There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zachary, of the course of Abia; and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elizabeth.
[1] Herod: S. Luke begins by mentioning the name of Herod to point out the time when John the Baptist and Christ were born; and also to show that the sceptre had now departed from Judah, and had passed over to an alien, and therefore that the time for the advent of the Messiah was at hand according to the prophecy of Jacob, Gen. 49:10.
[10] Non auferetur sceptrum de Juda, et dux de femore ejus, donec veniat qui mittendus est, et ipse erit expectatio gentium.This Herod was the first of that name, surnamed the Great, the father and grandfather of the others. He was a native of Ascalon, an Idumæan by nation, in character a tyrant. By the favour of Cæsar he held the kingdom of Judæa; but Christ thrust him and his descendants out of this kingdom, and claimed for Himself the kingdom over Israel which by right was due to Him, though it must be understood as a spiritual kingdom.
The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the expectation of nations.
Hence he is rightly called Herod; for Herod in Syriac is the same as “a fiery dragon.” According to Pagninus, Herod signifies in Hebrew “the conception of threshing,” for הרה is to conceive, and דוש to thresh, because he slew the infants in Bethlehem.
[2] Zacharias. [''Yahweh remembers''] He was a priest and also a prophet, as will appear from verses 64 and 67. Whence his name is enrolled among the saints in the Roman Martyrology for the 5th of November: where Baronius, following Origen, Nyssen, Cyril, and Peter Alexander, is of opinion that this Zacharias was the martyr who was slain by Herod between the Temple and the Altar, and therefore that he was the one whom Christ mentions, S. Matt. 23:35. [Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites...Ye foolish and blind]
[35] ut veniat super vos omnis sanguis justus, qui effusus est super terram, a sanguine Abel justi usque ad sanguinem Zachariae, filii Barachiae, quem occidistis inter templum et altare.His head is preserved and shown at Rome in the Lateran Basilica, from which there is a tradition that formerly blood trickled during several days. I have seen it there and venerated it.
That upon you may come all the just blood that hath been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just, even unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you killed between the temple and the altar.
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| Herodian Temple, Jerusalem. J-J Tissot. |
And that there might be no strife among them as to which course should be the first, second, or third, &c., these families cast lots, and obtained the first place or second, &c., according as the lot came out. In this drawing of lots the eighth place fell to Abia and his descendants. All this is clear from 1 Chron. 24. Josephus (Antiq. vii. 11) says of David, “He found twenty-four families of priests, and he appointed that each family should minister before God during eight days, from Sabbath to Sabbath,” in order to avoid confusion and strife among the priests.
[4] And his wife was of the daughters of Aaron. ...Zacharias having more regard to religion, married a wife not only of the daughters of Levi, but of Aaron. Wherefore S. Ambrose says, “Not only from his parents but from his ancestors the illustrious descent of S. John is derived, a descent not exalted by secular power, but venerable from its sanctity.
[5] And her name was Elizabeth. Zacharias in Hebrew is the same as “God remembered;” and Elizabeth, “the oath of God,” or “the sceptre and dominion,” or “rest,” or “fulness of God.” So that the meaning is that God, mindful of His oath, united these two in marriage, that He might raise up the sceptre of the house of David, and bestow rest and plenty and abundance on His own. She was called Elizabeth from the wife of the first high priest Aaron, Exod. 6:23. This Elizabeth was holy, and a prophetess: whence her memory is observed in the Roman Martyrology on the 5th of November. From her S. Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew, king of the Hungarians, surnamed the mother of the poor, and her niece S. Elizabeth, the queen of Portugal took, their name together with her sanctity.
[6] Erant autem justi [1] ambo ante Deum, incedentes in omnibus mandatis et justificationibus[2] Domini sine querela.[3]
And they were both just before God, walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without blame.
[1] Just before God. Many appear just before men, but few before God, because men look upon the countenance, but God on the heart and conscience. S. Francis says truly, “Each man is what he is before God, and no more.”
[2] Walking in all the commandments, &c. Commandments, i.e. the moral precepts of the Decalogue. Ordinances, i.e. the ceremonial precepts. God gave to the Hebrews by Moses precepts of three kinds.
