Angelic Heralds

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. God is one. Amen.

We celebrate today one of the most important events in the New Testament and in the history of the world—the Annunciation of the Theotokos.  This is the day when we remember the visit of the Archangel Gabriel to Holy Mary to tell her that through the Holy Spirit, she will conceive Jesus Christ. Gabriel often serves as a messenger for God the Father. In the first chapter of the Gospel of St Luke, the archangel has been busy, having told Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth will conceive a child in her old age who is to be called John. Our Gospel today from the Gospel of St Luke, chapter 1, verses 24 to 38, begins with the joy of Elizabeth that she has finally conceived a child.

So, the focus in this first chapter of the Gospel of St Luke is on miraculous conceptions, either in old age or from the Holy Spirit. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture points out that St Luke is “a physician acquainted with healing bodies, [who] presents us with Jesus [Christ], whose blood provides the medicine of immortality.” Now, the Archangel Gabriel is well acquainted with the perspective of bringing immortal messages to mortal people. So, how does Gabriel approach telling Holy Mary what is about to happen? What is an angelic perspective on the Annunciation?

With both Zechariah and Holy Mary, the Archangel begins by calming them and telling them “Do not be afraid.” The archangel appreciates that humble human beings do not expect visions and visits from angels, even though they might welcome the messages that angels bring them. St Augustine preached; and I quote: “The angel Gabriel came to Zechariah, not to Elizabeth. Why? Because it was through Zechariah that John was going to be in Elizabeth. The angel, in announcing that John was going to come by being born, went not to the receptacle in the womb but to the source of the seed. [The angel] announced they would both have a son, but he made the announcement to the father. John, after all, was going to come from the marriage of male and female. And once more the same Gabriel came to Mary—not to Joseph. The angel came to the one from whom that flesh was to begin, from whom it was to take its starting point,” preached St Augustine. 

In other words, God sends His angels first to those human beings who will first experience and initiate His divine interventions. Then, just as later St Zechariah tells St Elizabeth, so angels later visit St Joseph and tell him how to respond to God’s actions in the lives of Holy Mary and himself—to continue to love and care for Holy Mary, when and where to travel, and how to raise Jesus Christ.

Now, when Zechariah or Holy Mary or any of us receive unexpected visits from angels what is important is not whether we see them or simply hear them. What is important is the message they bring. Both Zechariah and Holy Mary focused immediately on trying to understand the message that was coming to them from the angel. In each case, the message was quite unexpected; and Holy Mary’s faith was greater than the faith of Zechariah, who was struck dumb for some months because of his unbelief. However, in each case the conception of a child happened just as Archangel Gabriel had told one of the parents.

Now, it’s unlikely any of us are going to see visions of angels. However, we can receive words of advice that could come from our own thoughts, from God and angels and saints or from evil spirits. It is usually possible to tell in our own prayers and with the help of our confessor what is simply an idea from within our own minds and what is a prompting from the Holy Spirit. What both Zechariah and Holy Mary feared—and what we too should fear—is a visit from an evil spirit. The Church Fathers and hymnwriters of the Orthodox Church from the early centuries can guide us further in understanding what Archangel Gabriel is saying to Holy Mary who is soon to become the Theotokos.

In Life of St Anthony 37, St Athanasius offers this advice; and I quote: “Whenever the soul continues to be fearful, it is the enemy who is present. The evil spirits do not dispel the fear of their presence, as the great archangel Gabriel did for [Holy] Mary and Zechariah,” concluded St Athanasius.

The fourth-century Latin poet and hymnwriter Prudentius wrote; and I quote: “By power of God a spotless maid conceives,/ As in her virgin womb the Spirit breathes./ The mystery of this birth confirms our faith/ That Christ is God… Why, doubter, do you shake your silly head?/ Angel makes this known with holy lips./ Will you not hearken to angelic words?/ The Virgin blest, the shining messenger/ Believed, and by her faith she Christ conceived…. The Virgin’s instant faith attracted/ Christ into her womb and hid him there till birth,” concluded Prudentius, who was deeply moved by the faith of Holy Mary.

John the Monk, who is believed to be the seventh-century Arab monastic and theologian, St John of Damascus, focused on the opening words of Archangel Gabriel to Holy Mary; and I quote: “Wonder! God is come among humanity; he who cannot be contained is contained in a womb; the timeless enters time and great mystery: his conception is without seed…. So great is this mystery! For God empties himself, takes flesh and is fashioned as a creature, when the angel tells the pure Virgin of her conception: ‘Rejoice, you who are full of grace; the Lord who has great mercy is with you,” concluded St John.

Like many other Church Fathers, St Bede was deeply moved by the encounter of Archangel Gabriel with Holy Mary. St Bede preached; and I quote: “We should carefully note the order of the words here, and the more firmly they are [fixed deeply] in our heart, the more evident it will be that the sum total of our redemption consists in them. For they proclaim with perfect clarity the Lord Jesus, that is, our Saviour, was both the true Son of God the Father and the true Son of a mother who was a human being. ‘Behold,’ says [the archangel], ‘you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son’—acknowledge that this true human being assumed the true substance of flesh from the flesh of the Virgin!” preached St Bede to his congregation and to us. He continued with the words of Archangel Gabriel. “‘He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High’—confess too that this same Son is true God, coeternal Son forever of the eternal Father!” concluded St Bede.

The fourth-century Archbishop of Ravenna, Peter Chrysologus applies to each of us the words of Archangel Gabriel to Holy Mary that “the Holy Spirit will come upon you.” Peter Chrysologus preached; and I quote: “Precisely thus [from the Holy Spirit] is Christ born for you, in such a way that he may change your own manner of birth … Formerly, death awaited you as the setting sun of your life; [but now God] wants you to have a new birth of life,” concluded Peter Chrysologus. 

Theophanes, an 8th century hymnwriter and Bishop of Nicaea, offers a personal interpretation of what the Archangel thought of his important mission from God. Theophanes boldly constructs a conversation between the archangel and Holy Mary which has become part of the Canon of Annunciation on this day. Their conversation begins with the Theotokos saying to the archangel; and I quote: “Make plain to me, how I a virgin, shall bear him? The angel [replies:] You seek to know from me the manner of your conceiving, Virgin, but this is beyond all interpretation! The Holy Spirit will overshadow you in his creative power and shall make this come to pass! The Theotokos [replies]: When [my mother Eve] accepted the suggestion of the serpent, [she] was banished from divine delight. Therefore, I fear your strange greeting, for I take care that I not slip. The angel [replied]: I am sent as God’s messenger to disclose the divine will to you. Why are you afraid of me, undefiled one? I rather am afraid of you! Why do you stand in awe of me, O lady, [when I] stand in reverent awe of you?” concluded Archangel Gabriel, according to Theophanes.

I conclude with the words of St Irenaeus of Lyon who wrote; and I quote: “So the Lord now manifestly came to his own…. For as Eve was seduced by the word of an [evil] angel to flee from God, having rebelled against his Word, so [Holy] Mary by the word of an angel received the good tidings that she would bear God by obeying his Word…,” concluded St Irenaeus. We too can rejoice today in how the message of Archangel Gabriel to the Theotokos can help guide each of us to be born again in Christ through the Holy Spirit.

And so, we ascribe as is justly due all might, majesty, dominion, power and praise to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, always now and ever and unto the ages of ages.          Father Emmanuel Kahn