Nativity Of Mary
(Apocryphal) Gospel
And behold an angel of the Lord
came to Anna and said,
"Anna, the Lord has heard your prayer.
You shall conceive and bear a child,
and your offspring shall be spoken of
in all the world."
And Anna said,
"As the Lord my God lives,
if I bear a child,
whether male or female,
I will bring it as a gift to the Lord my God,
and it shall serve him all of its days."
In her ninth month
Anna gave birth to a daughter,
as the angel had said.
And she nursed the child
and called her Mary.
Day by day
Mary grew strong;
when she was six months old,
her mother stood her on the ground
to see if she could stand.
And Mary walked seven steps
and returned to her mother.
And they brought her to the chief priests,
and they blessed her, saying,
"O God of the heavenly heights,
look down on this child
and bless her with a supreme and unsurpassable blessing.
When Mary was three,
her parents brought her to the temple.
And the priest took her
and placed her on the third step of the altar,
and the Lord God put grace upon her
and she danced for joy with her feet,
and the whole house of Israel loved her.
And her parents went home
marveling and praising God,
because Mary did not turn back after them.
And Mary lived in the temple
nurtured like a dove,
and received food from the hand of an angel.
Nativity of Jesus
In the sixth month
the angel Gabriel was sent by God
to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin engaged to ... Joseph,
of the house of David.
The virgin's name was Mary. (Luke 1:26-7)
And he came to her and said,
"Greetings, favored one!
The Lord is with you." (Luke 1:38)
But she was much perplexed
by his words and pondered
what sort of greeting this might be. (Luke 1:29)
The angel said to her,
"Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God." (Luke 1:30)
"And now, you will conceive
in your womb and bear a son,
and you will name him Jesus." (Luke 1:31)
"He will be great,
and will be called the Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give to him
the throne of his ancestor David." (Luke 1:32)
He will reign over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his kingdom
there will be no end." (Luke 1:33)