1. Moral precepts, which are contained in the two tables of the law.
2. Judgments which relate to justice and human polity, and chiefly concern princes.
3. Statutes, decrees ceremonial, pertaining to the sacrifices and rites observed in the worship of God.
These are called here and elsewhere Justifications, Vulgate: first, because those who observe them do what is most right and just, that is to say, perform the service and worship which is most rightfully due to God. Secondly, because by the observance of these men formerly under the old law were justified legally; for those who fulfilled them were considered just persons by the Synagogue, and that not only before man but before God, if they performed those things from the true love of God. For the doers of the law are justified, Rom. 2:13.
[3] Blameless. Sine querelâ, Vulgate; ἄμεμπτοι, Greek. Mark here that the faithful can, yea, ought to observe all the commandments of God; wherefore it is possible to keep them, and not impossible, as Calvin blasphemously asserts, who in this place makes a wonderful exhibition of himself, and all but says that Luke the Evangelist is a liar. Further, blameless may be interpreted as “without mortal sin,” for no just man in this life can avoid all venial sins.
[7] Et non erat illis filius, eo quod esset Elisabeth sterilis, et ambo processissent in diebus suis.[1]
And they had no son, for that Elizabeth was barren, and they both were well advanced in years.
[1] Well advanced in years. He says this to show that John was born of them, not in the way of nature, but by the gift of God and by a miracle, like other eminent saints, as Isaac, Joseph, Samuel. S. Augustine (Serm. iii. on John the Baptist) says Elizabeth was barren in body but fruitful in virtues; her child-bearing was not taken away from her, but it was delayed, until the time of fleshly desire had passed away.… In short, when all that causes blame as regards the body was quenched, and they became altogether blameless, all that speaks of barrenness is gone; old age springs into new life, faith conceives, chastity brings forth, one greater than man, one equal to the angels is born, the trumpet of heaven, the herald of Christ, the mystery of the Father, the messenger of the Son, the standard-bearer of the heavenly King, the pardon of sinners, the correction of the Jews, the calling of the Gentiles, and, so to say, the uniting bond of the Law and Grace.
And it came to pass, when he executed the priestly function in the order of his course before God,
[9] secundum consuetudinem sacerdotii, sorte exiit ut incensum poneret, ingressus in templum Domini :
According to the custom of the priestly office, it was his lot to offer incense, going into the temple of the Lord.
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| Temple at Jersusalem. BC 30. Hallwyl Museum [Public domain] |
For because there were many priests of the course of Abia, it was appointed to them by lot what office each of them should perform in the Temple. For there were four principal offices (see Exodus 30.) 1. To sacrifice. 2. To light the lamps on the seven-branched candlestick. 3. On the sabbath-day to place twelve new loaves on the table of bread of the presence. 4. To burn incense on the altar of incense.
This fourth office, therefore, had fallen by lot to Zacharias, while the three others had fallen to other priests of the same class of Abia. This is clear from the Greek ἔλαχε τοῦ θυμιᾶσαι, “he had obtained by lot to burn incense.”
Some, as S. Ambrose, Bede, Theophylact, and S. Augustine think that Zacharias was the high priest, because he burnt incense on the altar of incense, for they think that this was in the Holy of Holies, which no one except the high priest might enter. But I have shown (Exod. 40:24), that this altar was not in the Holy of Holies, but in the Holy place, which the common priests used to enter daily. The expression here used, it was his lot (sorte exiit. Vulgate) confirms this; for the high priest was superior to all lots, and, whenever he chose, used to minister in the temple. Besides, at this time, not Zacharias but Joazar was the high priest, as Josephus tells us (Antiq. xvii. 8).
Morally, we may learn that angels appear while we are engaged in sacred things, and that God either Himself or by an angel speaks with the soul when we are engaged in prayer or sacrifice, as the angel appeared to Zacharias when he was burning incense.
[10] et omnis multitudo populi erat orans foris hora incensi.
And all the multitude of the people was praying without, at the hour of incense.
At the time of incense. That is to say, when the priests burnt the incense; for according to the religious usage of all nations incense was burnt in the worship of God.
And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
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| Model of Jerusalem, Herod's Temple |
[12] Et Zacharias turbatus est videns, et timor irruit super eum.
