Birth of Mary (Infancy Gospel of James)

Adapted from the M.R James translation, following Lobegott Friedrich Constantin (von) Tischendorf (January 18, 1815 – December 7, 1874)

1.

There was a man, Ioachim, who was very rich.
and Ioacim had gotten no seed in Israel.
And he searched, and found concerning the righteous
that they had all raised up seed in Israel.
And he remembered the patriarch Abraham,
how in the last days God gave him a son, Isaac.
And Ioacim was upset, and did not show himself to his wife, Anna,
but took himself into the wilderness, saying:
I will not go down either for meat or drink
until the Lord my God visit me.

2.

Now Anna lamented with two lamentations,
and bewailed herself with two bewailings, saying:
I will bewail my widowhood,
and I will bewail my childlessness.
And she adorned her head
and put on her bridal garments
and besought the Lord saying: O God of our fathers,
bless me, and hearken to my prayer,
as you did bless the womb of Sarah,
and gave her a son, Isaac.

3.

And she spied a nest of sparrows in a laurel tree,
and made a lamentation within herself, saying:
Woe unto me, unto what am I likened?
I am not likened to the fowls of heaven,
for even the fowls of heaven are fruitful
before you, O Lord.
Woe unto me, unto what am I likened?
I am not likened to this earth,
for this whole earth brings forth her fruits in due season
and blesses you, O Lord.

4.

And an angel of the Lord appeared, saying
Anna, Anna, the Lord has hearkened to your prayer,
and you shall conceive and bear,
and your seed shall be spoken of
throughout all the world.
And Anna said: As the Lord my God lives,
if I bring forth either male or female,
I will bring it for a gift to the Lord my God,
and it shall be ministering to him
all the days of its life.

5.

And there came two messengers saying unto her:
Look! Ioachim your husband
is coming with his flocks.
And Anna stood at the gate
and saw Ioachim coming,
and ran and hung upon his neck, saying:
Now I know that the Lord God has greatly blessed me:
for the widow is no more a widow,
and she that was childless shall conceive.
And Ioachim rested the first day in his house.

6.

And her months were fulfilled,
and in the ninth month Anna brought forth.
And she said to the midwife: What have I brought forth?
And she said: A female.
And Anna said: My soul is magnified this day.
And she laid herself down.
And when the days were fulfilled,
Anna purified herself
and gave suck to the child
and called her name Mary.

7.

And day by day the child grew strong,
and at six months her mother stood her upon the ground
to see if she would stand;
and she walked seven steps and returned to her bosom.
And Anna caught Mary up, saying:
As the Lord my God lives,
you shall walk no more upon the ground,
until I bring you into the temple of the Lord.
And she called for Hebrew virgins,
and they carried her here and there.

8.

And Anna made a song to the Lord God, saying:
I will sing a hymn to the Lord my God,
because he has visited me
and taken away my reproach.
The Lord has given me a fruit of his righteousness,
single and manifold before him.
Who shall declare to the sons of Reuben that Anna gives suck!
Look, you twelve tribes of Israel: Anna gives suck!
And she laid the child to rest
in the bed chamber of her sanctuary.

9.

And the child was three years old, and Ioacim said:
Call the Hebrew virgins,
and let them each take a lamp,
and let each lamp be burning,
that the child not turn backward
nor her heart be taken captive away
from the temple of the Lord.
And they did so until they had gone up into the temple of the Lord.
And the Lord put grace upon her, and she danced with her feet,
and all the house of Israel loved her.

Poems for Advent 2017