34 Then said Mary unto the angel. How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee : there- fore also that holy thing which shall be bom of thee shall be called the Son of God.
36 And, behold, thy oousin Elisa-
beth, she hath also conceived a aoii in her old age : and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
38 And Mary said, Behold the hand- maid of the Xord ; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Let us mark, in these verses, the reverent and discreet manner in which the angel Oabriel speaks of the great mystery of Christ's incarnation. In reply to the question of the Virgin, ^^ How shall this be P " He uses these re- markable words : ^' The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee." We shall do well to follow the example of the angel