The Annunciation to Mary
The Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, born September 8, 1774, in Coesfeld (in the Prince-Bishopric of Münster) and died February 9, 1824, in Dülmen (in the province of Westphalia), was a Catholic religious sister belonging to the Order of Augustinians and a mystic. She is venerated as a Blessed by the Catholic Church (beatified October 3, 2004, by Pope John Paul II). She is commemorated on February 9 in the Roman Martyrology. Wikipedia
Some time had passed since the two spouses had been living in Nazareth when Joseph left, I believe, to collect an inheritance or to procure some tools for his work. Mary remained, with Saint Anne (Mary's mother), in the house that the latter had given them and which she had just had repaired for their use. Two young girls, former companions of hers from the Temple, were also there with her.
Also read | Saint Anne of Auray, Protector of Brittany and Mother of the Virgin Mary
One evening, Mary withdrew alone to her room; she put on a long white robe with a wide belt and a yellowish-white veil; she knelt, lowered her veil, joined her hands on her chest, and prayed. I saw her pray thus for a long time with fervor, her face turned toward heaven. She implored the promised Redemption, the coming of the Messiah of Israel, and the favor of having some part in the mission of the Redeemer. She remained thus motionless and in ecstasy for a long time; then her head gently inclined onto her chest.
Then a dazzling light seemed to descend from the ceiling of the room to the right of the young Virgin; and within the light, a young man with blond, flowing hair and resplendent with brightness was seen: it was the angel Gabriel. He spoke to her, and I saw the words come from his mouth like luminous letters; I read and heard these letters all at once. Mary turned a little toward him, but without looking at him, restrained by her extreme modesty. As the angel continued to speak, Mary turned her head toward him, as if to obey him, lifted her veil halfway, and replied with a few words. The angel spoke for the third time; Mary then lifted her veil completely, raised her eyes toward him, and pronounced the words of the Gospel:
“Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word.”
The Holy Virgin was in a profound rapture. The light that filled the room had caused the glow of the lamp to vanish. The ceiling seemed removed and heaven appeared open above her head. Then, above the angel, a torrent of light showed me the Holy Trinity, under the figure of a luminous triangle whose rays interpenetrated each other. I recognized in it what can only be adored in silence: the Almighty God. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, who is but one Almighty God.
When the Holy Virgin had said:
“Be it done unto me according to thy word”,
the Holy Spirit appeared under a winged figure, which however was not that of the dove, His ordinary emblem. The head had a human face; on both sides fell what seemed like two wings formed of light. From the hands and the heart of the vision sprang three luminous currents which came together at the right side of Mary.
As soon as this light had penetrated her, she herself appeared all resplendent and as if diaphanous: it was like the flight of darkness before the brightness, day succeeding night. Nothing in her remained obscure: she was inundated with splendor and all dazzling. Then the angel disappeared; the light that had brought him withdrew: heaven seemed to inhale and absorb this torrent of splendor. And as it vanished, a rain of white roses and green leaves fell upon Mary from its last gleams.
During this vision, I felt frozen with terror, as if I were threatened by some great peril. I perceived a horrible serpent that had slithered through the house: it came to the door of the room and stopped on the third step. This serpent, the length of a child, was broad and flat toward the head; two short membranous paws emerged at chest height, armed with claws and furnished with a sort of wing like the wing of a bat; the serpent used them to crawl. Its skin was spotted with the most detestable colors, and it was even more misshapen and hideous than the serpent of Paradise. When the angel disappeared, he placed his foot on the head of the monster, which let out a cry so horrible that I shuddered with fright. Three spirits then appeared and chased it away with their feet out of the house.
After the disappearance of the angel, the Holy Virgin remained recollected and in ecstasy. I saw that she recognized and adored the incarnation of the Savior within her, in the form of a small luminous human body, already perfectly formed.
In Jerusalem, women must stop in the courtyard of the Temple; they cannot penetrate into the Holy Place, like the priests; but in Nazareth, it is a virgin who is herself the temple: the Holy of Holies is within her, the high priest is within her; she stands alone near Him. Oh! How touching, marvelous, and yet simple and natural this is! The words of David, in Psalm 46, are fulfilled:
“The Most High has sanctified His tabernacle; God is in the midst of it, it shall not be moved.”
It was about midnight when I saw this mystery. Anne was not long in hastening to her daughter: the other women came as well. A marvelous movement in nature had roused them from sleep: a luminous cloud covered the entire house. But when Anne and her companions saw Mary kneeling and in ecstasy, they respectfully withdrew.
Finally, the Holy Virgin rose and approached the small altar she had set up against one of the walls of her apartment; she lit the lamp and prayed standing. She read, on a lectern placed before her, the written scrolls that were fixed there. Toward morning, she lay down. Mary was a little over fourteen years old at the time of the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
Anne learned through revelation that the promise of God was accomplished. The Holy Virgin knew that she had conceived the Messiah, the Son of the Most High; but she did not yet know that the throne of David, her father, which the Lord God reserved for Him, was a supernatural throne, and that the house of Jacob, over which He would reign forever, was the Church, the society of regenerated humanity. She thought that the Redeemer would be a holy king who would purify His people and give them victory over Hell; she did not yet know that, to redeem men, this king must suffer a cruel death.
It was explained to me why the Redeemer willed to remain nine months in the womb of a mother and be born a little child, and not appear like Adam in the strength and beauty of perfect age; but I can no longer clearly convey these things. What I have retained is that He willed to sanctify anew the conception and birth of men, sullied by original sin. If His mother was Mary, and if He did not appear sooner, it is because she alone was what no other creature ever could be before or after her: the infinitely pure vessel of grace, promised and prepared by God for the incarnation of His Son and the redemption of the human race. The Holy Virgin was the only entirely pure flower of humanity, blossoming in the fullness of time. All the children of God, who from the beginning worked for the sanctification of souls, contributed to her coming. She alone was the pure gold of the earth; she alone was the pure and spotless flesh and blood of all humanity, prepared, purified, gathered, and consecrated through the generations of her ancestors, safeguarded and enriched under the regime of the Law, and finally blossoming in the world as the fullness of all grace. Foreseen from all eternity, Mary passed through time as the mother of the Eternal.
Source: Chap I page 63: On the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Reverend Father Brother Joseph-Alvare