And Zachary seeing him, was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
Berthold Werner [Public domain]
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Herod's Temple: Plan
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1. Holy of Holies
2. Veil
3. Holy Place: the Hekal
4. Altar of Incense
5. Court of Priests
6. Court of Israel
7. Altar of Sacrifice
8. Nicanor Gate
9. Court of Women
10. Temple Treasury
11. Gate Beautiful
12. Court of Gentiles
''The Temple properly so called was divided into three parts : the vestibule (the Olam), the Holy Place (the Hekal) and the Holy of Holies, entered by the High Priest only.The Hekal was separated from the Holy of Holies by a double curtain, between the two portions of which a space was left wide enough for a low wall one cubit high, which extended right across. In front of this curtain which Saint Mark designates by the Greek word ''Catapetasma'', and which Josephus asserts he saw at Rome amongst the spoils of the Temple, still all stained with the blood from the daily sprinklings, was the altar of sweet-smelling incense. It was a small table of shittim wood, which is a kind of acacia, covered with thin plates of gold, and one cubit wide by two high.At each of the four corners rose a pointed horn, and it was surrounded by a floral ornamentation, forming a kind of crown.
Incense was offered up twice every day, in the morning and the evening by the Priest on whom the lot fell for the performance of this service. This incense was prepared in a peculiar manner : seven different plants were used, and one of these plants...had the property, when burnt, of rising in an upright column of smoke, instead of dispersing in clouds on issuing from the censer. The Priest on duty brought the censer, a vessel made of fine Pernaim gold, with a long handle, into the Hekal and, having first put fire in in it, taken from the Altar of Burnt Offerings, he added the incense, placed the sacred vessel containing it on the Altar and withdrew from the Holy Place.''
[Taken from The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by J. James Tissot, Sampson, Low, Marston, London, 1897]
Zacharias was troubled. Both because of the unusual sight, and because of the majesty in which he appeared, which human weakness could scarcely endure to behold: “for man is not strong enough to
bear such a strange and unusual sight without alarm.” Titus. So Daniel, when the same angel appeared to him, says, “There remained no strength in me, and my comeliness was turned into corruption.” Hence it is the sign of a good angel if at first he causes fear and afterwards joy; but of a bad angel if he makes a man sorrowful after causing joy; whence S. Antony says, “If joy has succeeded to fear we may know that the vision is from God; for the peace of the soul is a sign of the Divine presence; but if the fear remains unshaken it is an enemy who is seen.”
[13] Ait autem ad illum angelus : Ne timeas, Zacharia, quoniam exaudita est deprecatio tua [1] : et uxor tua Elisabeth pariet tibi filium, et vocabis nomen ejus Joannem :
But the angel said to him: Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John:
[1] Thy prayer is heard. Not his prayer for offspring, S. Augustine says, of which he now so despaired that he did not believe the promise of the angel (verse 20), but thy prayer as a priest for the sins of the people and for the coming of the Messiah. But God, who goes beyond the merits and the prayers of suppliants, promised him a son who should be the prophet and forerunner. So Bede, Theophylact, S. Augustine, S. Chrysostom. Some, however, are of opinion that this prayer of Zacharias was for offspring, only that it had been offered not at this time, but formerly when he was younger.
[2] Thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shall call his name John. Because John, according to Maldonatus, is the same in Hebrew as beloved: or, according to Pagninus, the gift or mercy of the Lord. This is not, however, the precise meaning; for then he would have rather been called Hananiah than John. Properly, therefore, the name John signifies, God hath had mercy. And He did this first when he heard the prayer of Zacharias; and secondly by appointing John as the forerunner of the Messiah, and soon after by sending the Messiah Himself; for it was by Christ, and not by Moses and the law, that grace came. So the son of Anna was called Samuel, that is asked and obtained from God by the tears of his mother for the salvation of the whole people, 1 Sam. 1:20. Thirdly, God also showed mercy on John himself (Bede, Jansen, Maldonatus), by filling him with His manifold grace; by which He made him a Doctor in Israel, a Prophet, an Anchorite, a Martyr, a Virgin, and the Forerunner of Christ. John therefore was, as it were, the Son of Charities and Graces, in whom all the Graces of God seem to have blended together.
Mark here the threefold mystery of the three names: for Elizabeth, that is, the oath of God who promiseth, and Zacharias, God’s remembrance of His promise, are the parents of John, that is, the mercy and grace of God.
