tain day when he was alone, the angel of the Lord stood by him with a very great light. He being troubled at the sight of him, the angel who appeared to him allayed his fear, saying, Fear not, Joachim, nor be troubled at the sight of me; for I am an angel of the Lord, sent by Him to thee to tell thee that thy prayers are heard, and that thy alms have come up in His sight. For He hath truly seen thy shame and heard the reproach of barrenness not rightly cast upon thee. For God is the avenger of sin, not of nature, and therefore when He maketh any childless. He doth it for this cause, that He may the more wonderfully afford relief, and that that which is born may be known not to be of concupiscence but of the divine gift. For was not Sarah the first mother of your race unfruitful till her eightieth year? and yet in the last period of old age she bore Isaac, to whom was promised the blessing of all nations.[1] Rachel also, so pleasant to the Lord and so loved by holy Jacob, was long barren, and yet bore Joseph, not only lord of Egypt, but the deliverer of many nations who were about to perish of hunger. Who among the princes was stronger than Samson, or holier than Samuel? and yet both of them had barren mothers. If then reason persuadeth thee not by my words, believe in fact, that conceptions long delayed and barren births are wont
- ↑ Gen. xvii. 17. Sarah was ninety years old at the time referred to.
