At the time of Herod the Great, King of Judea,
a priest from the Abia group, named Zacharie.
His wife was also a descendant of Aaron;
her name was Elisabeth.
Both were righteous before God:
they followed all the commandments and precepts of the Lord
in an impeccable way.
They had no children, because Elizabeth was barren
and, what's more, they were both advanced in years.
Now, while Zechariah,
during the period allocated to the priests in his group,
ensured the service of worship before God,
he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priests,
to go and offer incense in the sanctuary of the Lord.
All the multitude of the people were praying outside
at the time of the incense offering.
The angel of the Lord appeared to him,
standing to the right of the incense altar.
At the sight of her, Zechariah was distraught
and fear gripped him.
The angel said to him:
"Don't be afraid, Zechariah,
for your prayer has been heard:
your wife Elizabeth will give birth to a son for you,
and you shall call his name John.
You will rejoice and be glad,
and many will rejoice at his birth,
for he will be great before the Lord.
He will not drink wine or strong drink,
and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb;
he will bring back many sons of Israel
to the Lord their God;
he will go before, in the presence of the Lord,
with the spirit and power of the prophet Elijah,
to return the hearts of fathers to their children,
bring the rebels back to the wisdom of the righteous,
and prepare for the Lord a people well disposed.
Then Zechariah said to the angel:
"How will I know this will happen?
I, in fact, am an old man
and my wife is getting on in years.
The angel replied:
"I am Gabriel
and I stand in the presence of God.
I've been sent to talk to you
and to tell you this good news.
But now you will be silenced
until the day it comes true,
you won't be able to talk,
because you didn't believe my words;
they will be fulfilled in their own time.
The people were waiting for Zechariah
and was surprised that he lingered in the sanctuary.
When he came out, he couldn't talk to them,
and they understood that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary.
He waved at them and remained silent.
When he had completed his time of liturgical service,
he went back home.
Some time later, his wife Elisabeth conceived a child.
For five months, she kept the secret.
She said to herself:
"This is what the Lord has done for me,
in those days when he set his eyes to erase
which was my shame before men."
Lk 1:5-25
