Note 439 — Chapter V · SYMBOLISM OF THE MOTHER AND OF REBIRTH
Beatrice M. Hinkle translation
In the Apocryphal acts of St. Thomas (2nd century) the church is taken to be the virgin mother-spouse of Christ. In an invocation of the apostle, it is said:
Come, holy name of Christ, thou who art above all names.
Come, power of the highest and greatest mercy,
Come, dispenser of the greatest blessings,
Come, gracious mother.
Come, economy of the masculine.
Come, woman, thou who disclosest the hidden mysteries....
In another invocation it is said:
Come, greatest mercy,
Come, spouse (literally community) of the male,
Come, woman, thou who knowest the mystery of the elect,
Come, woman, thou who showest the hidden things
And who revealest the unspeakable things, holy
Dove, thou who bringest forth the twin nestling,
Come, mysterious mother, etc.
F. C. Conybeare: “Die jungfräuliche Kirche und die jungfräuliche Mutter.” Archiv für Religionswissenschaft, IX, 77. The connection of the church with the mother is not to be doubted, also the conception of the mother as spouse. The virgin is necessarily introduced to hide the incest idea. The “community with the male” points to the motive of the continuous cohabitation. The “twin nestlings” refer to the old legend, that Jesus and Thomas were twins. It plainly expresses the motive of the Dioscuri. Therefore, doubting Thomas had to place his finger in the wound at the side. Zinzendorf has correctly perceived the sexual significance of this symbol that hints at the androgynous nature of the primitive being (the libido). Compare the Persian legend of the twin trees Meschia and Mechiane, as well as the motive of the Dioscuri and the motive of cohabitation.