Mary and the Angel
Soon it became too dark to read. She had to strain her eyes as usual to get things ready for the night. She took her long dark hair, combed it for a while and wrapped it in her main haircloth. It was a bit chilly that night and she grabbed another blanket before heading to her room. She saw a few stars out as she walked through the little patio of her parent’s house. She felt like staying under the canopy of heaven for a little while longer. She always felt inspired to reach Heaven without the confinement of mud walls. She did not say much, but shared with her God how excited and scared she was to be engaged. She prayed for her parents too, and her family. By the time she was praying for her nation she started to feel a bit sleepy. It had been a good day of chores and she felt it. She sure was not ready for what was coming.
A voice whispered her name as she laid down. She turned, scared, but did not see anyone. She still had a candle on in the corner. She was trying to decide whether to go get it when she felt someone’s presence in the room. Her dad, she thought, it couldn’t be, he still had not come back from his journey. She looked, but saw no one, but she knew she was not alone. She heard the breeze pick up a bit, the candle flickering in the night. Again she heard the stranger calling her name. She could not tell by the sound of the voice whether it was a man, a woman or a child. There was a special tone to this voice she had never heard before. Her lips almost uttered the question “who is there?” but were stopped by the sound of the voice yet again: “Maria.” What a beautiful melodious sound this was. She had never heard her name being said quiet like that, even when mama said it. This time the voice sounded closer and stronger. What would you do in her shoes? Would you be so courageous to get up and see who it is? She did. Although only 16 years old, she already had the courage of a giant. She had come from a humble home, sure, but was educated as a princess. She had experienced grief and loss many times, and had become stronger in the process. Yet she knew how to find the beauty in life. She was determined to find out God’s will for her life. She grabbed the candle and peaked through the dark hallway looking towards the patio.
A moment of silence went by, but she still felt she was not alone. Someone was looking for her. Did they come to harm her? Who would intrude in her house now?
As she pondered all options in her mind, the stranger began to materialize before her and it was not a normal stranger who had come to visit her. She looked and saw soft light rising from the ground up, like the glow of a fire but without the burning. No, it was more like the power of starlight subdued in softness of peace. The light formed into the shape of a person, for sure, but it was not a person. It hovered less than a foot above the ground, but without touching it. She had to decide whether to look up or not. And if this stranger had not said anything while materializing, she would have probably yelled and rushed out of the room. But the stranger said in this indescribably voice, neither human nor divine, neither male nor female, neither singing nor talking, but with the power of peace softly falling on her as the sound reached her: “Hello Mary, be glad with deep joy! It’s time for you to be happy and celebrate!” Mary could not tell whether the stranger was moving its mouth or if it even had a mouth to move, but she knew she saw a smile on its face, full of purity and love. She saw as it move its arms of light upwards towards heaven as if it was giving some kind of royal salutation. She saw that as the arms moved they left particles of light in the air, softly floating in the breeze like snow flakes of light. When the floating stranger said the word celebrate, Mary thought she heard many harps playing, as if in the distance, harmonies she had never heard nor she could ever explain. “The Lord of Heaven to whom you pray, He is with you tonight. You are the most blessed among all the women of Earth. Receive the blessing of Heaven!” As it finished its greeting, the stranger moved a bit closer to her. She could now see its hands, its light becoming even whiter than before. It seemed to blow a small kiss towards her, with the words “blessing of Heaven.” She had to close her eyes for a second as the particles of light from this glowing kiss brought to her every pure and warm thought she had ever had all together into one. There was in this stranger’s voice such peace that she did not even know it existed. Everything seemed to her like some kind of dream. “Could it be true than an angel from Heaven has come to bless me?” She thought. “What are the chances that in a nothing other than usual night like this, when I was just getting ready to go to bed, God sent an angel to a common girl like me? What does this greeting mean? Does he have the right person?”
