4. An angel announces the birth of the Forerunner. His conception

Lux. 1, 5–25.

In the days of Herod, king of Judah, there was a priest of the Abian family, whose name was Zechariah, and his wife of the family of Aaron, whose name was Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous before God, acting according to all the commandments and statutes of the Lord blamelessly. They had no children, for Elizabeth was barren, and both were already in old age.

Once, when he was serving before God in the order of his rank, by lot, as was usual with priests, it fell to him to enter the temple of the Lord for incense, and all the multitude of people prayed outside during the incense.

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zechariah saw him, he was troubled, and fear came upon him. And the angel said to him, Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer has been heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord; he shall not drink wine or strong drink [1], and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to restore the hearts of the fathers to the children, and to the disobedient the minds of the righteous, that he may present to the Lord a prepared people.

And Zechariah said to the angel, "By what shall I know this?" for I am old, and my wife is old. The angel answered and said to him, "I am Gabriel, standing before God, and I am sent

to speak to thee, and to preach these tidings unto thee; and behold, you will be silent, and you will not be able to speak until the day that it comes to pass, because you have not believed my words, which will come to pass in due time.

Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zacharias and were amazed that he was tarrying in the temple. But he, having gone out, could not speak to them; and they understood that he had seen a vision in the temple; And when the days of his service were finished, he returned to his house.

After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and hid herself for five months, saying, "Thus hath the Lord done me in these days, in which he looked upon me, that he might take away from me the reproach of men."

5. An angel announces to the Virgin the birth of the Son of God from Her

Lux. 1, 26–38

In the sixth month, after the conception of John the Baptist, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to the city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a Virgin betrothed to a man, named Joseph, from the house of David; and the name of the Virgin was Mary.

The angel came to Her and said: "Rejoice, O Thou of Grace! The Lord is with Thee; blessed art Thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled by his words, and pondered what kind of greeting it would be.