THEOSISMethodius of Patara
She who bears and has borne in the hearts of the faithful the male child, the Word, and who has withdrawn undefiled and unharmed from the rage of the beast into the wilderness, is, as we have said, our mother, the Church.
The wilderness into which she came, and where she is nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, is truly free from evils. It is unproductive and barren for corruption.
It is hard to reach and hard to pass through for many. Yet for the saints it is fruitful, nourishing, flowering, and easily accessible. It is full of wisdom and brings forth life.
This is the beautiful, plant-rich, and fragrant dwelling place of virtue. There aromas flow when the north wind rises and the south wind comes (Song 4:16).
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Everything is filled with divine dew there, crowned with unfading plants of immortal life. There also we now gather flowers and with pure fingers weave for the queen the purple and radiant crown of virginity.
For the bride of the Word is adorned with the fruits of virtue.
The one thousand two hundred and sixty days during which we virgins are here are the precise and excellent knowledge of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
In this knowledge our mother rejoices and is glad, growing during this time until the manifestation of the new ages.
Then, in the heavenly assembly, she will no longer perceive Being by means of knowledge, but will clearly behold Him, abiding together with Christ.
For one thousand, composed of ten hundreds, is a perfect and complete number. Therefore it serves as a symbol of the Father, who by Himself created all things and contains all things in Himself.
Two hundred, composed of two perfect numbers, serves as a symbol of the Holy Spirit, because He communicates the knowledge of the Son and the Father.
Sixty, containing the number six taken ten times, serves as a symbol of Christ. For the number six, beginning from one, is composed of its own divisors, so that in it there is neither deficiency nor excess.
When divided into its divisors, it is wholly composed of them.
Thus, if the number six is divided into equal parts by equal divisors, the same quantity is again completely formed from the divided parts.
First, when divided by two, it gives three. Then, when divided by three, it gives two. Finally, when divided by six, it gives one. From these it is again wholly composed into itself.
For when it gives three by division by two, and two by division by three, and one by division by six, the addition of three, two, and one again makes exactly six.
Whatever does not need another for its fullness, and never becomes greater than itself, is necessarily perfect.
Among the other numbers, some are more than perfect, as for example twelve. When divided by two, it gives six. By three, it gives four. By four, it gives three. By six, it gives two. By twelve, it gives one.
When these numbers by which it can be divided are added together, they exceed twelve. Thus twelve does not remain equal to its divisors as the number six does.
Other numbers are less than perfect, as for example eight. When divided by two, it gives four. By four, it gives two. By eight, it gives one.
The numbers into which it is divided, when added together, make seven. Therefore it still needs one for its completion, unlike six, which in every case remains equal to itself.
For this reason the latter number is applied to the Son of God, who came down from the fullness of the Godhead into this life.
Having humbled Himself and taken the form of a servant (Phil 2:7), He again entered into the fullness of His perfection and dignity.
For, having diminished Himself in Himself and, so to speak, having been resolved into His own parts, He again entered from His diminution and from these parts of His into His own fullness and greatness.
Even in His diminution He never ceased to be perfect.
Moreover, this number is contained in the whole creation and order of the world. For in six days God made heaven and earth and all that is in them, by the creative power of the Word, who embraces the number six.
According to this number there exists the threefold form that constitutes bodies. For length, breadth, and depth constitute a body, and the number six is composed from these three dimensions.
Yet now is not the fitting time to unfold this in detail. We should not leave the present subject and discourse on what is foreign to it.