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Chapter I
The blessed and
glorious ever-virgin Mary, sprung from the royal stock and family of
David, born in the city of Nazareth, was brought up at Jerusalem in the
temple of the Lord. Her father was named Joachim, and her mother Anna.
Her father's house was from Galilee and the city of Nazareth, but her
mother's family from Bethlehem. Their life was guileless and right
before the Lord, and irreproachable and pious before men. For they
divided all their substance into three parts. One part they spent upon
the temple and the temple servants; another they distributed to
strangers and the poor; the third they reserved, for themselves and the
necessities of their family. Thus, dear to God, kind to men, for about
twenty years they lived in their own house, a chaste married life,
without having any children. Nevertheless they vowed that, should the
Lord happen to give them offspring, they would deliver it to the
service of the Lord; on which account also they used to visit the
temple of the Lord at each of the feasts during the year.
Chapter II
And it came to
pass that the festival of the dedication was at hand; wherefore also
Joachim went up to Jerusalem with some men of his own tribe. Now at
that time Issachar was high priest there. And when he saw Joachim with
his offering among his other fellow-citizens, he despised him, and
spurned his gifts, asking why he, who had no offspring, presumed to
stand among those who had; saying that his gifts could not by any means
be acceptable to God, since He had deemed him unworthy of off-spring:
for the Scripture said, Cursed is every one who has not begot a male or
a female in Israel. He said, therefore, that he ought first to be freed
from this curse by the begetting of children; and then, and then only,
that be should come into the presence of the Lord with his offerings.
And Joachim, covered with shame from this reproach that was thrown in
his teeth, retired to the shepherds, who were in their pastures with
their flocks; nor would he return home, test perchance he might be
branded with the same reproach by those of his own tribe, who were
there at the time, and had heard this from the priest.
Chapter III
Now, when he had
been there for some time, on a certain day when he was alone, an angel
of the Lord stood by him in a great light. And when he was disturbed at
his appearance, the angel who had appeared to him restrained his fear,
saying: Fear not, Joachim, nor be disturbed by my appearance; for I am
the angel of the Lord, sent by Him to thee to tell thee that thy
prayers have been heard, and that thy charitable deeds have gone up
into His presence. For He hath seen thy shame, and hath heard the
reproach of unfruitfulness which has been unjustly brought against
thee. For God is the avenger of sin, not of nature: and, therefore,
when He shuts up the womb of any one, He does so that He may
miraculously open it again; so that that which is born may be
acknowledged to be not of lust, but of the gift of God. For was it not
the case that the first mother of your nation-Sarah-was barren up to
her eightieth year? And, nevertheless, in extreme old age she brought
forth Isaac, to whom the promise was renewed of the blessing of all
nations. Rachel also, so favoured of the Lord, and so beloved by holy
Jacob, was long barren; and yet she brought forth Joseph, who was not
only the lord of Egypt, but the deliverer of many nations who were
ready to perish of hunger. Who among the judges was either stronger
than Samson, or more holy than Samuel? And yet the mothers of both were
barren. If, therefore, the reasonableness of my words does not persuade
thee, believe in fact that conceptions very late in life, and births in
the case of women that have been barren, are usually attended with
something wonderful. Accordingly thy wife Anna will bring forth a
daughter to thee, and thou shall call her name Mary: she shall be, as
you have vowed, consecrated to the Lord from her infancy, and she shall
be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from her mother's womb. She shall
neither eat nor drink any unclean thing, nor shall she spend her life
among the crowds of the people without, but in the temple of the Lord,
that it may not be possible either to say, or so much as to suspect,
any evil concerning her. Therefore, when she has grown up, just as she
herself shall be miraculously born of a barren woman, so in an
incomparable manner she, a virgin, shall bring forth the Son of the
Most High, who shall be called Jesus, and who, according to the
etymology of His name, shall be the Saviour of all nations. And this
shall be the sign to thee of those things which I announce: When thou
shalt come to the Golden gate in Jerusalem, thou shalt there meet Anna
thy wife, who, lately anxious from the delay of thy return, will then
rejoice at the sight of thee. Having thus spoken, the angel departed
from him.
Chapter IV
Thereafter he
appeared to Anna his wife, saying: Fear not, Anna, nor think that it is
a phantom which thou seest. For I am that angel who has presented your
prayers and alms before God; and now have I been sent to you to
announce to you that thou shalt bring forth a daughter, who shall be
called Mary, and who shall be blessed above all women. She, full of the
favour of the Lord even from her birth, shall remain three years in her
father's house until she be weaned. Thereafter, being delivered to the
service of the Lord, she shall not depart from the temple until she
reach the years of discretion. There, in fine, serving God day and
night in fastings and prayers, she shall abstain from every unclean
thing; she shall never know man, but alone, without example,
immaculate, uncorrupted, without intercourse with man, she, a virgin,
shall bring forth a son; she, His hand-maiden, shall bring forth the
Lord-both in grace, and in name, and in work, the Saviour of the world.
