The Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos. In the house of Joseph, Mary was working on the purple yarn for the temple curtain (a symbol of the forthcoming 'spinning' of the infant body of Jesus from the 'purple' of the maternal blood in Mary's womb). According to another version, the Virgin Mary was reading the sacred book of the prophet Isaiah at that time and, upon reaching the words ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son...’, exclaimed how happy she would be if she could see this chosen one of God and be at least a servant to her. It was then that the Annunciation took place—the Archangel Gabriel, sent from heaven by God, informed Mary of the future birth of the Savior from her. According to the Gospel of Luke (Luke 1:26), Mary was living in Nazareth at this time. This is the first mention of Mary in the Gospels. In the view of Orthodox theologians, the Incarnation took place at the moment of the Annunciation—God clothed Himself in flesh (the phrasing 'to clothe oneself in flesh' is already known from the writings of Irenaeus of Lyons and Clement of Alexandria). John Cassian, speaking of the Incarnation, explicitly points out that ‘the beginning of our Lord and Savior occurs exactly when the conception does. The Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth. Joseph the Betrothed, seeing that the Virgin Mary was expecting a child, was grieved and, out of pity for her, did not want to disgrace her with a public accusation, so he decided to put her away secretly. But the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Joseph and reassured him, saying: ‘Do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’ After this, as the Evangelist narrates, ‘Joseph took his wife, and did not know her.’ However, the apocryphal version reports that after the angel's visit, Mary was publicly subjected to the ordeal of the ‘bitter water that brings a curse’ upon unfaithful wives. This method is prescribed in the biblical Book of Numbers (Num. 5:11–31) and even in the Talmudic tractate 'Sotah.' Mary successfully passed the ordeal, which confirmed her chastity. Awaiting the miracle of virginal motherhood, Mary went to the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth, her relative, who had already been expecting the birth of John the Baptist for six months. Upon meeting her, Mary recited the beautiful hymn ‘My soul magnifies the Lord’ (the Magnificat). She lived there for three months, after which she returned to the house of Joseph.