Chapter 2 No.2

1 An angel appears to Joachim,

9 and informs him that Anna shall conceive and

bring forth a daughter, who shall be called Mary,

11 be brought up in the temple,

12 and while yet a virgin, in a way unparalleled,

bring forth the Son of God:

13 Gives him a sign,

14 and departs.

BUT when he had been there for

some time, on a certain day

when he was alone, the angel

of the Lord stood by him with

a prodigious light.

2 To whom, being troubled at

the appearance, the angel who had

appeared to him, endeavouring to

compose him, said:

3 Be not afraid, Joachim, nor

troubled at the sight of me, for

I am an angel of the Lord sent by

him to you, that I might inform

you that your prayers are heard,

and your alms ascended in the

sight of God.

4 For he hath surely seen your

shame, and heard you unjustly

reproached for not having children:

for God is the avenger of sin,

and not of nature;

5 And so when he shuts the

womb of any person, he does it for

this reason, that he may in a more

wonderful manner again open it,

and that which is born appear to

be not the product of lust, but the

gift of God.

6 For the first mother of your

nation, Sarah, was she not barren

even till her eightieth year: and

yet even in the end of her old age

brought forth Isaac, in whom the

promise was made of a blessing to

all nations.

7 Rachel, also, so much in

favour with God, and beloved so

much by holy Jacob, continued

barren for a long time, yet

afterwards was the mother of Joseph,

who was not only governor of

Egypt, but delivered many nations

from perishing with hunger.

8 Who among the judges was

more valiant than Sampson, or more

holy than Samuel? And yet both

their mothers were barren.

9 But if reason will not convince

you of the truth of my words, that

there are frequent conceptions in

advanced years, and that those

who were barren have brought forth

to their great surprise; therefore

Anna your wife shall bring you a

daughter, and you shall call her

name Mary;

10 She shall, according to your

vow, be devoted to the Lord from

her infancy, and be filled with the

Holy Ghost from her mother's

womb;

11 She shall neither eat nor

drink any thing which is unclean,

nor shall her conversation be

without among the common people,

but in the temple of the Lord;

that so she may not fall under any

slander or suspicion of what is bad.

12 So in the process of her

years, as she shall be in a

miraculous manner born of one that

was barren, so she shall, while yet

a virgin, in a way unparalleled,

bring forth the Son of the most

High God, who shall, be called

Jesus, and, according to the

signification of his name, be the

Saviour of all nations.

13 And this shall be a sign to

you of the things which I declare,

namely, when you come to the

golden gate of Jerusalem, you

shall there meet your wife Anna,

who being very much troubled

that you returned no sooner, shall

then rejoice to see you.

14 When the angel had said this,

he departed from him.