The Annunciation

The Lord meanwhile was preparing for both of these holy spouses a high destiny, a grace and a dignity never conceded to any creature, earthly or heavenly. By the express command of God they had contracted holy matrimony in the presence of the priests of the Temple, and by His inspiration and movement had, immediately after their marriage, made a vow of perpetual virginity. But such a vow was a thing quite new, and the virtue of virginity itself was almost unknown to this carnal people. Mary and Joseph, in their humility, would hide from profane eyes this heavenly virtue under the veil of marriage. Nevertheless, they must have known that they would thus incur in the eyes of the vulgar the opprobrium of sterility. But what of that? So great was their love and devotion to virginity that they made no account of the disgrace, as it was reckoned, of infecundity, and cared not for the reproach it would bring upon them. God, however, who loves virginity and humility, did not will that this reproach should lie upon them, but purposed to reward their fidelity to these virtues in a wonderful manner. Others hastened to contract marriage, at the sacrifice of their virginity, with the hope of having the Messias born of their race, while these two holy spouses, on the contrary, had made a vow of perpetual virginity, reputing themselves unworthy of that honor; and lo! it was they to whom the Messias should be given without loss of their angelic purity. They had hidden it, heedless of what men would think on beholding them childless. But God delivered the humble from the contempt of the proud, and to these virgin spouses divinely conceded a Son, the fairest and the most exalted among the children of men. Oh, how good is the Most High God to the upright in heart! How gracious towards those who are truly humble! Mary and Joseph knew from the prophets that the time for the birth of the Messias was at hand, and that He was to be born of the tribe of Juda, and of the house of David, in the city of Bethlehem; and, being themselves of that tribe and house, they forego by their vow all possibility of being themselves the happy progenitors, and conceal themselves in one of the obscure villages of Galilee. But, precisely because they have such a lowly esteem of themselves, God follows them, God singles them out, and exalts them, bestowing on their virginal purity that same Messias of whom they considered themselves so unworthy, Him who had been the desire of all the mothers in Sion, and of so many patriarchs and kings; in fine, the desire of the whole universe.

The winter was now past, and spring was returning to gladden the earth. According to many Doctors of the Church, it was the year 4,000 of the creation of the world and the same season of the year in which God completed that work of His hands. The 25th of March had come, when the Lord God called to Him the Archangel Gabriel, one of the seven spirits who stand before His throne, the same who had been commissioned to reveal to Daniel the mystery of the seventy weeks. That great prince of Heaven may, indeed, justly be regarded as the Angel of the Incarnation. His name signifies the Strength of God, a most fitting appellation for one chosen to announce the coming of Him who was to vanquish “the prince of the power of this air,”¹ the great adversary, the devil, and to destroy his works. And to whom was this glorious messenger sent? “To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.”² This is the first time that the Evangelist names St. Joseph. By this mention of him he makes known to us the large share which he would have in the glories of Mary; for, if great was the dignity of the Virgin in being the Mother of God, great also was the dignity of Joseph in being the husband of her of whom the Son of God was born. Nor let the word “espoused” be understood, as by some it has been understood, as if Mary were at that time only promised in marriage, that is, betrothed. No. The nuptials had already been celebrated, according to the true sense of Scripture, a point which has been clearly established by the Holy Fathers and Doctors, and, in particular, by the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas. Thus we find St. Matthew calling Joseph the husband of Mary, and Mary the wife of Joseph.³ It may be remarked also that the term “espoused” is used again by the same Evangelist, St. Luke, on the occasion of the journey to Bethlehem,⁴ when no possible question could arise as to its signification. Those who contend that the marriage was not solemnized until after Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, which lasted three months, and Joseph’s discovery of her condition, raise an insuperable difficulty; for how in that case could one of the primary objects of their holy union have been attained, that of shielding the honor of the Blessed Mother of God?

