entire text there is no doubt that for Meliton Mary is a Virgin. Meliton's phrase “Mary the beautiful sheep (καλῆς ἀμνάδος)” certainly contains the idea of Mary's virginity and holiness and her sufferings caused by the suffering of her Son, the Paschal Lamb. However, it is difficult to conclude whether this phrase can be understood as “the immaculate sheep”. If so, it would certainly be one of the oldest expressions of Mary Immaculate, but without linking this idea to Her Immaculate Conception as it will be later defined in the Church.