At that time, as at all times, the barren woman felt her reproach, ashamed of God, people, and herself. What is the use of marriage if the spouses do not have children? And Paradise can become a place of temptation and perdition for the childless, even more so the earth. Childless spouses are most ashamed of each other. In each other's eyes they look like fig trees covered with green foliage without fruit, and in the depths of their souls they fearfully and secretly feel the curse upon themselves. And what is most bitter, as in our days, they usually suspect each other of lust and impurity, both, willingly or unwillingly, considering their marriage to be legal lust and uncleanness, especially if they do not yet know about God and do not feel the hand of God upon them. Therefore, childless marriages are short, and happiness in them is even shorter. For nothing in the world disappoints people more than a fruitless desire that has already been more abundantly satisfied. The original commandment of God, "Be fruitful and multiply" (Gen. 1:28), weighs down like a mountain over barren spouses, even if they do not even know it. Even if they do not know it with their minds, through teaching, they cannot but know it with their hearts, through a feeling that has placed an indelible seal on every human soul, as well as all the fundamental commandments of God. Enough is known about the sorrow of barren spouses both from the Holy Scriptures and from the everyday experience of all peoples and all times.

However, miraculously, in those miraculous days, Elizabeth conceived in her years old age. "How is this possible?" ask those who glide their senses over the surface of things, as if on ice over a lake full of strength and life. Those who themselves feel in their souls and confess with their tongues that this world cannot be saved except by a miracle of God, usually, when the miracle of God appears, shake their heads and do not recognize it, asking themselves: "How can this be?" nothing could happen at all. Then neither a fertile woman nor a barren woman could give birth. But since there is a living and omnipotent God, then all things are possible; all the more so since God is not bound by the laws of nature given by Him. Let Him bind not Himself but others with them, not to limit His power, but to make His mercy necessary. In the same way, the tool that man has made with his own hands does not restrict the freedom of man to work in one way or another, using the tool or not using it - behold, the world created by God with its lawful dispensation does not limit the freedom of God to act in one way or another, in accordance with His mercy and human needs. As if those who give birth give birth by their own power, and not by God's! God is a very zealous when it comes to life, and He endows it as He wills; life is conceived where He wills, and is not conceived where He does not will. That is why it happens that sometimes young spouses, in the fulfillment of all the laws of nature, do not have children; sometimes elderly spouses, contrary to the laws of nature, have children. The living God is the only Lord of life; and over that over which He rules, neither nature nor its laws have power, much less healers and sorcerers, to whom barren women often turn for help, not knowing that healers and sorcerers are servants not of the light power of God, but of the dark power of demons.

A person expects a miracle from God, but when a miracle comes, he does not believe in it. Nature has become a tree of temptation for man. Hiding because of his nakedness in the shadow of nature, man would like God to visit him, and he fears God's visitation. When God does not visit him, he complains, and when he does, he does not admit it. As in Paradise Adam was placed between two trees: life and knowledge, so the descendants of Adam are again placed between two trees: God as the Tree of Life and nature as the tree of knowledge. May man's freedom, his obedience, and his humility be tested now, as then. Let the wisdom of man be tempted. Let the heart of man be tempted. Let the will of man be tempted. For if there were no temptations, there would be no freedom. And if there were no freedom, there would be no people as people, but there would be only two kinds of stones in the world: immovable stones and moving stones.

All these simple and clear truths, which souls with earthly reason do not know and cannot know because of the darkness of spiritual vision by sin, were known only by a simple but righteous old woman, Elizabeth. That is why she was not surprised, having conceived in her old age, but immediately gave a ready-made and only reasonable explanation for her unexpected pregnancy: "Thus hath the Lord done me in these days." And why? She does not yet know, and in her humility does not dare to think how rare and great will be the fruit of her womb. She does not know about the lion's role in the history of human salvation played by her son: the Prophet, the Forerunner and the Baptist. And she does not know the deep visions of God, calculated to the end of time, and she does not yet penetrate into how God silently conducts these visions through His servants and handmaidens, silently and unhurriedly, but unhindered and unstoppable. She knows only one modest and touching reason for God's favor towards her: "Thus hath the Lord done me in these days," she says, "in which He looked upon me, that He might remove from me the reproach among men. She interpreted the miracle of God as a sign of God's mercy to herself. And this is true - but not all. If she had interpreted this miracle as a sign of God's mercy to the entire old world, which was barren, then she would have said everything. Behold, by this miracle God prepared another, greater miracle, by which He wanted to remove the reproach among the angels from all the barren human race.

