In the light of Christian revelation,

it is possible to see the important part

that the holy women
of the Old Covenant played
in the work of God.
These women received the promises of God
in the conceptions of their children.
Sarah, who was a princess and was very beautiful,
was a strong-minded woman.
In her old age she was told by God,
in His visitation to Abraham,
that she would bear a child.
Both Abraham and Sarah were past child-bearing years,
which means that Sarah could no longer conceive
because her body no longer produced an egg
for fertilization.

Although men can sometimes produce offspring

in their old age,
women normally cannot.
However, God visited Abraham and Sarah
and promised them an heir.
Sarah laughed when she heard these words
(Isaac, the name of her child, means
she laughed.)
Like some of the other recipients of Gods promises,
she reacted at first with disbelief
(Zechariah, for example).
The fact that she laughed,
and did not seem to show much fear of God,
shows that she was quite an intelligent
and a proud woman.
Another strong woman of the Old Covenant
is seen in Rebeccah, who bore Jacob and Esau.

There is a mystery here: Jacob and Esau were twins

who fought even in Rebeccahs womb.
Although Esau was born first,
Rebeccah obtained the blessing
of her husband Isaac
for Jacob, who was a tent-dwelling man,
and the father of twelve sons.
One of these sons, Judah, also
became the father of twins,
the youngest of whom
became an ancestor of Jesus.
The youngest son
always wins the favor of God
in the Holy Bible.
Jesus, our Savior, won the favor of God
in the New and Everlasting Covenant
of the Sacrifice of His Body on the Cross.

Just as Abel pleased God more than did Cain

with his offering of the lamb.
Rachel, the wife of Jacob, was loved
but she also was barren.
After many years of tears,
she brought Joseph and Benjamin into the world.
Josephs life clearly foreshadows
the life of our Blessed Lord
whose beautiful coat
aroused the jealousy of His brothers.
His exile proved fruitful
when God exalted him
and rewarded His labors
with great increase of grace.
The wife of Manoah many centuries later
brought Samson into the world
announced by an angel.

She also was barren.

Samson, a man of extraordinary strength,
fell into the sin of Adam
and lost his strength.
But God restored him
and he gained more by his death
than by his life.
He is seen again in St. John the Baptist
and in Christ.
Hannah, the wife of Elkanah,
wept bitterly
because she had no child
until Samuel,
whom Hannah had promised to the Lord.
The last of the Judges,
Samuel grew up in the temple,
as did the Mother of God.

He was familiar with God

from hearing Him calling to him in the night.
He is seen again in Mary.
Anna, the mother of the Mother of Jesus,
also promised her child to God,
the Blessed Mother,
born of a barren woman,
whose miraculous conception
(Immaculate Conception)
took place in a mysterious and wonderful way
known only to God.
The only child of Joachim, her father,
Blessed Mother Mary,
the fruit of many centuries of Gods salvific Law
is the daughter of the Law.
She was born of those who kept the Law
with Love.

Her soul had no sin

and even her body was holy
and free of all corruption
because she lived in Gods Spirit
from the moment of her Conception
in the Love of the holiest couple
that ever lived on this earth.
Again, Elizabeth, the mother
of John the Baptist
and wife of Zechariah the priest
of the Old Covenant
was barren.
Again, an angel announced
the miraculous conception
of John, the prophet.
As St. Luke stated, everyone in the hill country
were talking about these events.

John was born

six months before Christ
at the time of the summer solstice
when the sun is closest to the earth.
Jesus, Who is God, was born
of the Holy Virgin
at the winter solstice
when the sun is farthest from earth.
God is conceived in the darkness
of the souls poverty
experienced as darkness
when the Light of Christ
is shining strongly upon the soul
as it did upon the soul
of the Blessed Mother of God
on the holy and glorious Day
of the Birth of Christ.

The Blessed Mother,

conceived without sin,
herself conceived without sin
the Son of God, of Whom
she is herself an image.
All is fulfilled in Christ.