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

A New Day

Ἀνατέλλοντος φωτὸς, ὁ ὄρθρος ὑποχωρεῖ. Ἡλίου ἄνίσχοντος λαμπρῶς, τὰ τῶν ἀστέρων ἀμαυροῦται χορεύματα. Ὅτε αἴθριος ἡμέρα ἐπιφανῇ, τὰ τῆς ἔω ἀπολήγει σκιάσματα. Ὅτε ἡ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου σοφία ἐξέλαμψεν, ἡ τοῦ νόμου παιδαγωγία ἐσχόλασεν. Οὕτω κωφεύει Ζαχαρίας, τὰ τοῦ νέου καὶ παραδόξου ἀσπασμοῦ ἀκηκοὼς εὐαγγέλια. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΣΝΖ' , Εὐλογιῳ

The rising light removes the daybreak. The bright sun rising dims the companies of the stars. When the clear day is present the shadows of dawn reach their end. When the wisdom of the Gospel shines forth the introductory law comes to its rest. Thus Zachariah was dumb hearing things new and joyful, and a wondrous salutation. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 257, to Eulogius

Zachariah's Doubts

Quod ubi Zacharias, fratres, audivit, tantum se meruisse suis precibus sacramentum, rei ipsis consideratione territus, sacramenti ipsius aestimatione turbatus, nec se mereri tantum credidit, et Deum dubitatvit ad haec talia et tanta descendere. Hinc est quod dicit: 'Unde hoc sciam? Ego enim senex sum, et uxor mea processit in diebus suis.' Hoc est dicere, quomodo me habere filium ratio non permittit humana, ista nasci et mori Deum majestas non sinit sempiterna. Cui angelus veniabiliter non credenti peonam signi tantum dedit, non perfidiae: cautelae est tarde de Deo humilia credere, de Deo tardius conumeliosa sentire. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo XC

But, brothers, when Zachariah heard that he had merited so great a mystery by his prayers, he was terrified when he considered the matter, he was troubled by the thought of this mystery, for he did not believe he merited something so great, and he doubted that God was coming down for such momentous things, which is why he says, ' How may I know this? I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in her days.'1 Which is to say, as human nature does not allow me to have a son, so God's eternal majesty does not allow him to be born and die. This lack of belief being a venial matter, the angel gave him a punishment that was only a sign of doubt, not of faithlessness, of the caution of being slow to believe humble things of God, and to be slower to think dishonourably of God. Saint Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 90 1 Lk 1. 18

The Silence of Zachariah

Ἡ Ζαχαρῖου κώφευσις οὐκ ἐκπλήξει γέγονεν, ὡς ἐνόμισας, νουνεχέστατε. Ἐν συνηθείᾳ γὰρ θεοφανείας καὶ ἀγγελικῆς ὁσπτασίας ἥν ὁ ἱερεὺς, καθαρῶς τοῖς μυστηρίοις διακονούμενος, ἀλλὰ τῷ τύπῳ τῆς ἐκείνου σιγῆς, ἡ τοῦ νόμου ἐδηλοῦτο σιωπή. Τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ σιγῆς καὶ στειρώσεως, καὶ γήρως τεχθῆναι τὴν φωνὴν, τοῦτο οἴμαι δηλοῠν, τὸ ἐκ τοῦ παλαιωθέντος καὶ καταγηράσαντος στειρωθέντος, τῇ ἀνηκοῖα τῶν δεξαμένων νόμου τοῦ γραπτοῦ, τὰς περὶ Χριστοῦ προῥῥήσεις προελθεῖν, καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ μητέρα ἐκ τούτου συνελθεῖν.     Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΡΛΑ', Τιμοθεῳ Αναγνωστῃ

The muteness of Zachariah was not on account of fear, so you should judge, most prudent man, for in his priestly office, during his service of the mysteries, he was accustomed to theophanies and angelic visions, but rather it is a type of silence signifying the silence of the law. In the silence and barrenness, both of the working of an aged voice and the struggles of unfruitful aging, I think is made clear the disobedience of those who had received the written law, these things foretelling Christ's advent and his mother's meeting. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 131, to the Lector  Timotheus