advanced in her days. How shall I know this? Behold, he says, the trembling of our limbs, and the old age of us both bowed toward the earth. If one part were young and one part grown old, there would be some small hope for what is said; but now the body of us both is decayed, we await nothing other than the sickle of death, like ripe ears of corn. Do you speak the truth, lord Gabriel? Give clear advances, entrust to me a sign as a pledge. I do not accept the promise, unless I see a wonder-working. How shall I know this? Aaron did not believe, unless the rod budded; Moses was not fully convinced, unless his hand turned white; and Gideon did not understand, unless dew came only upon the fleece. How then shall I know this? Give a sign, and I will dance youthfully. Give a sign, so that Elizabeth may not laugh rashly like Sarah. How shall I know this? If I am shown to be a second Abraham, there will be for me rights and properties according to Abraham. Enter my house, I will wash your feet, for you who has made a journey I will set a table filled with mystery, three measures of meal Elizabeth will knead, prefiguring the church, I will seek a calf, that you may grant a son. How shall I know this? Why do you foretell to me the name of the child, and enumerate his virtues when he is not present? Show me something against nature, so that I may believe what is beyond nature. If the heaven is vaulted anew, I too am renewed; if the sea is measured, my wife too is brought to bed; if the sun is seized, the dry breasts too will flow with milk; if the moon is walled in, the dry womb too is moistened. How then shall I know this paradoxical mystery? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in her days. But the angel to Zachariah: Do you demand God as a pledge? Do you tempt an archangel on earth? Judging bodily weakness to be more certain than the Lord's promise, are you not afraid to question: How shall I know this? Are you being sent to Egypt, that you should fear the pride of Pharaoh, and excuse yourself saying: "Appoint another, for I am of a slender voice and a slow tongue"? How will you know this, Zachariah? Does God work nothing beyond nature? Do you seek the consequence of nature, and not the wonder-working of the Godhead? Tell me: where are the pillars of the earth fixed? And where is the vault of heaven established? And where are the hollows of the clouds found? And where are the drops of rain warped? And where are the clods of snow quarried? And who drives the course of the sun? And who sets the bounds for the waning of the moon? And who numbers the multitude of the stars? And how does the raging sea respect the sand? And how are hot-flowing rivers mixed? And where is the mist of darkness woven? And how is a man formed in the womb? And how is the female found to be more timid than the male? And how is the godlike soul found all at once in the body? And Esau and Jacob, whom the whole world did not contain, how did the dark passage of Rebecca keep them unconfined? How shall I know this, you say, Zachariah? Do you seek a consequence of nature, where there is an energy of the Godhead? Do you disbelieve that the barren one can give birth? What if you should hear about the virgin? Did not Samson the Nazarite, when he struck a thousand foreigners with the jawbone of an ass, when he was constrained in a waterless place and by thirst, and had almost fainted, and cried out sincerely to God, did He not immediately open the hollow of the jawbone, and a pool of water formed, and gave the Nazarite to drink? If then in the jawbone of an ass He showed such a sign and from a dry bone He sent forth rivers of waters, will He hesitate to call those grown old in days to childbearing? How will you know, Zachariah? Do you not have the example of Abraham and Sarah? Was not he too an old man, and she barren and past the custom of purification

