In annuntiationem beatae virginis

On the Annunciation of our Most Glorious Lady Theotokos. Again tidings of joy, again messages of freedom, again a recalling, again a return, again a voice of gladness, again a release from bondage. An angel speaks with a virgin, because the serpent also conversed with a woman. In the sixth month, it says, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a virgin betrothed to a man. Gabriel was sent to announce the universal salvation. Gabriel was sent, bringing to Adam a writ of recall. Gabriel was sent to a virgin, to transform the dishonor of the female into honor. Gabriel was sent to prepare a worthy bridal chamber for the pure bridegroom. Gabriel was sent to wed the creature to the creator. Gabriel was sent to the living palace of the king of the angels. Gabriel was sent to a virgin betrothed to Joseph, but preserved for the Son. A bodiless servant was sent to an undefiled virgin. One free from sin was sent to one incapable of corruption. A lamp was sent to announce the sun of righteousness. Dawn was sent, running before the light of day. Gabriel was sent, revealing the one in the bosom of the Father and in the arms of the mother. Gabriel was sent, showing the one on the throne and in the cave. A soldier was sent, proclaiming the mystery of the king. A mystery known by faith, not investigated by meddlesome curiosity. A mystery worshipped, not weighed. A mystery theologized, not investigated. A mystery confessed, not measured. In the sixth month, Gabriel was sent to a virgin.

Which sixth month does he mean? Which? From the time Elizabeth received the good news, from the time she conceived John. How is this clear? Let the archangel himself interpret, saying to the virgin: Behold, he says, Elizabeth your kinswoman, she too has conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren. In the sixth month. The sixth month from the conception of John. For it was necessary that the soldier precede, that the bodyguard come first, that the herald of the Lord’s arrival prepare the way. In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent to a virgin betrothed to a man, but not yet joined with him; betrothed, indeed, but preserved. Why betrothed? So that the Enemy might not learn the mystery too soon. For that the King would come through a virgin, the Evil One knew; he too had heard the words of Isaiah: Behold, the virgin will conceive; and he naturally watched every utterance of the virgin, so that wherever he perceived this mystery being fulfilled, he might contrive slander. For this reason the Lord came through a betrothed woman; for a woman who was betrothed was already pledged. In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph. Hear what the prophet says about this man and the virgin: The sealed book will be given to a man who knows letters. What is the sealed book, if not the undefiled virgin? By whom will it be given? By the priests, evidently. To whom? To the carpenter Joseph.

This Joseph, having first been joined in honorable marriage and having fathered sons, lost his wife, and thereafter lived in continence, raising his children in the instruction and admonition of the Lord. Indeed, when the apostle Paul later came to the preaching and found one of his sons, he writes, saying: I have seen none other of the apostles except James the brother of the Lord—not as born from the virgin Mary, but from Joseph. Since, therefore, the priests betrothed Mary to Joseph as to a chaste man, and entrusted her to him, awaiting the time of marriage; he was about, upon receiving her, to keep the virgin in incorruption. This the prophet proclaimed from afar: The sealed book, he says, will be given to a man knowing letters, that is, one who has been joined in marriage, and he will say: I cannot read it. Why can you not, O Joseph? I cannot, he says, read it; for the book is sealed. For whom is it kept? For the Creator of all, being preserved as a dwelling place. But let us return to the matter at hand. In the sixth month Gabriel was sent to the virgin; having surely received such commands: Come, he says, O angel, be the minister of a fearful mystery; serve a hidden wonder; I hasten to descend in search of the lost Adam, driven by my compassion. Sin has aged the one fashioned in my image, has corrupted the work of my hands, has darkened the beauty I formed; the wolf devours my flock; the dwelling place of paradise is desolate.

