(17) And an angel of God, one of the holy ones, said unto her, " Why weepest thou, Hagar? Arise, take the child, and hold him in thine hand ; for God hath heard thy voice, and hath seen the child."

(51) Observe it; the Angel said to Mary, Thou shalt conceive and bear a Son, and shalt call his Name Jesus; he shall be great, and be called a Son of the most High; and God the Lord shall give him the Throne of his Father David, and he shall be a King over the House of Jacob eternally, and of his Kingdom there shall be no End.

(35) Thus in that fore-mentioned Year, the Angel Gabriel came, being sent of God the Father to Nazareth, to a poor (yet chaste and modest) Virgin, called Mary, (her Name signifies plainly in the Language of Nature, A Redemption out of the Valley of Misery; and though it is plain, that we are not born of the high Nature in our School of Wonders [or Miracles,] fixed, [stedfast, or perfect,] which the a Master of Art, in his Pontificalibus, will not believe,) and he greeted her through God, and brought the eternal Command of the Father out of his Will, and said to her; Hail, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee, thou blessed among Women: And when she looked upon him, she was terrified at his saying, and [considered] in her Thoughts what Manner of Salutation this was. And the Angel said to her, Fear not, Mary, thou hast found Grace with God; behold, thou shalt 6 conceive in the Womb [or Body,] and bear a Son, whose Name thou shalt call Jesus; he shall be great, and be called the Son of the most High, and God the LORD will give unto him the Throne of his Father David, and he shall be King over the House of u Years. dLuke 1,28-35, 38. Jacob eternally, and of his Kingdom there will be no End. Then said Mary to the Angel, How shall that come to pass, since I know not a Man? And the Angel answered her, and said; The Holy Ghost will come upon thee, and the Virtue [or Power] of the most High will overshadow thee, therefore also that Holy One, that shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God. Then said Mary; Behold! I am the Handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as thou hast said; and the Angel departed from her. Now when this Command [or Message] from God the Father came, then the Nature of the Spirit of the Soul in Mary was astonished, as the Text says; for fit was stirred by a precious Guest, who went into a wonderful Lodging [or Inn.]

(27) Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise and flee thou to Laban, my brother, to Haran, and tarry with him a few days until thy brother's anger turneth away, and he remove his anger from thee, and forget all that thou hast done ; then I will send and fetch thee from thence."

(2) When Joseph was taken, his father Jacob lost his sight because of the tears of blood that flowed from his eyes. The name of Joseph was always on his lips. At last the Angel Gabriel went to him and said: ' If ever again you utter the

word ''Joseph'' I will strike your name from the roll of prophets and messengers.' When Jacob received this message from God the name of Joseph was lifted from his tongue, but he did not cease to repeat it in his heart. One night he saw Joseph in a dream, and would have called to him, but remembering God's command, he beat his breast and heaved a sad sigh from his immaculate heart. Then Gabriel came: ' God says that although you have not pronounced the name "Joseph" with your tongue, you have heaved a sigh, and thus destroyed all the effect of your repentance.'

(43) And early in the morning they departed, and it came to pass that, when they had gone from thence, Joseph said unto the steward of his house : " Pursue them, run and seize them, saying, ' For good ye have requited me with evil ; you have stolen from me the silver cup out of which my lord drinks.' And bring back to me their youngest brother, and fetch (him) quickly before I go forth to my seat of judgment."

(29) For he told them how he had seen everything in a dream, even all that He had spoken unto him thathe should return to his father s house ; and they said : "To every place whither thou goest we will go with thee."

(44) And Jacob re- membered the dream thathe had seen at Bethel, and he feared to go down into Egypt.

(29) And the Lord did not suffer him to injure Jacob; for He appeared to him in a dream by night. And Laban spake to Jacob.

(27) And the words of Esau, her elder son, were told to % Rebecca in a dream, and Rebecca sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him :

(40) And the Lord gave Joseph favour and mercy in the eyes of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh said unto his servants : " We shall not find such a wise and discreet man as this man, for the spirit of the Lord is with him."

(44) And while he was thinking of sending word to Joseph to come to him, and thathe would not go down, he remained there seven days, if perchance he should see a vision as to whether he should remain or go down.

(43) And Joseph said unto them : " Ye have done evil." And they 1 Gen. x'iv. (" Know yc not that such a man as I can indeed divine ? "). The change in our text may be deliberate. and do not be grieved for your possessions, for the Lord sent me before you to set things in order that many people might live.

(5) And towns and towers by toil of ill-starred men He raised. Then to the Hebrew race proclaimed, That each male child should in deep-flowing Nile Be drowned. My mother bore and hid me then Three months (so afterwards she told). Then took, And me adorned with fair array, and placed On the deep sedgy marsh by Nilus bank, While Miriam, my sister, watched afar.

(4) But I observe that Angels first were initiated in the Divine mystery of the love of Jesus towards man, then, through them, the gift of its knowledge passed to us. Thus, for example, the most divine Gabriel instructed Zachariah, the Hierarch, that the son who was to be born to him, beyond hope, by Divine grace, should be a prophet of the God-incarnate work of the Lord Jesus, to be manifested to the world for its salvation, as becomes the Divine goodness; and he revealed to Mary, how, in her, should be born the supremely Divine mystery of the unutterable God-formation. Yet another Angel instructed Joseph, how, in very truth, should be fulfilled the things Divinely promised to his ancestor David. Another declared glad tidings to the shepherds, as being purified by their separation from the multitude, and their quiet life, and, with him, a multitude of the Heavenly Host announced to those on earth that often-sung doxology. Let us then ascend to the highest manifestations of light contained in the Oracles, for I perceive that even Jesus Himself, the superessential Cause of the super-heavenly Beings, when He had come to our condition, without change, did not overstep the good order which becomes mankind, which Himself arranged and took, but readily subjected Himself to the dispositions of the Father and God, through Angels; and, through their mediation, was announced to Joseph the departure of the Son to Egypt, which had been arranged by the Father, and again the return to Judaea from Egypt. And through Angels we see Him subjecting Himself to the Father's decrees. For I forbear to speak, as addressing one who knows the teaching of our hierarchical tradition, both concerning the Angel who strengthened the Lord Jesus, or that even Jesus Himself, when He had come to manifest the good work of our beneficent salvation, was called Angel of Great Counsel. For, as He Himself says, after the manner of an Angel, "Whatsoever He heard from the Father, He announced to us."

(29) And it came to pass when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Laban went to shear his sheep ; for they were distant from him a three days' journey.

(44) I shall go down with thee, and I shall bring thee up2 (again), and in this land wilt thou be buried, and Joseph will put his hands upon thy eyes. Fear not ; go down into Egypt."