Question about Russian Orthodox liturgical text

[R. M. Cleminson]

There are some parallels between the Orthodox and the Roman lectionary at Marian feasts, though I would second Dr Borgmeyer's point about the dangers of over-interpretation.

As far as Wisdom literature is concerned, specifically, Prov. ix 1-11 is read at Vespers on the Feasts of the Nativity of the Mother of God, the Annunciation, and the Dormition.  This passage is also read on the Tuesday of the second week of Lent, and the same feasts (and other feasts of the Mother of God) have other readings which make no mention of Wisdom.

In addition, if the Annunciation falls on a Saturday, Sunday or during Easter Week, Prov. viii 22-30 is read.

However, in Orthodox thought, Wisdom (Σοφία, Премудрость), despite being grammatically feminine in Greek and Slavonic, is identified not with the Mother of God, but with the Divine Logos, and thus with the Lord Jesus Christ.  The most famous example of this is in the dedication of the Great Church at Constantinople, imitated in Kiev, Novgorod and Sredec.  (The feminised Sophia of Vladimir Solov'ev and his followers is an aberration.)  One can therefore see the appropriateness of Prov. viii 22-30 for the Annunciation, which commemorates the moment at which the Logos became incarnate.
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