Wherefore arise, and go up to Jerusalem; and when thou shalt come to
the gate which, because it is plated with gold, is called Golden,
there, for a sign, thou shalt meet thy husband, for whose safety thou
hast been anxious. And when these things shall have so happened, know
that what I announce shall without doubt be fulfilled.
Chapter V
Therefore, as
the angel had commanded, both of them setting out from the place where
they were, went up to Jerusalem; and when they had come to the place
pointed out by the angel's prophecy, there they met each other. Then,
rejoicing at seeing each other, and secure in the certainty of the
promised offspring, they gave the thanks due to the Lord, who exalteth
the humble. And so, having worshipped the Lord, they returned home, and
awaited in certainty and in gladness the divine promise. Anna therefore
conceived, and brought forth a daughter; and according to the command
of the angel, her parents called her name Mary.
Chapter VI
And when the
circle of three years had rolled round, and the time of her weaning was
fulfilled, they brought the virgin to the temple of the Lord with
offerings. Now there were round the temple, according to the fifteen
Psalms of Degrees, fifteen steps going up; for, on account of the
temple having been built on a mountain, the altar of burnt-offering,
which stood outside, could not be reached except by steps. On one of
these, then, her parents placed the little girl, the blessed virgin
Mary. And when they were putting off the clothes which they had worn on
the journey, and were putting on, as was usual, others that were neater
and cleaner, the virgin of the Lord went up all the steps, one after
the other, without the help of any one leading her or lifting her, in
such a manner that, in this respect at least, you would think that she
had already attained full age. For already the Lord in the infancy of
His virgin wrought a great thing, and by the indication of this miracle
foreshowed how great she was to be. Therefore, a sacrifice having been
offered according to the custom of the law, and their vow being
perfected, they left the virgin within the enclosures of the temple,
there to be educated with the other virgins, and themselves returned
home.
Chapter VII
But the virgin
of the Lord advanced in age and in virtues; and though, in the words of
the Psalmist, her father and mother had forsaken her, the Lord took her
up. For daily was she visited by angels, daily did she enjoy a divine
vision, which preserved her from all evil, and made her to abound in
all good. And so she reached her fourteenth year; and not only were the
wicked unable to charge her with anything worthy of reproach, but all
the good, who knew her life and conversation, judged her to be worthy
of admiration. Then the high priest publicly announced that the virgins
who were publicly settled in the temple, and had reached this time of
life, should return home and get married, according to the custom of
the nation and the ripeness of their years. The others readily obeyed
this command; but Mary alone, the virgin of the Lord, answered that she
could not do this, saying both that her parents had devoted her to the
service of the Lord, and that, moreover, she herself had made to the
Lord a vow of virginity, which she would never violate by any
intercourse with man. And the high priest, being placed in great
perplexity of mind, seeing that neither did he think that the vow
should be broken contrary to the Scripture, which says, Vow and pay,
nor did he dare to introduce a custom unknown to the nation, gave order
that at the festival, which was at hand, all the chief persons from
Jerusalem and the neighbourhood should be present, in order that from
their advice he might know what was to be done in so doubtful a case.
And when this took place, they resolved unanimously that the Lord
should be consulted upon this matter. And when they all bowed
themselves in prayer, the high priest went to consult God in the usual
way. Nor had they long to wait: in the hearing of all a voice issued
from the oracle and from the mercy-seat, that, according to the
prophecy of Isaiah, a man should be sought out to whom the virgin ought
to be entrusted and espoused. For it is clear that Isaiah says: A rod
shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall ascend from
his root; and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the
spirit of wisdom and piety; and he shall be filled with the spirit of
the fear of the Lord. According to this prophecy, therefore, he
predicted that all of the house and family of David that were unmarried
and fit for marriage should bring there rods to the altar; and that he
whose rod after it was brought should produce a flower, and upon the
end of whose rod the Spirit of the Lord should settle in the form of a
dove, was the man to whom the virgin ought to be entrusted and
espoused.
Chapter VIII
Now there was
among the rest Joseph, of the house and family of David, a man of great
age: and when all brought there rods, according to the order, he alone
withheld his. Wherefore, when nothing in conformity with the divine
voice appeared, the high priest thought it necessary to consult God a
second time; and He answered, that of those who had been designated, he
alone to whom the virgin ought to be espoused had not brought his rod.