To the great archangel, then, the Most High made known the embassage with which he was charged, and the words which he was to address to the Virgin of Nazareth. His Divine Majesty was at the same time pleased Himself to declare to the whole hierarchy of Heaven that the time for man’s redemption was arrived, and that He was about to descend into the world and become incarnate in the womb of Mary, whom He had chosen, prepared, and adorned to be His Mother. Although the ordinary manner in which the heavenly intelligences are enlightened is by communication from the superior to the inferior hierarchies, on this occasion it was not so; for, as Holy Scripture tells us, “When He bringeth in the First-Begotten into the world, He saith, And let all the angels of God adore Him”.⁵ No sooner, then, did all the orders of blessed spirits hear the voice of their Creator announcing to them this marvelous news, than they burst forth in one simultaneous canticle of praise and thanksgiving to the Triune God, magnifying especially the Divine kindness in honoring and exalting the humble: “Blessed be the name of the Lord from henceforth now and for ever. The Lord is high above all nations, and His glory above the heavens. Who is as the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high, and looketh down on the low things in heaven and in earth?”⁶

Thousands of the celestial hosts followed Gabriel, as he flew with lightning speed to Nazareth, that they might adore the God-Man at the very instant of His conception, and pay their devoted homage to the Mother of the Eternal King. What was the hour? Midnight must have struck, for the 25th of March had begun; but it cannot have sounded long, for, as Jesus was born at the midnight hour at Bethlehem, so we may believe that He was conceived at a like hour at Nazareth, and may apply literally to the moment of His incarnation that passage in the Book of Wisdom which the Church has adopted for the Introit of Sunday in the Christmas week: “While all things were in quiet silence, and the night was in the midst of her course, Thy Almighty Word leapt down from heaven from Thy royal throne”.⁷ But the whole universe, and God Himself, were awaiting Mary’s consent. The Virgin was in the secrecy of her chamber, rapt in contemplation and fervent prayer for the coming of the Messias, that there might be an end of sin and prevarication, that iniquity might be canceled, eternal justice be established, the prophecies be accomplished, and the Saint of Saints be anointed. This was, indeed, the continual subject of her petitions. Maria d’Agreda says that the Lord had caused her to make a nine days’ prayer of special earnestness directed to that end, during which she was favored with visions and graces of a most exalted character; but she adds that, when Gabriel acquitted himself of his mission, the Most High left her in her ordinary spiritual state, withdrawing all unusual favors and graces from her soul, because this mystery was to be a “sacrament of faith,” allowing the operations of that virtue, as well as those of hope and charity, to have their full exercise, that by believing and hoping in the Divine word addressed to her by the angel, she might merit freely the accomplishment of those things which were announced to her.⁸

The angel was to present himself in a visible human form, because, as St. Thomas says, he came to announce the advent of that God who, in Himself invisible, was about to become visible in human flesh; and he was also to assume a specially beautiful and majestic appearance, as befitted such a messenger and such a message. The Angel Gabriel came, says St. Augustine, all radiant in his countenance, glorious in his apparel, admirable in his bearing. That the movement of the angel was such as is proper to bodies seems to be signified by the Evangelist when he says, not that he appeared to Mary, but that he “came in” unto her, that is, entered the house and the room where she was, which was instantly flooded with light. The Virgin was suddenly roused from her ecstasy by this blaze of glory, but, if startled, she was not alarmed.⁹ The visits of angels were not new to her, and a pious Oriental tradition asserts that she had even seen Gabriel himself once before near the fountain of Nazareth. The magnificence, however, of his attire, the majesty of his aspect, and the impressive grandeur of his ingress may well have filled her with peculiar awe and veneration. She was about to make him a profound obeisance when he presented her with his own reverential salutation, as to his lady and Queen. For times were henceforward changed, and men were no longer to adore the angels after the manner of the people of God under the Old Testament, which was “ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator”.¹⁰ The Apostle also calls it “the word spoken by angels,” and adds that “God hath not subjected unto angels the world to come,” signifying thereby the kingdom of Christ.¹¹ The angels, in fact, under the Old Law, before the Incarnation, not only acted the part of messengers from God to men, but not unfrequently personated Him and spoke in His Name. Hence we find them receiving on these occasions a vicarious adoration directed to God.¹² But when human nature was united to God Himself in the Person of the Word men were no longer to be under the ministerial rule of the angels, but were to be their companions and brethren,¹³ and Mary was to be their Queen as well as ours.

