“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, with a message for a girl betrothed to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David; the girl’s name was Mary.”
(Luke 1:26-27)

The angel and the maid. Heaven and earth. The proposal and the yes. And the Son of the Most High will reign on David’s throne over the house of Jacob for ages and his kingdom will have no end. A clear dialogue, a delicate expression, a gentle touch. The most sacred pact of human history is sealed in a few sentences with immediate accord. The angel says exactly what he has to say; the maid understands it and accepts it. And the angel takes his leave.

Gabriel, the angel of the beginnings, the advocate of every good work, the messenger of dawn, the ambassador from heaven. I am not going to perform any great deeds in my life, but I do desire that you inaugurate with your presence the little projects I may undertake. I want to feel that every work of mine, however small, comes from God, and so I want you to propose it to me, to explain it, to invite me. Come to me with your iniciatives, inspire me with your plans, make me realise that the ideas I conceive for a new book are not coming from myself but from on high, that whatever my mind thinks has been suggested to it by a flutter of wings from afar, that my little works are a small but real part of that master plan you one day revealed to that beloved maiden in her Nazareth home.

My efforts are a part of that mission, my activities flow from that current, my projects come from that vision. My own humble history is a chapter in that glorious narrative of the doings of God’s people on earth. Without your visit to Nazareth those thoughts would not have come to my mind, those feelings would not have filled my heart, those words would not have reached my pen. You are present at the beginning of every good work, dear archangel Gabriel, and I ask you and expect you to be present at the beginning of whatever I may do, say, or write. You knew where Nazareth was, and you know at every moment where I am and what I am about to do. I am waiting for you, dear angel of all happy beginnings. Come to me again.