The tree of life is guarded by the fiery sword, and the place of delight is closed. I pity the one who was assailed, and I wish to assist the enemy. I desire to escape the notice of all the powers in heaven; I entrust the mystery to you alone. Go to the virgin Mary, go to the animate gate, concerning which the prophet said: Glorious things have been spoken about you, city of God. Go to my rational paradise; go to the eastern city; go to the dwelling worthy of me, the Word; go to the second heaven on earth; go to the light cloud; announce to her the rain of my presence; go to the sanctuary prepared for me; go to the bridal chamber of my incarnation; go to the pure nuptial chamber of my birth in the flesh. Speak into the ears of the rational ark: prepare the entrances of hearing for me. But do not disturb, do not trouble the soul of the virgin; appear gently to the sanctuary; cry out to her a first voice of joy. You say to Mary, "Hail, full of grace," so that I may have mercy on Eve, who is in misery. The angel heard these things, and within himself, as was natural, he reasoned: The matter is strange, what is spoken surpasses understanding. He who is fearful to the cherubim, invisible to the seraphim, incomprehensible to all the angelic powers—what great encounter does he announce! He announces his personal presence to a maiden, or rather, he promises her entry through hearing! And he who condemned Eve is so eager to glorify her daughter, and he says: Prepare the entrances of hearing for me.

And can a womb contain the uncontainable? Truly the mystery is fearful. As the angel was pondering such things, the Lord says to him: Why are you troubled and astonished, O Gabriel? Were you not sent by me not long ago to Zacharias the priest? Did you not give him the good news of the birth of John? Did you not impose the penalty of silence upon the priest when he disbelieved? Did you not condemn the old man to speechlessness? Did you not declare, and did I not confirm? Did not the work follow upon your annunciation? Did not the barren woman conceive? Did not the womb kindle? Did not the malady of unfruitfulness depart? Did not the idleness of nature flee? Is not she who formerly bore no fruit now bearing ears of grain? Is anything impossible for me, who created every word? How then were you overtaken by doubt? What then does the angel say again? Lord, to heal the errors of nature, to dissolve the storm of passions, to recall the deadening of limbs to vital power, to command nature the activity of childbearing, to resolve barrenness in the remote members, to transform aged stubble into a verdant form, to suddenly show the barren field as mother of sheaves—

This is a work of your power accomplished by custom; and Sarah bears witness, and after her Rebecca, and again Anna, who were enslaved by the grievous affliction of barrenness, then received freedom from you. But for a virgin to give birth without encountering a man is beyond the laws of nature. Yet you also announce your presence to the maiden. The limits of heaven and earth do not contain you; and how will a virginal womb contain you? And the Lord says: How did the tent of Abraham contain me? The angel says: Because it possessed the vastness of hospitality. Then consider, O Lord, you appeared there to the patriarch in the temporary tent, and you, who fill all things, passed through. How will Mary bear the fire of divinity? Your throne is aflame, surrounded by radiance, and can the virgin bear you without terror? Yes, indeed, if the fire in the wilderness harmed the bush, will not my presence also harm Mary? But if that fire, which sketched the presence of the divine fire from heaven somewhere, watered the bush but did not consume it, what would you say about the truth, descending not in a flame of fire but in the form of rain? Then the angel fulfilled what was commanded to him; and going to the virgin, and entering, he cried out to her, saying: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you. No longer is the devil against you; for where the enemy first wounded, there the physician applies the plaster; whence death had its beginning of departure, from there life contrived the entrance of life. Through a woman evil springs forth, through a woman the better things flow.

Hail, full of grace; do not be ashamed as the cause of condemnation, for you become the mother of the one who condemned. Hail, full of grace; hail, undefiled bride-bearer of the widowed world. Hail, full of grace, who in your womb submerged the death of the mother; hail, living temple of God; hail, dwelling equal in weight to heaven and earth; hail, spacious place of the uncontainable nature. But these things being so, the physician came to the sick, the sun of justice appeared to those sitting in darkness, the anchor and the waveless harbor to the storm-tossed, the mediator was born to slaves irreconcilably hated, and the bond of peace, the redeemer came to the captives, the mighty shelter of ineffable joy and love to those under attack. For he himself is our peace, as the divine Apostle says, of which may we always have enjoyment, by the grace of Christ himself, our God; to whom is glory for ages of ages. Amen.