So Gabriel bowed low before the Virgin of Nazareth, and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women.” Sublime salutation, with which, as St. Ambrose says, the Virgin alone could be saluted, for she alone obtained that grace which no other ever merited; that is, to be full of Him who is the author of grace. Mary is saluted as full of grace, says St. Jerome, because to others grace is given in part and by measure, but in Mary the whole fullness of grace was infused;¹⁴ whence, as St. Bernard adds, she is full of grace for herself and has a superabundance of grace for us. Mary, then, being so full of grace from the moment of her conception, it was meet that the Lord should be with her, not in an ordinary and common manner, but in one that was extraordinary and unprecedented. God is with all by His essence, His power, and His presence, and with the just by His grace; but He was with Mary, not only in all these modes, but in one altogether new and singular. He was with Mary by a certain peculiar union, since the Son of God was about to take human flesh in her womb and, with a human soul united to the Person of the Word, was to be called and truly to be the Son of Mary, wherefore Mary was to be truly called and truly to be the Mother of God. No one in the world, whether among angels or among men, was ever so closely united to God as was Mary, no one was so near to the Divinity; so that the Angelic Doctor does not scruple to affirm that the dignity of Mary has something in it of the infinite. Well, therefore, might she be styled blessed by the angel, blessed among all women. All other women shared the malediction of Eve; Mary alone was exempt. From Eve began malediction, and benediction began from Mary. From the first instant of her being she triumphed over the infernal serpent, and was in herself and in her children eternally blessed. Jahel, it is true, who was a figure of Mary, was saluted by Debbora as “blessed among women,”¹⁵ because she had slain Sisara, the enemy of God’s people, but this blessing of Jahel was simply one of words, whereas the blessing of Mary was in very deed; it was intrinsic and full of measureless grace, from the peculiar presence of that God who is the author of grace; so that, as St. Ambrose says, the form of blessing used by the angel to Mary was reserved for her alone.¹⁶

At these words of praise the most humble virgin was “troubled” and, casting her eyes on the ground, reflected within herself what could be the import of the salutation. This was the cause of her perturbation, and not, as some have imagined, the appearance of an angel in human form. What need to seek further when the Evangelist speaks so plainly? The angel gently comforted her, saying, “Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God”; as if he would say, whoever has found grace has no cause to fear; it is for those only to fear who have lost grace; and then immediately follow the words, given by St. Luke, in which he acquitted himself of his embassage: “Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of David, His father, and He shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever: and of His kingdom there shall be no end.”¹⁷ At hearing this glorious offer, which of the daughters of Sion would not have exulted with joy? Which of them would have hesitated for an instant in accepting the divine maternity? Nevertheless, Mary retains her heavenly calmness, and pauses before giving her assent. She well understood the meaning of the offer made to her, and never doubted for a moment the omnipotence of God. She believes the mystery, but, prudent and most tender of her virginity, which she has solemnly vowed to God, she desires to comprehend how the two can be reconciled. She seeks, says St. Augustine, to know the mode in which the mystery can be accomplished. Venerable Bede says that she had read in Isaias¹⁸ that a virgin should conceive and bear a son, but she had not read how this was to be, and this she sought to learn from the angel; that is, how her beloved virginity was to remain safe and intact: as if she were ready (as saints have said), had she the choice, rather to renounce the divine maternity than lose her virginal purity, so enamored of it was she. She is not incredulous, she does not ask for a sign, as did Zachary,¹⁹ to enable her to believe. She simply seeks a solution of the difficulty. Although the works of God, perfect in themselves, need no justification before men, nevertheless, when the human reason is called on by God to give its assent, and some contradiction is discernible by it, though only apparent, God is willing to come to the aid of the infirmity of human nature, that, all obstacle being removed, the adhesion given to His will by the intellect may be more entire and the homage more perfect. And this was precisely Mary’s case. If the vow she had made was from God, of which she had no doubt, and if equally from God was the maternity now offered by the angel, whose veracity she never questioned, then it was certain that the latter must take place without violation of the former. But by what means could two things be reconciled which presented themselves to the intellect as so diametrically opposed? Wherefore Mary, who had heard her own praises in silence, now speaks, and inquires of the angel, “How shall this be done, because I know not man?” These words of Mary are a manifest testimony to her own virginity and that of Joseph. St. Augustine draws from them an indisputable argument to prove that both she and Joseph had bound themselves thereto by a perpetual vow. And because this question of Mary was not one of vain curiosity or cold mistrust, but was dictated by that consummate prudence with which she was endowed, the angel promptly satisfied her. “The Holy Ghost,” he said, “shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore, also, the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”²⁰ By these words Mary was assured that, this conception being the marvelous work of the Spirit of God, she should become the Mother of God without detriment to her virginity; whence St. Peter Chrysologus says, “Mary is truly blessed, in that she possesses at once the dignity of a mother and the merit of virginity”.²¹ “This glory,” exclaims St. Bernard, “of having the joy of maternity and the honor of virginity belongs to Mary alone, who in this privilege had none either preceding or following her. It is her exclusive privilege, which shall never be given to another. It is a privilege at once singular and ineffable.”²² St. Bernard deduces from the angel’s words two other great truths. The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, or of the Three Divine Persons, is clearly and distinctly revealed for the first time in the Annunciation. The angel names the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The other truth is that the whole Blessed Trinity took part in this great mystery, although the Second Person alone became incarnate. Gabriel added, “And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren; because no word shall be impossible with God”.²³ The angel made this known to Mary, not only that she might rejoice at the happy tidings, but that she might go and visit the mother of the Precursor.

