Annunciation: The day God waited patiently for Mary’s “yes!”

And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David: and the virgin’s name was Mary.

And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. Who having heard, was troubled at his saying and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be.

And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father: and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end.

And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man? And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren. Because no word shall be impossible with God.

And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:26-38)

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Bible mysteries explained: The Annunciation the Ark and the Angels

The Ark of the Covenant is, of course, an ancient archetype (no pun intended) for the Blessed Virgin. The Ark contained the tablets of the Word of God. She was the bearer of the Word Incarnate. The Ark contained the manna of the wilderness. She held in her womb the Bread of Life. The Ark held the budding staff of Aaron. Within her was the spring of new life from the stump of Jesse. That she is the Ark of the Covenant is seen in Revelation 11-12 where, in John’s vision of heaven, he sees the Ark of the Covenant, and immediately afterwards sees the sign of the woman in heaven clothed with the sun who bears the child who rules with the rod of iron.

So the angels overshadow the Ark of the Covenant. Then there is that interesting story of Ruth in the Old Testament. You may remember that the young widow Ruth was entitled to marry her kinsman Boaz, who would look after her. According to custom she presented herself to him, and as a sign of his acceptance of her he takes her under his cloak. Now, the Hebrew word for a cloak is the same as ‘angel wings’ and is the same root as the word ‘to overshadow’. As a sign of betrothal, Boaz “overshadowed” her with his cloak.

Jump forward to the Annunciation and we see that the angel says “the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” This “overshadowing” therefore alludes to the angel wings, and to Boaz’ cloak of betrothal and to the wings of the angels that overshadowed the Ark of the Covenant. Thus in one little word the full imagery of the Old Testament prophecies about the Blessed Mother are brought to fulfillment. Also, we see why that curious (and seemingly superfluous) story of Ruth was included in the Old Testament.

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