(Vers. 28, 29.)
(Verse 28, 29.) And the angel went in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
8. Learn the virgin in morals, learn the virgin in modesty, learn the virgin in prayer, learn the virgin in mystery. To tremble is for virgins, and to fear the approach of every man, to fear the speech of every man. Let women learn to imitate the purpose of modesty. Alone in the inner chambers, where no man could see, only the angel would find her: alone without a companion, alone without a witness; lest she be corrupted by any improper speech, she is greeted by the angel. Learn, O virgin, to avoid lascivious words: even Mary feared the greeting of the angel.
However, he said, thinking, what kind of greeting this was.
9. And therefore with modesty, because she was afraid; with prudence, because she marveled at the new formula of blessing, which had nowhere been read, nowhere before discovered. This greeting was preserved for Mary alone. For she alone is said to be full of grace, who alone attained grace which no other deserved, so that she might be filled with grace by the author. Therefore, Mary was ashamed, Elizabeth was also ashamed; and therefore let us understand what difference there is between the modesty of a woman and the modesty of a virgin. For that reason she blushed, for this reason out of modesty: in a woman, a measure of shame is applied, in a virgin, the grace of shame is increased.
(Vers. 30, 31, 32.)
(Verse 30, 31, 32.) And the angel said to her: Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great.
Indeed, it is said also about John by an angel, because he will be great (Luke 1:15): but he is great as a man, whereas this one is great as God; For the Lord is great, and exceedingly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable (Psalm 145:3). And truly, he is great; for among those born of women, there is no one greater than the prophet John the Baptist (Luke 7:28). However, he has someone greater; for he who is lesser in the kingdom of God is greater than him (ibid). But John is great; but in the presence of the Lord he is great. And John does not drink wine and strong drink, he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners. Let him accumulate merit through abstinence, to whom nature has no power: but Christ, to whom it was natural to forgive sins, why would he reject those whom he could make better than the abstinent?
11. At the same time, he does not disdain the mystical meal of those to whom he will give the sacrament. Here, therefore, he eats, there he fasts: the type of both people fasts in him, is nourished in this. But Christ also fasted, so that you would not deviate from the precept: he ate with sinners, so that you would see the grace, acknowledge the power. Therefore, John is great, but his greatness has a beginning, has an end: but the Lord Jesus is the same beginning as well as end, the same first and last (1 Tim. 6:16) . Nothing before the first, nothing after the last.
12. And let not the custom of human generation lead you to vice, so that you think that he is not the first, because he is a son. Follow the Scriptures, so that you may not err. He is called the First Son. It is also written that the Father alone, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in inaccessible light; as you have read: To the immortal and invisible God (1 Tim. 1:17): but neither first before the Father, nor alone without the Son. If you deny one, you establish the other, follow both and confirm both. He did not say: I am before, and I am after, but: I am the first, and I am the last (Rev. 1:17 and 22:13). The Son is the first, and therefore coeternal; for he has a Father, with whom he is eternal. I dare to say. The Son is the first, but he is not alone; and I say it well, and I say it with devotion. Why do you raise your ears to impiety, heretics? You have fallen into the snares you set. The Son is the first, and he is not alone: first, because he is always with the Father; not alone, because he is never without the Father. Not I say this, but He himself said it: And I am not alone, because the Father is with me (John 16:32). The Father alone, because He is one God: the Father alone, because He is the sole divinity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit: and what is one, is alone. The Father alone, the Son alone, and the Holy Spirit alone; for neither is the Son the Father, nor the Father the Son, nor is the Holy Spirit the Son. Another Father, another Son, another Holy Spirit; for we read: I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate (John 14:16). The Father alone, because He is one God, from whom all things; the Son alone, because He is one Lord, through whom all things. Only divinity makes, generation and testifies to the Father and the Son, so that the Son is nowhere without the Father, nor does the Father appear to be without the Son. Therefore, not alone, because not alone immortal; not alone inhabiting inaccessible light; because no one has ever seen God, except the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father (John 1:18), who sits at the right hand of the Father. And hence some dare to say that the light that the Father dwells in is inaccessible. Is the light better than the Father? But what inaccessible light is there for someone to whom the Father is not inaccessible? And He Himself is the true light and the begetter of eternal light, of whom it is said: He was the true light that enlightens every person coming into this world (John 1:9). See if that inaccessible light in which the Father dwells is also inhabited by the Son because the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father.
13. Therefore, God is great; for the power of God is poured out widely, and the magnitude of celestial substance extends widely. The Trinity has nothing specified, nothing limited, nothing measured, nothing defined. It is not enclosed by place, comprehended by opinion, concluded by estimation, or varied by age. Indeed, the Lord Jesus has given greatness to human beings: 'Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world' (Psalm 19:4); not to the boundary of the world, not to the boundaries of heaven, not beyond the heavens. But indeed, in the Lord Jesus, all things were created in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible... and He Himself is before all things, and in Him all things hold together (Colossians 1:16-17). Look to the sky, Jesus is there; gaze upon the earth, Jesus is present. Ascend to heaven with a word, descend to hell with a word, Jesus is present. For if you ascend to heaven, Jesus is there; if you descend to hell, He is present. Today as I speak, He is with me, in this moment, within this instant. And if a Christian now speaks in Armenia, Jesus is present: For no one says 'Lord Jesus' except in the Holy Spirit (I Cor. XII, 3). If you dwell in the depths, you will also see Jesus working there; for it is written: Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' that is, to bring Christ down; or 'Who will descend into the abyss?' that is, to bring Christ up from the dead (Rom. X, 6 and 7). So where is the one who has filled the heavens, the abyss, and the earth? Therefore, blessed is the great one whose virtue has filled the world, who is everywhere, and will always be; for his kingdom will have no end.
