Eve

 

Image by @orthodox.praxis on Instagram

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When considering Eden, we cannot avoid viewing it through the veil of the fall. In its incorruption, it is difficult to consider the strangeness of that paradise. It is as if we must peer through the wrong end of a telescope, for that broken world has so shaped our own that it is impossible to piece together again. This is perhaps most true of Eden's daughter, Eve.

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We must first consider what that woman of otherworldly beauty and purity must have been like, for she too was made in the image of God. St Seraphim writes:

The Lord God gave also to Eve the same wisdom, strength, unlimited power, and all the other good and holy qualities.

And yet, He gave to her qualities distinct from Adam that she could mirror the Divine Life uniquely. She was to be a faithful handmaiden in service to God, offering true worship in abundance. She was to adorn the creation with beauty and prepare it as a bride for the coming Bridegroom, as she herself had been prepared. And to her alone is given the task of life-giver, to make creatures in her own image. For this reason, she is named Eve, living one; Mother of all living.

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While the fullness set before Eve would slip out of her grasp and into obscurity, we can see another come into clarity who would fulfill what was lost. The actions of the Virgin Mary- the Second Eve- balance in exact opposite scale those of Eve. The first Eve received the word leading to death from the angel Satan; the second received the Word of Life through the angel Gabriel. The first is mother of all born of flesh; the second is Mother of all born of the Spirit. The first was made Queen of Earth; the second, Queen of Heaven. The first by envy sought to be made like God; the second by faith sought serve Him. Through the first, corruption entered the world; through the second, salvation. And while the first was drawn from Adam, it was the Second Adam who was drawn from the Second Eve, giving life to Life Himself. There is now therefore a New Eve, who by her faith, love and holiness has redeemed and revealed entirely the glory of Eden's pure daughter.

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Image quote by St Irenaeus of Lyon