[14] et erit gaudium tibi, et exsultatio, et multi in nativitate ejus gaudebunt :
And thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice in his nativity.
And thou shalt have joy and gladness. Thy son shall be to thee and to many others the cause of the greatest joy and exultation.
For he shall be great before the Lord; and shall drink no wine nor strong drink: and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
[1] Great in the sight of the Lord: to Whom alone it belongs to determine what is great, what is ordinary, and what is small. Many, says S. Theophylact, are called great in the sight of men, who, being little, esteem little things as great; but John was great in the sight of the Lord, who, being great, weigheth things that are great.
He was great on account—1. of his sanctification in his mother’s womb; 2. the depth of his humility; 3. his extraordinary charity; 4. his exemplary penitence; 5. his seraphic zeal; 6. his whole life, which was as much human as angelic; 7. the sublimity of his prophesying; 8. his solitary life; 9. his office of forerunner of Christ; 10. his most noble martyrdom. See the twenty eight privileges ascribed to John, which Baradius enumerates here.
[2] And he shall not drink wine nor strong drink. Strong drink (Sicera) is everything that intoxicates. To abstain from wine and strong drink was peculiar to Nazarites; and from this place it appears that John was one during the whole of his life.
[3] And he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother’s womb. This was when on the entrance of the Blessed Virgin he leapt in his mother’s womb, and, as far as he could, fulfilled his office of forerunner. John, therefore, was born again of the Spirit before he was born of his mother.
Was John then truly cleansed from original sin in the womb and justified? S. Augustine (Ep. 57) and S. Jerome (in Jerem. i.) maintain that he was not; for they say that John and Jeremiah are both said to have been sanctified in the womb not really, but according to the predestination of God; for they were ordained to future sanctity, so that the same is said here concerning John that the Apostle says of himself, Gal. 1, “Who separated me from my mother’s womb.” The reason that S. Augustine gives is, that to be born again presupposes being born; but John when in the womb was not yet born; therefore he could not have been born again in reality, but only according to the predestination of God.
But the common opinion of the Fathers is contrary to this (S. Athanasius, Cyprian, Ambrose, Gregory, and others) which I approve of—First, because the angel here most clearly promises “he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother’s womb.” Secondly, because at the salutation of the Blessed Virgin he believed in Christ when in the womb. For at that time it was when he was visited and saluted by the Blessed Virgin in the sixth month from his conception that this wonderful sanctification took place. To the argument of S. Augustine I answer, that a man in order that he may be born again may be considered as born when he has been conceived in the womb; for then as he is born in original sin so also he can by grace be born again and even baptized, as is clear from the practice of the Church in certain cases.
[16] et multos filiorum Israel convertet ad Dominum Deum ipsorum
And he shall convert many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.
[17] et ipse praecedet ante illum[1] in spiritu et virtute Eliae[2] : ut convertat corda patrum in filios,[3] et incredulos[4] ad prudentiam justorum, parare Domino plebem perfectam.[5]
And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias; that he may turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the incredulous to the wisdom of the just, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people.
[1] He shall go before Him. John went before Christ. 1. In his birth, for he was born six months before Christ. 2. In his baptism, for he baptized before Christ did; yea, he even baptized Christ. 3. In preaching of repentance that he might prepare the way for Christ. 4. By pointing out Jesus as the Messiah and Lamb of God who should take away the sin of the world. 5. By suffering martyrdom before Christ. 6. In descending to the fathers in limbus, and announcing to them that Christ would soon come and set them free.
[2] In the spirit and power of Elias. As Elias did excel and in the end of the world will excel in a spirit steadfast and powerful for contending against Antichrist, so that he will convert Jews and others from him to Christ; so in the same powerful spirit John will excel, and by his preaching and holy example move the hardened Jews to repentance, and so prepare them for the baptism of Christ.
