Published at The Orthosphere on 9th of October, 2026.
I hope that those readers who remain on this wobbly sphere despite Professor Smith’s “lowering the tone” with his “querulous opinions” will indulge my presenting a little Catholic orthodoxy.
Ignatian contemplation, as St Ignatius elaborates in The Spiritual Exercises, involves the imaginative immersion in scenes from the Gospels. Similarly, Catholics are admonished, when praying the Rosary, to contemplate the the mystery associated with each decade. Under these influences, I tried to enter imaginatively into the first mystery—the Annunciation—of the first set of five mysteries—the Joyful Mysteries. The immediate problem is how to imagine the angel Gabriel.
There is a plethora of images of this meeting in the plastic arts. Almost all feature the winged angel of most of the history of Christian iconography and devotional painting, but that won’t do, as angels in the New Testament are never represented in that way. They appear as men, usually with some distinguishing mark of apparel or bodily appearance—an insignia of sorts—that distinguishes them. Among the more laid-back angels are those who appear at the Ascension. (Quotations from the ESV unless otherwise indicated.)
And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” [Acts 1:9-11]
Only the white robes distinguish them, but in the circumstances there can be no ambiguity as to their nature.
The angel who rescues St Peter from Herod reveals his nature by his insignia—the light that shines about him in the cell and his manifest power, so astonishing that St Peter believes himself to be seeing a vision.
Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. … He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. … When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.” [Acts 12:6,7,9,11]
At the empty tomb, in an echo of the Transfiguration,
…as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. [Luke 9:29]
those “white robes” become “dazzling apparel.”
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. [Luke 24:1-5]
Another element appears here; they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground. Thus is introduced the element of fear of the Lord at the appearance of his messenger, familiar from the Old Testament. Cf. Numbers 22:31 (Balaam), Judges 6:22 (Gideon) and Judges 13:22 (Manoah, father of Samson).
Nothing brings out the heavenly choir in all their glory, though, like the Nativity.
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. … And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Luke 2:8-9,13-14
The glory shines upon them, and the fear wells within them. So it is with close encounters of the angel kind.
The daddy of them all, in events recounted by St Luke, is the archangel Gabriel. He makes two indispensable appearances, one an announcement, and one a proxy proposal on behalf of the Holy Ghost.
The altar of incense stood in the Holy Place of the temple immediately in front of the curtain of the Holy of Holies. That curtain was only passed through once a year by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement. Until, that is, everything changed.
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. [Matthew 27:50-51]
Incense was offered morning and evening on the altar of incense in front of the curtain.
But [Zechariah and Elizabeth] had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.” … And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” [Luke 1:7-13,18-20]
Circumstances affect apprehension here, as at the Ascension. Gabriel’s appearing in the Holy Place beside the altar of incense is his credential, and Zechariah is correctly troubled and afraid at the sight. Gabriel delivers his message, and Zechariah asks the perfectly reasonable question. Gabriel’s response is to assert his elevated rank. It sounds like, “How dare you question me,” an impression which is reinforced when he sentences Zechariah to nine months of speechlessness for daring to voice a doubt, in spite of his fear.
“In the sixth month” Gabriel pays a parallel visit.
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favoured one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” … And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”[Luke 1:26-31,34-38]
St Luke is careful to draw both the parallel and the distinction. Mary, too, asks a question, and one which is not obvious. What could me more natural than to expect a betrothed woman soon to conceive a child? After all, Gabriel does not say that this conception will happen immediately. The Greek word for virgin, which is used in “virgin betrothed” (παρθένον ἐμνηστευμένην) in verse 27, is parthénos ( παρθένος). In her question in verse 34, Mary says “ἐπεὶ ἄνδρα οὐ γινώσκω” (since I do not know a man). Whether this construction can imply an ongoing expectation I cannot say.
Leaving that obvious puzzle aside, Gabriel’s reaction to the question is starkly different. He makes no mention of his identity or exalted status, and there is no note of a rebuke in his elaborating the circumstances of her coming conception. And, far from any threat or penalty, he offers the previously unannounced pregnancy of her relative Elizabeth to persuade Mary of the credibility of his claim. And that is enough. For, though sensible enough to ask the question, the Virgin is so attuned to the reception of Truth that she recognises it in the words of Gabriel, and in the space of those few sentences she goes from uncertainty to certainty, from reservation to total commitment. In those moments the hinge of salvation turns. “Be it unto me according to thy word.”
A less obvious point of difference is tucked away in here: she was greatly troubled at the saying… Contrast that with Zechariah, who was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. It is not anything about the appearance of the great archangel that troubles Mary, but the nature of the greeting he addresses to her: Greetings, O favoured one, the Lord is with you! Or, as Catholics repeat in the Rosary, Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee! From this, we may conclude that there was nothing about his appearance to inspire awe and fear; no dazzling garment, no glory of the Lord shining about him, no radiant face. An ordinary young man, but one who speaks with a disturbing authority.
Since patristic times, the difference in the treatment of Zechariah’s and of Mary’s question has drawn commentary. Less frequently commented on is the difference in the manner and comportment of Gabriel in each case. Yet the difference in Gabriel’s response to the question is in keeping with the difference of his approach to Mary. For Gabriel knows what the Virgin does not; that in the womb of this slip of a girl the Lord God Almighty, before whom he stands in service, will take to himself, through her, human form and flesh and nature, and that it is his terrible commission to elicit her fiat, her free agreement. No ostentatious display of his own status and power is appropriate before the Virgin, for she outranks him, and for the same reason, no threat or penalty from Gabriel is conceivable.
For reasons known only to themselves, the Trinity have placed created human beings at the apex of their affection, and at the apex of the apex the Blessed Virgin stands before Gabriel.
I have found here my key to imagining the Annuciation.