A great wonder it is, no doubt, and worthy of our highest admiration, that the accomplishment of all these mysteries and of everything involved in them should be left by the Most High in the hands of a humble maiden, and that all should depend on her fiat; but securely was it left to the wisdom and fortitude of this “valiant woman,” who did not betray the confidence reposed in her. The works accomplished within God Himself need not the cooperation of the creature, nor do they admit of its participation; therefore God awaits not the consent of creatures to act ad intra. But in His works ad extra, His contingent works, it is different. Among these the greatest was His being made man; and He would not effect it without the cooperation of the most holy Mary or without her free consent; and this in order that with her and by her He should give this fulfillment and crown of all His works, and that we should recognize the benefit as coming to us from the Mother of Wisdom and our Reparatrix. Moreover, God desired that Mary should give the assent of her whole being, intellect, heart, will, and that her reply should be therefore such as befitted the most exalted of mysteries. And our Lady discerned all that was implied in the stupendous offer made to her; she saw all that depended on her answer—the fulfillment of all the prophecies and of the promises made by God, the most pleasing and acceptable sacrifice ever offered or which could be ever offered to Him, the opening of the gates of Paradise, victory and triumph over Hell, the redemption of the whole human race, satisfaction and compensation to Divine justice, the foundation of the new law of grace, the glory of men, the joy of the angels, and all that would be contained in and result from the Only-Begotten of the Father taking the form of a servant in her womb. All was before the magnificent and divinely illuminated intellect of this great lady. Having, then, conferred with the angel and within herself concerning this most sublime mystery, her spirit was fortified and raised to such a height of admiration and reverence, and she made so intense an act of the love of God, that her most chaste heart, by the force of this act and under its pressure, gave forth, says Maria d’Agreda, three drops of its pure blood from which the Holy Ghost formed the Body of Christ our Lord, so that the substance of which the Sacred Humanity of the Word was made was furnished by the most pure heart of Mary, through a true and ardent act of love: a beautiful thought, which, when once suggested, we do not willingly relinquish, as it makes us realize more fully and deeply the cooperation of the Blessed Virgin in the work of our redemption.

At the same moment that love had this supernatural effect within her, she bent her head with the profoundest humility, and, joining her hands, she said, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word”. The salvation of the world was awaiting Mary’s consent. Mary has given her consent, and the world is saved. In one instant is accomplished in her the work of the Incarnation, and Mary is the Mother of God. The Virgin remains absorbed in an ecstasy, flooded with torrents of heavenly joy. She has become the tabernacle of the Living God; legions of angels have descended to honor her as their Queen and adore the Divine Word made Flesh within her; and Gabriel having fulfilled his mission, after making a profound genuflection, returns to the courts of Heaven.