(Vers. 34.)
(Verse 34.) But Mary said to the angel: How will this happen, since I do not know man?
14. It seems that Mary did not believe here, unless you pay careful attention; for it is not right for the chosen one to be seen as unbelieving in conceiving the only-begotten Son of God. But in what way could it happen (although the prerogative of the mother is preserved, to whom it certainly had to be deferred to a greater extent: but as a greater prerogative, a greater faith should also have been reserved for her), therefore in what way could it happen, that Zacharias, who did not believe, was condemned to silence: but Mary, if she had not believed, would be exalted by the infusion of the Holy Spirit? But Mary neither should not believe, nor should she rashly usurp: not believe the angel, usurp divine things. For it was not easy to know the mystery hidden in God from the ages, which even the higher Powers could not know. And yet she did not refuse faith, did not reject the duty: but she adjusted her emotions, promised obedience. For when she says: How will this be done? she did not doubt the outcome, but sought the quality of the effect itself.
15. How much more temperate is this response, than the words of the priest? He says this: How will this be done? He replied: How should I know that? He now discusses this matter: he still doubts about the message. He denies that he believes, who denies that he knows; and as if he seeks another author of faith: he professes to do these things, and does not doubt that it should be done, he inquires how it can be done; for you have it like this: How will this be done; since I do not know a man? An incredible and unheard-of generation had to be heard of in order to believe it. To give birth as a virgin is a sign of divine mystery, not a human one. Finally, he said, receive this sign: Behold, a virgin in the womb will conceive and bear a son (Isaiah 7:14). Mary had read this, therefore she believed it would happen. But how it would happen, she had not read; for it had not been revealed to the prophets how it would happen or by what means. For the mystery of such a great command was not from a human being, but it was to be proclaimed by the mouth of an angel. Today it is heard for the first time: The Holy Spirit will come upon you. And it is heard, and it is believed. Finally:
(Vers. 36.)
(Verse 36) Behold, she said, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.
16. See the humility, see the devotion. She declares herself the handmaid of the Lord, who is chosen as a mother: and she is not lifted up by the sudden promise. By declaring herself a handmaid, she claimed no prerogative to such great grace, which would make her do what she was commanded. For she who was to give birth to the meek and lowly one, ought herself to have humility. Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word. You have obedience, you see a vow. Behold the handmaid of the Lord; it is the preparation of her office; let it be done to me according to your word, the vow is conceived.
17. How quickly, then, did Mary believe in this unequal conception! For what is more unequal than the Holy Spirit and a body? What is more unheard of than a pregnant virgin, against the law, against custom, against modesty, whose care is dearer to her than her own virginity? But Zechariah did not believe, not because of an unequal condition, but because of his old age; for the condition was fitting. The birth of a child is a normal occurrence from a man and a woman: and it should not be considered incredible where nature agrees. For while age belongs to nature, nature does not belong to age, so it often happens that age hinders nature. Nevertheless, it is not unreasonable for a lesser cause to give way to a greater cause, and for the higher prerogative of nature to exclude the use of the lower age. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that Abraham and Sarah conceived a son in old age, and Joseph was a son of old age. And if Sarah is rebuked for laughing (Gen. 18:13), it is even more just to condemn one who did not believe either the oracle or the example. However, when Mary says, 'How will this be, since I have not known a man?' (Luke 1:34), she does not seem to doubt the fact, but to inquire about the quality of the fact. For it is clear that she believed it must be done, and she asked how it would be done. Hence, she deserved to hear, 'Blessed are you who believed' (Luke 1:45). And truly blessed is she, who is more excellent than the priest; when the priest denied, the virgin corrected the mistake. It is not surprising that the Lord, who was to redeem the world, began his work with Mary; so that she, through whom salvation was being prepared for all, would be the first to receive the fruit of salvation from the pledge.
18. And he inquired well how it would be done; for he had read that a virgin would conceive, but he had not read how she would conceive. He had read, as I said: Behold, a virgin shall conceive in her womb (Isaiah 7:14): but how she would conceive, an angel first spoke in the Gospel.
(Vers. 39, 40.)
(Verse 39, 40.) But Mary, rising up in those days, went with haste into the hill country, into a city of Judah, and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elizabeth.
19. It is the duty of all those who demand faith to provide faith. And therefore the angel, when he came to announce in secret, announced the conception of the elderly and sterile woman to the virgin Mary, so that he might assert that with God all things are possible. When Mary heard this, she did not respond as one incredulous of the prophecy, nor as one uncertain of the message, nor as one doubting the example: but rather as one joyful for the desire fulfilled, as one devoted to her duty, as one eager for the joy, she hastened to the mountains. For how could he be filled with God, if he did not strive eagerly for higher things? The grace of the Holy Spirit does not know slow efforts.
Learn, you holy women, the diligence that you ought to show to pregnant relatives. Mary, who used to dwell alone in the innermost rooms, was not delayed by the public shame of her virginity, nor by the harshness of the mountains, nor by the length of the journey due to duty. The mountain-dwelling virgin, with haste and mindful of her duty, forgetful of injuries, with passion in her heart, not because of her gender, left her home and set out.
Learn, young women, not to run around in other people's houses, not to linger in the streets, not to engage in public conversations. Mary was serious at home, but quick in public. She stayed at her relative's house for three months. Indeed, she who had come for duty, clung to her duty. Therefore, she stayed for three months, not because she was delighted by someone else's house, but because she disliked being seen in public more frequently.