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 be sent  to  a  woman  of  Israel,  but  that  she  should  be the  one — she,  a  lowly  maid,  not  married  yet,  and bound by  solemn  vow  never  to  be  known  of  man. How did  her  gentle  heart  flutter  and  her  spirit  glow with love  and  thankfulness  when  from  the  angel's  lips she heard  that  virginity  and  motherhood  are  not things incompatible  in  her  whose  offspring  is  a  God; that He  who  made  the  barren  Elizabeth  conceive, could of  Mary's  flesh  and  blood  alone  build  Him  a body  for  His  indwelling. " Behold,"  she  says,  "  the handmaid  of  the  Lord,  be  it  done  to  me  according  to thy  word,"  and  in  that  very  instant  the  hopes  of  ages were fulfilled;  the  Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt amongst us.

Brethren, Mary's  first  impulse  was  to  be  away  from Nazareth, to  open  her  overflowing  heart  to  some sympathetic woman,  and  so  with  haste  she  sped  to whisper  her  secret  to  her  cousin  Elizabeth. Supposing even that  some  vague  doubts  still  haunted  Mary's mind,  they  must  have  been  utterly  dispelled  by  Elizabeth's greeting  of  her  as  the  Mother  of  her  God,  and the bound  the  Baptist  gave  at  the  approach  of  his  unborn Saviour. There Mary  spent  three  happy months, and  then  the  sword  began  to  pierce  her gentle heart. The Baptist's  birth  was  nigh,  and  soon the friends  and  neighbors  would  gather  round  to  congratulate his  parents  and  celebrate  his  circumcision. What would  they  think  of  Mary? With the  sublimest faith and  trust  in  God  she  had  bowed  her  will  to  His, but now  there  stared  her  in  the  face  suspicion, calumny and  death. Back to  Nazareth  she  fled,  and