The spirit of power in John was like that in Elias; 1. In the austerity of his life. 2. They both lived in solitude. And 3, in poverty and contempt of the world. 4. In zeal, and in fervour of preaching, by which both of them converted many Israelites to repentance, and Elias will again do so in the last days, according to the saying (Ecclesiasticus 48:1), “Elias stood up like fire, and his word burned like a lamp.” In the same way Christ says of John, “He was a burning and a shining light,” S. John 5:35. 5. In fortitude and suffering: for as Elias contended against the priests of Baal, and their patrons Ahab and Jezebel, and again in the last days will contend against Antichrist and his followers and will suffer many things from them and at last be slain as a martyr; so John contended against Herod and Herodias, and being beheaded by them obtained the crown of martyrdom.
John here is rather compared to Elias in his future coming than in his past; because, as Elias will precede the second coming of Christ with great spirit and power, so likewise John with the same spirit and power will precede the first coming of Christ. S. Ambrose says that he will go before Him “in the spirit and power of Elias, because Elias had great power and grace, so that he turned back the hearts of the people to faith, power of abstinence, and patience and the spirit of prophecy. Elias was in the wilderness; so also was John.… The one sought not the favour of Ahab; the other despised that of Herod. The one divided Jordan; the other brought men to the laver of salvation. The one was the forerunner of our Lord’s first advent, the other of His second,” &c.
[3] To turn the hearts of the fathers, &c. John did this when he urged them by word and example to imitate the faith and piety of their fathers; for thus the fathers acknowledged their children as the worshippers of the true God. These words are taken from Malachi, who speaks literally of Elias, typically of John.
[4] And the disobedient, &c. Greek ἀπειθεῖς, Vulgate, incredulos. That is, he will turn them to the faith and wisdom which the just had and have concerning Christ, which consists in the fear and love of God and of heavenly things, and not perishable, according to the teaching of Christ (Maldonatus). Or, John will cause the unbelieving Jews to consider the signs of the coming of the Messiah given by God to the fathers, and from them to know and believe that Christ has already come, and that this Jesus, whom John pointed out as such, is He.
[5] A people prepared, &c. Perfectam, Vulgate; κατασκευάσμενον, Greek; that is well and perfectly prepared and made ready for receiving the teaching and faith of Christ, and the perfection of grace, justice, and the Christian life brought by Christ from heaven.
And Zachary said to the angel: Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.
And Zacharias said to the angel, &c. That is, give a sign or a miracle for a proof to me that the great things which you are promising will surely come to pass. This hesitation on the part of Zacharias seems to have proceeded from want of deliberation and reflection, and therefore was only a venial sin, for which he was punished by being deprived of the power of speech. Far otherwise did Abraham, who, when the angel promised that Isaac should be born to him from Sarah who was barren, immediately believed; “for he was strong in faith, giving glory to God, being fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was able also to perform,” Rom. 4:20, 21.
[19] Et respondens angelus dixit ei : Ego sum Gabriel, qui asto ante Deum : et missus sum loqui ad te, et haec tibi evangelizare.
And the angel answering, said to him: I am Gabriel, who stand before God: and am sent to speak to thee, and to bring thee these good tidings.
I am Gabriel, who stand. That is, “I am wont to stand, ready to minister to the will of God in all things; I am not indeed now standing before Him in heaven, for I have been sent thence to thee to the earth.” Although on the earth angels may also stand before God, and behold His Face; for God is everywhere (S. Matt. 18:10). Hence we may gather that the same angels stand before God and minister to Him, although S. Dionysius the Areopagite and S. Gregory deny this; for Gabriel stands before God and ministers to Him, and is sent to Zacharias.
Moreover, the words “stand before” signify that Gabriel is one of the seven angels who are the chiefs of the heavenly court, as are also Michael and Raphael (Tobit 12:15). Of these seven angels I have spoken at length on Apocal. 1:4. Wherefore although some, as Toletus, are of opinion that Gabriel belongs to the last order but one, which is that of archangels, because he is elsewhere called an archangel, yet he more truly seems to be one of the first order which is that of seraphim, and therefore is called by many an archangel; and there are not wanting some who think that he is the first of all among the seraphim. Cardinal Vignerius (in Decachordo Christ. Cord. i. 2) proves this by eight reasons which I have enumerated on Dan. 9:21. All of which are reduced to this one. For the highest work it is fitting that the highest angel should be sent; but the Incarnation of the Word is the highest work of God, therefore Gabriel, who was sent to announce that, is the highest angel. But this reason is not conclusive, as I have there shown. For the common opinion of theologians is that Michael is the highest of all the angels, and the Antagonist of Lucifer. Apocal. 12:7.
