An Advent Poem from the 8th Century - Author Unknown

'O my Joseph, Jacob's son,

of the line of David, the great king,

do you mean to divide us who are one,

and to disdain my love?'

'All at once

I am deeply troubled, robbed of dignity;

I have endured hurtful abuses

because of you, bitter insults,
sore humiliations; men scorn me

with sour words. I must shed tears,

sad in mind. God can easily

heal my grieving heart's wounds,

comfort the wretched one. O young maiden,

Mary the virgin!'

'Why are you mourning,

why are you so sad? I have never found

fault in you, nor thought you guilty

of the least offence, and yet you speak

as if you were full of every sin

and of crimes.'

'I have incurred

too much malice because you are with child.

How am I to refute their hateful words,

answer my enemies? Everyone knows

that I willingly received an innocent virgin,

undefiled, from God's glorious temple.

Now where is her chastity? And which is best,

to keep quiet or to confess? If I tell

the truth, David's daughter will be stoned

to death. Even so, it is worse

to conceal her crimes; a perjurer,

hateful to all men, is despised for as long

as he lives.'

Then the virgin revealed

the miracle, and spoke thus:

'By the Son of God, saviour of souls,

I speak the truth when I say

that I have not embraced any man

on earth; but in my innocence,

Gabriel, archangel of heaven, appeared to me

in my own home; he said, truly,

that the heavenly spirit would fill me with radiance,

that I should bear the Triumph of Life,

the bright Son, the mighty child of God,

of the Glorious Creator. Now I am made

His immaculate temple, the Spirit of Comfort

resides in me - now you may set aside

your bitter sorrow. Give eternal thanks

to God's great son that I, a virgin,

have become His mother, and you His father

in the reckoning of the world. In Himself,

truly, that prophecy had to be fulfilled.'