Joseph, therefore, was found out. For when he had brought his rod, and
the dove came from heaven; and settled upon the top of it, it clearly
appeared to all that he was the man to whom the virgin should be
espoused. Therefore, the usual ceremonies of betrothal having been gone
through, he went back to the city of Bethlehem to put his house in
order, and to procure things necessary for the marriage. But Mary, the
virgin of the Lord, with seven other virgins of her own age, and who
had been weaned at the same time, whom she had received from the
priest, returned to the house of her parents in Galilee.
Chapter IX
And in those
days, that is, at the time of her first coming into Galilee, the angel
Gabriel was sent to her by God, to announce to her the conception of
the Lord, and to explain to her the manner and order of the conception.
Accordingly, going in, he filled the chamber where she was with a great
light; and most courteously saluting her, he said: Hail, Mary! O virgin
highly favoured by the Lord, virgin full of grace, the Lord is with
thee; blessed art thou above all women, blessed above all men that have
been hitherto born. And the virgin, who was already well acquainted
with angelic faces, and was not unused to the light from heaven, was
neither terrified by the vision of the angel, nor astonished at the
greatness of the light, but only perplexed by his words; and she began
to consider of what nature a salutation so unusual could be, or what it
could portend, or what end it could have. And the angel, divinely
inspired, taking up this thought, says: Fear not, Mary, as if anything
contrary to thy chastity were hid under this salutation. For in
choosing chastity, thou hast found favour with the Lord; and therefore
thou, a virgin, shalt conceive without sin, and shalt bring forth a
son. He shall be great, because He shall rule from sea to sea, and from
the river even to the ends of the earth; and He shall be called the Son
of the Most High, because He who is born on earth in humiliation,
reigns in heaven in exaltation; and the Lord God will give Him the
throne of His father David, and He shall reign in the house of Jacob
for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end; forasmuch as He is
King of kings and Lord of lords, and His throne is from everlasting to
everlasting. The virgin did not doubt these words of the angel; but
wishing to know the manner of it, she answered: How can that come to
pass? For while, according to my vow, I never know man, how can I bring
forth without the addition of man's seed? To this the angel says: Think
not, Mary, that thou shalt conceive in the manner of mankind: for
without any intercourse with man, thou, a virgin, wilt conceive; thou,
a virgin, wilt bring forth; thou, a virgin, wilt nurse: for the Holy
Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall
overshadow thee, without any of the heats of lust; and therefore that
which shall be born of thee shall alone be holy, because it alone,
being conceived and born without sin, shall be called the Son of God.
Then Mary stretched forth her hands, and raised her eyes to heaven, and
said: Behold the hand-maiden of the Lord, for I am not worthy of the
name of lady; let it be to me according to thy word.
It will be long, and perhaps to some even tedious, if we insert in this
little work every thing which we read of as having preceded or followed
the Lord's nativity: wherefore, omitting those things which have been
more fully written in the Gospel, let us come to those which are held
to be less worthy of being narrated.
Chapter X
Joseph therefore
came from Judaea into Galilee, intending to marry the virgin who had
been betrothed to him; for already three months had elapsed, and it was
the beginning of the fourth since she had been betrothed to him. In the
meantime, it was evident from her shape that she was pregnant, nor
could she conceal this from Joseph. For in consequence of his being
betrothed to her, coming to her more freely and speaking to her more
familiarly, he found out that she was with child. He began then to be
in great doubt and perplexity, because he did not know what was best
for him to do. For, being a just man, he was not willing to expose her;
nor, being a pious man, to injure her fair fame by a suspicion of
fornication. He came to the conclusion, therefore, privately to
dissolve their contract, and to send her away secretly. And while he
thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him
in his sleep, saying: Joseph, thou son of David, fear not; that is, do
not have any suspicion of fornication in the virgin, or think any evil
of her; and fear not to take her as thy wife: for that which is
begotten in her, and which now vexes thy soul, is the work not of man,
but of the Holy Spirit. For she alone of all virgins shall bring forth
the Son of God, and thou shalt call His name Jesus, that is, Saviour;
for He shall save His people from their sins. Therefore Joseph,
according to the command of the angel, took the virgin as his wife;
nevertheless he knew her not, but took care of her, and kept her in
chastity. And now the ninth month from her conception was at hand, when
Joseph, taking with him his wife along with what things he needed, went
to Bethlehem, the city from which he came. And it came to pass, while
they were there, that her days were fulfilled that she should bring
forth; and she brought forth her first-born son, as the holy
evangelists have shown, our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and
the Son and the Holy Ghost lives and reigns God from everlasting to
everlasting.
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