Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume VIII/Apocrypha of the New Testament/The Gospel of the Nativity of Mary/Chapter 4

Chapter 4.

Thereafter he appeared to Anna his wife, saying:&#160; Fear not, Anna, nor think that it is a phantom which thou seest.&#160; For I am that angel who has presented your prayers and alms before God; and now have I been sent to you to announce to you that thou shalt bring forth a daughter, who shall be called Mary, and who shall be blessed above all women.&#160; She, full of the favour of the Lord even from her birth, shall remain three years in her father&#8217;s house until she be weaned.&#160; Thereafter, being delivered to the service of the Lord, she shall not depart from the temple until she reach the years of discretion.&#160; There, in fine, serving God day and night in fastings and prayers, she shall abstain from every unclean thing; she shall never know man, but alone, without example, immaculate, uncorrupted, without intercourse with man, she, a virgin, shall bring forth a son; she, His hand-maiden, shall bring forth the Lord&#8212;both in grace, and in name, and in work, the Saviour of the world.&#160; Wherefore arise, and go up to Jerusalem; and when thou shalt come to the gate which, because it is plated with gold, is called Golden, there, for a sign, thou shalt meet thy husband, for whose safety thou hast been anxious.&#160; And when these things shall have so happened, know that what I announce shall without doubt be fulfilled.