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to the city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man, named Joseph, of the house of David; and the name of the Virgin was Mary. This refers to the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, or the sixth month from the conception of John the Baptist. Why in the sixth month? Why not the third, or the fifth, or the seventh? Because the creation of man was on the sixth day, after the creation of all nature. Christ is the Renewer of all creation. He comes as the New Creator and as the New Man. In Him everything is new. In this new creation John is the forerunner of Christ, in much the same way as in the first creation of God all nature was the forerunner of the old Adam. John presents before the Lord Jesus Christ the entire earthly creation together with the old man, who has only repented of him. In the name of the human race, he will precede before the Lord as a repentant and preacher of repentance. This sixth month, in which the infant John leaped in his mother's womb, corresponds to the sixth period of time when the Saviour was born, and to the sixth seal of the Revelation of the Apostle John the Theologian (Rev. 6:12).

And so, in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God. In the great drama of the first creation, the angels appear first: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). By heaven is meant the angels of all ranks of the heavenly hierarchy. And so, at the very beginning of the great drama of the new creation, the angels are again the first to appear. The angel, through the mouth of the prophet Daniel, predestined the time when the King of kings would be born; the angel, through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah and other prophets, spoke how He would be born; the angel informed the high priest Zachariah about the birth of the Forerunner; the angel now announces the birth of the God-Man Himself. When the God-Man is born, angelic faces will sing over the cave of Bethlehem. Every creature is a joy for God, for God does nothing out of necessity and compulsion, as some gloomy philosophies and pagan fabulous religions assert. Every creature is a joy for God, and God loves to share this joy with others. For joy in purity and out of love is the only thing in heaven and on earth which, being shared, is not diminished, but increased, if it were possible at all to speak of an increase in joy from love with God, the Source of both joy and love. Therefore, having created the angels at the first creation, God immediately makes them co-workers in His further works. Having created Adam, He immediately takes him as a co-worker in the management of Paradise and all creatures in Paradise. In the same way with the New Creation: before Christ, the New Man, the angels go; in the building of His Kingdom, the Lord immediately takes the Apostles as co-workers, and then other persons who work together with Him, not only while on earth, in earthly life, but also after their bodily death. And to this day God makes His co-workers the saints, martyrs, and all others who have been and are vouchsafed this.

But to whom was the great Archangel Gabriel sent? ("A soldier was sent to proclaim the mystery of the King, a mystery which is known by faith, but is not tested; a mystery that befits to be worshipped, and not measured by human reason; a mystery by which the mind of God, and not of man, can interpret." St. John Chrysostom. Discourse on the Annunciation.) To a virgin betrothed to a man, whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The great Archangel of God appears to the Virgin, for through the Pure Virgin, the Most-Pure, the First Beginning of the New World, the New Creation, must pass and come. The new world must be purity itself, purity itself, in contrast to the old, decayed world, which has become unclean because of its stubborn disobedience to its Creator. The Virgin must serve as the gate through which the Saviour of the world will enter the world as His workshop and His abode; A virgin, and not a wife, for a woman, no matter how exalted in spirit she may be, is attached to the old world and the old creation, being attached to her husband, and therefore is not free from worldly desires and worldly partiality. Therefore she is not a woman, but a Virgin, the Pure, the Most Pure, completely devoted to the one God and separated from this world by Her heart. Such a Virgin grew bodily in the perishable world, like a creep on a fester, but remained untouched by the corruption of the world.

This chosen Virgin was betrothed to a husband named Joseph, from the house of David, her kinsman. Why was She betrothed? God's Providence arranged Her in such a way in order to preserve Her from demonic and human ridicule. If She had given birth without being betrothed, who among men could have believed that Her Son was not illegitimate? And what earthly judge in this case would spare Her, delivering Her from the severity of the law? God's Providence did not want to bring misfortune upon His Chosen One and a heavy temptation upon people, therefore He arranged it in such a way that He would cover the Virgin and Her Nativity with the appearance of betrothal. ("If Christ Himself at first concealed many things, calling Himself the Son of Man and not clearly revealing His consubstantiality with the Father everywhere, why should we be surprised if, preparing some wondrous and great mystery, He concealed this also?"

Why was my husband's name Joseph? To remind us of the wondrous and chaste Joseph, who in terribly depraved Egypt preserved his physical and spiritual purity; and in this way the conscience of the faithful will be strengthened in the faith that the fruit of the Virgin womb of the Mother of God is truly from the Spirit of God, and not from an earthly passionate person.

