The Enlargement of the Heart Quotes

“the Holy Virgin was consecrated to the God of Israel at a very young age. While abiding in the Holy of Holies, she gave herself over to prayer, and was taught the Law of Moses and the Prophets by the priests. When, by God’s providence, she read the passage from Isaiah, ‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel,’35 her heart was ignited with one desire, and her whole being became one prayer: ‘O Lord, God of my Fathers, make me worthy to become the servant of the woman who will bring forth Immanuel into the world.’ And in the fervency of this humble prayer, which was prophetically fulfilling the future law of her Son, that is, ‘he that shall humble himself shall be exalted,’36 the Archangel appeared to her and said: ‘Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.”
― Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou, The Enlargement of the Heart