Mary And Zechariah

Dixit autem Maria ad angelum, Quomodo fiet istud? Ecce Maria interrogat: et si qui interrogat, dubitat, cur solus Zacharias velut querulus percuntator incurrit? Quia pectorum cognitor non verba, sed corda pervidit; non quid dixerint, sed quid senserint, judicavit; erat enim interrogantium causa dissimilis, species perdivisa. Haec contra naturam credidit, ille dubitat pro natura; haec integrae rei ordinem quaerit, ille quae Deus jubet fieri non posse perscribit; ille impellentibus exemplis non accedit ad fidem, haec sine exemplo percurrit fidem; haec miratur de partu virginis, ille de conceptu disputat conjugali. Merito ergo haec loquitur, haec Deum suo cognoscit et confitetur in corpore; ille tacet, donec Joannem quem negabat, convictus proprio redderet ex corpore. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo CXLII Source: Migne PL 52.581

But Mary said to the angel 'How will this be?' 1 Behold, Mary questions, and if the one who questions doubts, why is Zechariah alone the one to err as a doubtful enquirer? 2 Because He who knows the soul examined not words but hearts; He judged not what they said but what they intended; for what caused the questions were different and separate was their presentation. She believed against nature, he doubted on account of nature; she asks how the whole affair will be arranged, he insists that what God ordains cannot come to be. He by compelling examples does not come to belief, she without example is quick to believe. She is amazed at a virgin giving birth, he disputes about conception in marriage. And so with merit she speaks, acknowledging her God and confessing Him in the body, he is silent until the John whom he denied refutes him in being born from his own body. Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 142 1 Lk 1.34 2 Lk 1.18-22