In his homily on the Annunciation of the Theotokos, St. Nicholas Cabasilas asks: “But those things which drew the Artificer Himself to earth… What were these things?  A blameless life, an utterly pure way of life, the rejection of all evil, the practice of every virtue, a soul purer than light, a body that was entirely spiritual, brighter than the sun, purer than Heaven, and more sacred than the Cherubic thrones.” In the Theotokos we have the perfect example of humanity victorious over sin. By struggling against sin she overcame it, never becoming receptive to it as we are. Our [...]