προβεβηκυῖα ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτῆς. Κατὰ τί γνώσομαι τοῦτο; Ιδε φησίν, τὰ τρέμοντα τῶν μελῶν, καὶ τὸ γῆρας τῶν ἀμφοτέρων εἰς γῆν νενευκός. Εἰ μέρος ἐνέαζε καὶ μέρος πεπαλαίωται, μικρά τις ην ἐλπὶς τῶν λεγομένων· νυνὶ δὲ τῶν ἀμφοτέρων τὸ σῶμα σεσάθρωται, οὐδὲν ετερον περιμένομεν η τὸ δρέπανον τοῦ θανάτου, ὡς στάχυες πέπειροι. ̓Αληθεύεις, δέσποτα Γαβριήλ; ∆ὸς δήλους προοδεύσεις, σημεῖον ἀρραβῶνά μοι πίστευσον. Τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν οὐ δέχομαι, εἰ μὴ θαυματουργίαν θεάσομαι. Κατὰ τί γνώσομαι τοῦτο; ̔Ο ̓Ααρὼν οὐκ ἐπίστευσεν, εἰ μὴ ἡ ῥάβδος ηνθησεν· Μωϋσῆς οὐκ ἐπληροφορήθη, εἰ μὴ ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ ἐλευκάνθη· καὶ Γεδεὼν οὐ συνῆκεν, εἰ μὴ ἐπὶ τὸν πόκον ὑετῶν μόνον γέγονε δρόσος. Κατὰ τί ουν γνώσομαι τοῦτο; ∆ὸς σημεῖον, καὶ χορεύσω νεανικά. ∆ὸς σημεῖον, ινα μὴ < ̓Ελισάβετ> ὡς ἡ Σάρρα προπετῶς γελάσῃ. Κατὰ τί γνώσομαι τοῦτο; Εἰ δεύτερος ̓Αβραὰμ ἀποφαίνομαι, ὑπάρξει μοι κατὰ τοῦ ̓Αβραὰμ δικαιώματα καὶ ἰδιώματα. Εισελθε ἐπὶ τὸ δῶμα μου, νίψω τοὺς πόδας σου, ὁδοιπορίαν στείλαντι παραθήσω σοι τράπεζαν μυστηρίου πεπληρωμένην, ἀλεύρου σάτα τρία ̓Ελισάβετ φυράσει, τὴν ἐκκλησίαν προζωγραφοῦσα, ζητήσω μόσχον, ινα δωρήσῃ παῖδα. Κατὰ τί γνώσομαι τοῦτο; Τί μοι τοῦ παιδὸς τὸ ονομα προλέγεις, καὶ τούτου μὴ παρόντος τὰς ἀρετὰς ἀπαριθμεῖς; ∆εῖξόν μοι τί παρὰ φύσιν, ινα πιστεύσω τὸ ὑπὲρ φύσιν. ̓Εὰν ὁ οὐρανὸς ἀνακαμαροῦται, κἀγὼ ἀνανεοῦμαι· ἐὰν ἡ θάλασσα μετρῆται, καὶ ἡ γυνή μου μαιοῦται· ἐὰν ὁ ηλιος καταλαμβάνηται, καὶ οἱ ξηροὶ μαζοὶ γάλα ῥυήσονται· ἐὰν ἡ σελήνη τειχίζηται, καὶ ἡ ξηρὰ μήτρα νοτίζεται. Κατὰ τί γνώσομαι τοίνυν τοῦτο τὸ παράδοξον μυστήριον; ̓Εγὼ γάρ εἰμι πρεσβύτης καὶ ἡ γυνή μου προβεβηκυῖα ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτῆς. ̔Ο δὲ αγγελος πρὸς τὸν Ζαχαρίαν· Θεὸν ἐνέχυρον ἀπαιτεῖς; ̓Αρχάγγελον πειράζεις ἐπὶ γῆς; Τὴν σωματικὴν ἀσθένειαν βεβαιοτέραν τῆς δεσποτικῆς ἐπαγγελίας ὁρίζων, ἀνακρίνειν οὐ δέδοικας· Κατὰ τί γνώσομαι τοῦτο; Μὴ γὰρ εἰς Αιγυπτον ἀποστέλλῃ, ινα φοβηθῇς τοῦ φαραῶ τὸν ογκον, καὶ παραιτήσῃ λέγων· "Προχείρισαι αλλον, ἐγὼ γὰρ ἰσχνόφωνος καὶ βραδύγλωσσος"; Κατὰ τί γνώσῃ τοῦτο, Ζαχαρία; Οὐδὲν ὑπὲρ φύσιν θεὸς ἐργάζεται; Η φύσεως ἀκολουθίαν ζητεῖς, οὐχὶ θεότητος παραδοξοποιΐαν; Εἰπέ μοι· τῆς γῆς οἱ στύλοι ποῦ πεπήγασιν; Οὐρανοῦ δὲ τὸ κύτος ποῦ καθίδρυσται; Νεφελῶν δὲ κύται ποῦ εὑρίσκονται; ̔Υετῶν δὲ σταγόνες ποῦ στημονίζονται; Βῶλοι δὲ χιόνος ποῦ λατομοῦνται; ̔Ηλίου δὲ δρόμος τίς ἡνιοχεῖ; Σελήνης δὲ μείωσιν τίς ὁροθετεῖ; Αστρων δὲ πλήθη τίς ἀριθμεῖ; Θάλασσα δὲ μαινομένη πῶς ψάμμον αἰδεῖται; Ποταμοὶ δὲ θερμόρρυτοι πῶς συγκιρνῶνται; ̓Ομίχλη δὲ σκότους ποῦ ἐξυφαίνεται; Ανθρωπος δὲ ἐν μήτρᾳ πῶς διαπλάττεται; Τοῦ δὲ αρρενος τὸ θῆλυ πῶς δειλότερον εὑρίσκεται; Θεοείκελος δὲ ψυχὴ πῶς ἀθρόον ἐν τῷ σώματι εὑρίσκεται; Τὸν ̔Ησαῦ δὲ καὶ τὸν ̓Ιακώβ, ους ὁ κόσμος ολος οὐκ ἐχώρησεν , πῶς ὁ τῆς ̔Ρεβέκκας σκοτεινὸς πόρος ἀστενοχωρήτους ἐφύλαξεν; Κατὰ τί γνώσομαι λέγεις τοῦτο, Ζαχαρία; Φύσεως ἀκολου θίαν ζητεῖς, οπου θεότητος ἐνέργεια; Τὴν στεῖραν ἀπιστεῖς γεννῆσαι; Τί ἐὰν ἀκούσῃς περὶ τῆς παρθένου; Οὐχὶ Σαμψὼν τοῦ Ναζωραίου ἐν σιαγόνι ο νου χιλίους ἀλλοφύλους πατάξαντος, ἐν ἀνύδρῳ καὶ δίψει συσχεθέντος, καὶ μικροῦ δεῖν ἐκλείψαντος, καὶ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν εἰλικρινῶς βοήσαντος , εὐθέως τὸν ολμον τῆς ο νου ηνοιξεν, καὶ υδωρ ἐλίμνασεν, καὶ τὸν Ναζωραῖον ἐπότισεν; Εἰ ουν ἐν σιαγόνι ονου τοιοῦτον σημεῖον ἐπεδείξατο καὶ ἐξ ὀστέου ξηροῦ ποταμοὺς ἀφῆκεν ὑδάτων, καὶ πεπαλαιωμένους ἡμερῶν πρὸς τεκνογονίαν ὀκνήσει καλέσαι; Κατὰ τί γνώσῃ, Ζαχαρία; Οὐκ εχεις ὑπόδειγμα τὸν ̓Αβραὰμ καὶ τὴν Σάρραν; Οὐχὶ κἀκεῖνος πρεσβύτης, κἀκείνη στεῖρα καὶ ἐκλείπουσα τὸν ἐθισμὸν τῶν καθαρσίων