The angel Gabriel looked his best when Mary opened her eyes back again. It had taken him a while to decide what to look like for one of his greatest messages ever. He wanted to allow her to see him but not scare her away. Angels know that humans tend to act really scared when they show up, they always have to remind them not to be scared. But for Mary, Gabriel wanted to make sure she got a sense of the significance of these news, of the excitement and the weight of such revelations. He wanted her to catch a glimpse of Heaven, inspire her and encourage her. So when she opened her eyes she saw him, and understood he was an angel. He looked at her with deep eyes, and made her feel as if she had known him for all her life. Mary had heard him speak, but she also sensed that he could talk to her without speaking, and that her thoughts were an open way of communication with him. He felt her heart beating as fast as the gallop of a stallion, he could gauge the temperature in her skin and the electrical impulses of her nervous system. He could have taken over her thoughts and forced her to calm down. But angels never do that. Only fallen ones do. Instead, he spoke again: “Don’t be afraid, Mary; God Himself is pleased with you. God likes you, Mary, He loves you.” He gently took hold of her hand even though he still hovered several feet away to help her stand up since she had been crouching leaning against the cold mud wall with one of her hands. She felt him holding her hand, but did not see it. He still looked at her from a distance. He was afraid she would pass out if he came any closer. His hand felt warm, almost too hot in her hand. Never would she feel that combination of energy, warmth and comfort, from any other touch. She followed his leading and slowly stood up. Her sweaty hand let go of the wall and she began to trust. He took her to the patio where a minute ago she had been looking at the stars. He filled the walls with warmth and particles of light and then continued: “Mary, God has chosen you among all the women of Earth. You will become pregnant, and you will deliver a baby boy. You will call give him the name ‘Jesus,’ because He will be the Savior of the human race.” When the angel said Jesus, Mary heard the harps again, as the particles of light all around shone brighter. She could not handle looking at Gabriel any longer, and stared at the floor with her mouth half open trying to follow as best as she could. “Your baby will become the greatest person who has ever lived.” The shining stranger continued, getting more excited and speaking faster now. “He will be called the Son of the Most High God and will become the undisputed King of Israel. He will guide the children of God for all the ages.” Gabriel was so excited now that he could not hide it and started becoming so bright that it was very hard to look at him. He became bigger and hovered higher, with his arms outstretched towards the stars. Every cell in her body seemed to be in tuned with the rhythm of his speech. It was ironic to see the greatest angel in heaven illuminating walls of mud and straw. All of Heaven was watching. Then Gabriel came closer, gently lifting Mary’s chin with his fingers to bring her look upwards, and said whispering as in the beginning: “Mary… your son will be the awaited one, the Desire of the Ages, the King of the Universe. He will bring peace to God’s people for eternity.” Gabriel could not help but to let a tear fall gently down his face of light, as he smiled as big as he himself could remember. He usually never got this close to humans, for sure never becoming so vulnerable as to tear up in front of them. But this was such a different event, and this one was such a different person. In the few moments he had been with her Gabriel could tell Mary was someone very special. He understood why she had been chosen.
He let his words sink in, as the sounds of harps still ringed softly from the word “eternity.” After a long pause, he started stepping back, trying to give Mary more space and preparing to leave, when he noticed that Mary was starting to believe. He knew she was a devout follower of God, but he had enough experience with humans to know it takes them a while to believe. He waited a little longer.
Mary believed the angelic being in front of her. She knew this had been prophesied and was not a fairytale of her own making. The excitement of the message, the music of Gabriel’s voice, the warmth and energy of his touch, the light, everything seemed like a fairy tale, except for the promise. Here she was, feeling the gentle breath of the most beautiful created being in heaven, being held by his arms of light, hearing him say that she was the chosen one to bear the Son of God. She could hear her brain coming up with millions of questions. She believed the promises, she believed the messenger, but her selfless spirit reminded her of the one that she had promised to love for the rest of her life. She, her body, did not belong to her any more. Was God going to wait until she got married? That could be a while, not knowing how much more Joseph would like to work before the actual wedding. She was not sure how aware angels were of such human experiences. All she could ask at the time was: “But how will this happen, since as you know I have not slept with any man. I am virgin waiting for my time to get married.”
The majestic angel looked up at the stars, smiling. He understood the dilemma that humans faced with these issues. He tried to be as encouraging as he could.
“Don’t worry about the details. Just know that the Spirit of God Himself will come into you in a very special way. His power will surpass your human impossibilities. That is why the holy child you will bear will be truly the Son of God.” Mary never thought angels had a sense of humor, but Gabriel seemed to chuckled a bit as he continued. “By the way, your elderly cousin Elizabeth, she is also pregnant with a special baby. In fact, she is already in her 6th month of gestation! The one who was known as the barren one will give birth to a boy.” The angel chuckled some more. Mary could now hardly contain her excitement. She was very close to her cousin Elizabeth. She knew very well how often they had tried to get pregnant and how God had closed her womb. She had put her trust in God, and even though she was disappointed, she had become resigned to God’s will. Now, when she was too old to get pregnant, when her body had passed the timing for being a mother, now God had remembered her! For Mary, the news about her cousin was almost better news than the news about herself. She chuckled too.
Having accomplished his task and knowing that he should not tarry, he lifted up his arms and said his final words to her: “Nothing is impossible with God.” At that, he gently let go of Mary’s hand that by now had grown so spoiled with angel’s touch, putting his hands on her young tummy and just as softly as he materialized, he vanished in the night, only a few lingering harp notes remained, as the last particles of light floated off into the air, affixing to the night sky like new born stars. She sighed, breathing her farewell into the chilly air, as if to say thank you to the angel that had brought her such impressive news in such thoughtful ways. When the angel put his hands on her tummy, she had not felt anything special, but she did not need to. She was afraid, she was young, she had no idea how. But she had the promises, and she allowed her heart the blessing of faith. Alone again with the crickets of the night, she whispered the prayer of her heart in simple words, breaking the silence of the moment: “Here I am, Lord, I am your little servant girl. If this is what you want me to do with my life, then let it be as you have said.” Suddenly she felt a breeze on her face. She recognized it this time as the breath of heavenly beings. She heard the harps again, more beautiful than before, and realized the angel had not left her yet. She is not sure whether it was at that moment or not, but she took the promise as reality and putting her hands on her tummy knelt to worship the God of the Heavens, as she felt the last bit of Gabriel’s presence leave her. She knew somehow that he had liked her prayer. Moments later, she slowly made her way to her room, looking back to see if anyone else would come. She kept telling herself: “were there harps or not? I thought I heard the sound of harps…” smiling as she kept this secret in her heart for the night.