"[00001] Of Our Holy Father Athanasius, [00002] On the Birth of the Forerunner, and on Elizabeth, and on the Theotokos. [00003] A land made desolate and left to become a trampling place for wild asses, an ox as a plowman, plowing with toil, raises the furrows; [00004] For as much as the land has remained unworked with time, so much does the ox standing for the plowing bend with more effort, grinding the yoke-bearing neck; [00005] A woman made barren and aged by long years, and fallen into two evils, barrenness and weakness, barrenness of nature and weakness of old age, by word and not by toil, God the Word, the creator of nature, renews both the old age of the body and corrects the barrenness of nature. [00006] And testifying to my word is Elizabeth, the wife of the priest Zacharias, who did not laugh like Sarah but believed like Anna, she who was renewed like an eagle with her weakened limbs; [00007] For she nurtured a notable child, revered, a companion of the Jordan streams. [00008] Indeed, great among women is Elizabeth, as a relative of the glorious Virgin, as you just heard from Gabriel to the Virgin saying: [00009] 'And behold, Elizabeth your relative.' [00010] Oh, nobility of birth! Oh, exercise of piety! Oh, purity of life! Oh, chastity of body! Oh, God-loving soul! Oh, vessel of myrrh! The serpent deceived Eve; [00011] the angel brought the best to Elizabeth. [00012] Indeed, great among women is Elizabeth, who bore John the Baptist and reproached the unbelieving Zacharias. [00013] And because Zacharias was unbelieving, considering the weakness of his body more certain than the promise of God, you heard earlier from the Evangelist Luke saying: [00014] 'An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.' [00015] The vision of the angel is a counselor for contemplation. [00016] The angel stood on the right, because a righteous birth was to be born, proclaiming the right way to the kingdom of heaven, as the saying goes: [00017] 'God knows the ways on the right; [00018] but those on the left are perverse'; not changing the way, but hinting at the manner. [00019] 'An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.' [00020] Let those present hear and understand that angels stand by the altar; [00021] where angels stand, there God dwells. [00022] The priest Zacharias served his appointed time, standing in the liturgy from days to days; [00023] not serving continuously, but in his appointed time. [00024] The angels of God appointed to the altar do not serve in shifts, but stand by the altar unceasingly, night and day. [00025] They know both the one who despises and the one who does not despise; [00026] they know those who approach with reverence and those who do not approach so; [00027] they are aware of both those who swear reverently and those who swear falsely."