Gabriel in Hebrew means God hath strengthened me, or the strength of God, or God is my strength. He is therefore fitly sent to announce the birth of John and to bestow upon him the spirit of power.
[20] Et ecce eris tacens, et non poteris loqui usque in diem quo haec fiant, pro eo quod non credidisti verbis meis, quae implebuntur in tempore suo.
And behold, thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be able to speak until the day wherein these things shall come to pass, because thou hast not believed my words, which shall be fulfilled in their time.
And behold thou shalt be dumb, &c. Theophylact and S. Ambrose translated, “thou shalt be deaf,” and so make a distinction from what follows, “and not able to speak.” For although the Greek word σιωπῶν properly signifies one who is dumb, yet one who is deaf may be understood by the same word; for dumbness and deafness are naturally connected, for those who are born dumb are also deaf, and vice versa. Wherefore the Greeks alike call a dumb and a deaf man κῶφον. Zacharias therefore was made deaf as well as dumb. Whence in verse 22 he is called κῶφος. Hence at verse 62 his friends and neighbours do not speak to Zacharias as being deaf, but signify to him by signs that he should write the name by which he wished his son to be called. “He rightly,” says Theophylact, “suffered these two things, the loss of hearing and the loss of speech; for because he had been disobedient, he incurs the punishment of deafness; and because he had objected, of silence.”
Until the day that these things, &c. Zacharias not believing the promises of the angel, had asked for a sign to be given him of the birth of John; the angel therefore complying gives him a sign which at the same time shall be a punishment.
[21] Et erat plebs exspectans Zachariam : et mirabantur quod tardaret ipse in templo.
And the people were waiting for Zachary; and they wondered that he tarried so long in the temple.
[22] Egressus autem non poterat loqui ad illos, et cognoverunt quod visionem vidisset in templo. Et ipse erat innuens illis, et permansit mutus.
And when he came out, he could not speak to them: and they understood that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he made signs to them, and remained dumb.
[23] Et factum est, ut impleti sunt dies officii ejus, abiit in domum suam :
And it came to pass, after the days of his office were accomplished, he departed to his own house.
The days of his ministration, &c. λειτουργίας, Greek. That is of his sacred ministration in the Temple. His house was situated in the mountains of Judæa, where his wife Elizabeth was.
[24] post hos autem dies concepit Elisabeth uxor ejus,[1] et occultabat se mensibus quinque,[1] dicens :
And after those days, Elizabeth his wife conceived, and hid herself five months, saying:
[1] After those days his wife conceived. Elizabeth conceived about the 24th of September, on which day many Christian Churches celebrate the conception of John. So that the incense was offered by Zacharias, and his vision and the promise of the angel concerning the birth of John seem to have taken place a little earlier, during the feast of Tabernacles. By this it was signified that John would be born, who was to be the herald of Christ, and through Him the cause of common joy to the whole world; for he would teach men that they were strangers upon the earth, and that they dwelt in it as in a temporary tabernacle, and that they were enrolled by God as citizens of heaven, where they would obtain an eternal and most blessed home. For the Feast of Tabernacles was a sign of all these things, during which the Hebrews with branches of palm trees used to celebrate dances joyfully, because they had been brought in by God into the promised land, after they had been dwelling in tents during forty years in the wilderness. Hence it seems that John was conceived about the time of the autumnal equinox, and born about the time of the summer solstice, after which the days decrease in length; while, on the other hand, Christ was conceived at the vernal equinox, and born at the winter solstice, after which the days increase; because, as John said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
She hid herself five months, &c. This hiding was a sign of shame and modesty; for she blushed at her child-bearing on account of her age, says S. Ambrose; but in the sixth month, when she heard and saw that her kinswoman the Blessed Virgin had conceived without losing her virginity (which was a much more strange and wonderful thing), then she laid aside her shame and went forth openly.
[25] Quia sic fecit mihi Dominus in diebus, quibus respexit auferre opprobrium meum inter homines.
Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he hath had regard to take away my reproach among men.
My reproach. Among the Jews in that age, barrenness was a great reproach, and was considered as a sign of the malediction of God.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum tutus semper sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum tutus semper sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
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