The angel came in to Her and said: Rejoice, O Thou of Grace! The Lord is with Thee; blessed art Thou among women. A new creation is a joy to God and people; That is why it is revealed by the gospel: Rejoice! In a word, the drama of the new creation begins. This is the first, initial word that sounded when the curtain of the great mystery began to rise. Gabriel calls the Virgin Mary the Grace-filled, for Her soul, like a temple, was filled with the life-giving gifts of the Holy Spirit, heavenly fragrance and heavenly purity. Those without grace are those whose souls are closed to God, but are open only to the earth, and therefore smell of earth, sin and death. Blessed art Thou among women. With whom the Lord is, with him is the blessing. God's remoteness from man is a curse, God's closeness to man is a blessing. Of course, it is clear to those who have an understanding of God's love for mankind: God would never have departed from man if man had not been the first to depart from God. The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into the world reveals this boundless love for mankind of God. And if man has created space between himself and God, behold, God is still the first to approach man, in order to build a bridge over that space. The woman was the first to put an abyss between man and God. Behold, the Woman also becomes a bridge over the abyss. Eve was the first to fall into sin, and moreover in a bright Paradise, where everything kept her from sin; Mary was the first to overcome all temptations, and moreover in a dark world where everything pushes to sin. For this reason the weak-willed Eve gave birth to the fratricide Cain as her first fruit on earth; while the Ascetic Mary gave birth to the Ascetic of ascetics, who brought out of the prison of sin and death the fratricidal human race, the race of the disobedient and impure Eve.

And when she saw him, she was troubled by his words, and wondered what kind of greeting it would be. Like a child! Mary is a true child. The Lord said: "Except ye be converted, and be as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18:3). This world of passions and passions quickly ages a person. Our childhood is very brief, and nowadays it is getting shorter and shorter. Who can apply and become a child again? Mary was and remained a maiden all Her life, out of chastity and simplicity, out of fear of God and obedience to God. Did She not enter the Kingdom of Her Son even before His preaching about the Kingdom? Behold, the Kingdom of God was within Her (Luke 17:21)! Like a child, She was troubled at the appearance of the angel; like a child, and wondered what kind of greeting it would be. There is nothing artificial, dodgy, or feigned in Her, but everything is childishly simple, chaste, clear and straightforward.

The great Gabriel, who was present at the creation of man at the beginning of time and had the power to despise human souls through and through, saw the agitated thoughts of the Most-Pure Virgin more clearly than we can see bodies. And so, seeing Her spiritual confusion, he hastened to pacify him with the touching words: "Do not be afraid, Mary, for Thou hast found grace with God." Do not be afraid, Child! Do not be afraid, gracious Daughter of God! Do not be afraid, O Most Blessed of all mortals, for the blessing of God will descend through Thee upon the whole human race! Do not be afraid, for you have found grace with God. (The divinely inspired Andrew of Crete, penetrating into the thoughts of the great archangel, explains the annunciation to the Most Holy Virgin in the following way: "Do not be afraid, Mary! You have found grace with God, a grace that Sarah did not receive, that Rebekah did not feel; she found a grace that neither the glorious Hannah nor Pennanah, her rival, was worthy of. For although they have become mothers, yet in childlessness they have lost their virginity, but You, becoming Matter, preserve Your virginity intact. Therefore, do not be afraid; Thou hast found the grace of God, a grace which, except for Thee, no one has ever received from eternity." Homily on the Annunciation.) These last words testify against the assertion of some Western theologians about the so-called "Immaculate Conception," that is, that the Virgin Mary was conceived and born of Her parents without the shadow of Adam's sin and responsibility for this sin. If this were so, why would the archangel say: "Thou hast found grace with God"? The grace of God, which includes the concept of forgiveness, is acquired, firstly, by the one who needs it, and secondly, by the one who seeks it. No, the Most Holy Virgin did a gigantic labor to elevate Her soul to God, and on this path of elevation the grace of God met Her.

Having pacified the Virgin Soul of Mary, the winged messenger of God now transmits to Her the main message of heaven: "And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bear a Son, and 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 him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and his kingdom shall have no end. God's messenger speaks precisely to the details. You will conceive in the womb, that is, in the body; as the Psalmist uses a similar expression: "And renew the spirit of righteousness in my womb" (Psalm 50:12). By emphasizing in the womb, the archangel seems to want to warn against the false teaching of the Docetist heretics, as if Christ did not have a real body, and was not truly born, and was not a real corporeal man, but only a ghost of a corporeal man.

The name Jesus, or Yeshua in Hebrew, is also meaningful. This name was borne by the son of Nun, who led the people of Israel into the Promised Land and thus foreshadowed the role and work of Jesus the Savior, Who led the human race into the true and immortal Promised Land, into the Kingdom of Heaven.