Ezekiel 44:2Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

According to the Hebrew text, these gates are sealed for the Prince, who the Septuagint refers to as the Leader. This Prince, or nasi, will partake of bread before the Lord, entering through the vestibule and exiting by the same way. What significance do these gates hold, which remain forever closed, permitting only the entrance of the Lord God of Israel? Certainly, these are the gates described in the Gospel, where the Savior pronounces woes upon the scribes and Pharisees for seizing the key of understanding, preventing themselves from entering and hindering others (Luke 11:44, 52). Isaiah also speaks of these gates as a sealed book: the words contained within shall be inaccessible to anyone who lacks knowledge of the Scriptures, just as a writer who is asked to read a sealed book cannot do so (Isaiah 29:11-12). This sealed volume remains unopened by anyone, whether in heaven, on earth, or beneath the earth, save for the one mentioned in the Revelation of John, who triumphs as the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, to unlock the book and its seals (Revelation 5:5). Before the Savior embraced humanity and humbled Himself by assuming the form of a servant (Philippians 2:7), the law, the prophets, and all scriptural insights were obscured, as was paradise. However, after He was crucified and assured the thief, "Today you will be with Me in paradise" (Luke 23:43), the temple veil was torn (Luke 23:46), granting access to all, and as the veil was lifted, we affirm, "But we all, beholding with unveiled face the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18). If all has been opened through Christ, as Paul affirms (2 Cor. 3:14), how can the gates remain shut, prohibiting passage? From this, we conclude that even if we achieve great wisdom, compared to divine enlightenment our understanding remains partial; however, when completeness arrives, what is partial will be set aside (1 Corinthians 13:9-10). Thus, the Apostle describes himself in stages of imperfection and perfection. If this were unexplained, it could seem contradictory. He articulates, "Not that I have already attained or am already perfected. Brethren, I do not consider myself to have attained; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:12-14). Although we recognize him as still aspiring to find truth, he also refers to others as perfect: "Let us, therefore, as many as are mature, have this mind" (Philippians 3:15). The essence of this passage is that relative to those indifferent to divine knowledge, he sees himself as perfected; in terms of understanding God's majesty, he perceives only partially, as through a mist, expressing, "Your thoughts are too wonderful for me; I cannot comprehend them" (Psalm 139:6). The shut gate, which exclusively allows entry to the Lord God of Israel, and the Leader for whom the gate remains closed, is interpreted by some as relating to the Virgin Mary, who remained a virgin both before and after His birth. When the angel proclaimed, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35), she continued in her perpetual virginity, countering the notion held by some due to references to His brothers that she bore children after giving birth to the Savior. I have previously addressed this issue in a modest treatise against Helvidius, a heretic of that era, during my youth in Rome.

Thus, this gate symbolizes Mary, through whom Christ entered our world, born of a virgin and preserving the integrity of her virginity. When He, whose majesty the cosmos cannot encompass, was born of the virgin, her purity remained untainted, and her sanctity was preserved. ‘This gate,’ he states, ‘shall be enclosed and shall not be opened. The beautiful gate is Mary, who remained sealed and was not breached. Christ passed through this gate without unsealing it. To illustrate that every individual has a gate through which Christ comes, let us reflect on the following Scripture: ‘Take up the gate, ye princes, and take up the everlasting gate, and the King of glory shall enter in’ (Psalm 23:7). How much more glorious, then, are the gates of Mary, where Christ dwelled and from whom He emerged? There are also the gates of the womb. In this regard, St. Job remarks, ‘Let the stars of this night be darkened … for I will not shut the gates of my mother's womb’ (Job 3:9-10). Thus, while there exist gates of the womb, they are not eternally closed. Those specific gates could remain sealed through which the Child passed, safeguarding the sanctity of the virgin gates. Therefore, the prophet proclaims: ‘These gates shall be shut, and shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through them,’ meaning, ‘no man shall pass through them; but the Lord God of Israel,’ he affirms, ‘shall enter in by them, and they shall be shut,’ indicating that ‘both before and after the Lord has passed through, they shall remain sealed: they shall not be opened, and no man shall open them; for (Mary) always had Christ as her door, Who declared, “I am the door” (John 10:9), and this door no one can take from her. This door faced the East, for it brought forth the true light, giving rise to the East and revealing the Sun of truth. Let the unwise take heed: closed, he professes, shall be those gates that only receive the God of Israel. Could He not, of Whom it is stated in relation to the Church, ‘strengthen the faithful of thy gates’ (Psalm 147:2)? Certainly, He has fortified them and preserved them pure. In summary, they remain closed. Let them heed the prophet who states, ‘They shall not be opened, and shall be shut up,’ meaning they shall not be opened to those to whom she is pledged; for it is impossible for those gates to be opened through which the Lord shall pass. And after Him,’ He asserts, ‘they shall be enclosed,’ meaning Joseph will not breach them; he will be reassured, ‘Fear not to receive thy wife Mariam: that which is born in her of the Spirit is Holy’ (Matt. 1:20).

Chrysostom reminds us that such a righteous man as Joseph did not wish to be intimate with the Virgin after her miraculous motherhood, which brought forth extraordinary fruit in an unprecedented manner (Homily 5 on Matthew the Evangelist). Those who find difficulty with the statement, ‘And He knew Her not till after He had begotten His firstborn Son,’ should take heed of Chrysostom's profound explanation of this passage.

flesh.’ ‘Having preserved the seals, O Christ, Thou hast risen from the tomb, with the keys of the Virgin remaining intact in Thy birth.’ ‘All that transcends comprehension, all Thy glorious sacraments, O Theotokos, have been sealed with purity and upheld in virginity. You have recognized yourself as the Mother of the incomprehensible, who brought forth the true God.’ ‘Ever Virgin before the Nativity, in the Nativity, and after the Nativity, she remains a Virgin.’ ‘To those who claim that the pure Virgin Mary was not a Virgin before, during, or after the Nativity: anathema.’

The Virgin Mary is indeed the gate that allowed Christ to enter into this world, born of her in a miraculous way, while she maintained the integrity of her virginity. The sanctity of her purity and the sign of her incorruptible virginity remained intact. The Lord Jesus was born in an extraordinary manner, and His Blessed Mother is rightfully acknowledged as the Mother of God.