Then one day the angel Gabriel visits Mary. His message to her was that she had found favour with God. She would bear a son to be named Jesus, conceived in the womb by work of the Holy Spirit. Being a virgin and unmarried, this would have been disturbing news for Mary. Out of wedlock pregnancy was frowned upon in those days. It is believed that women in that conditon were stoned to death. This seems plausible for in the Gospel of Luke tells the story of an adulterous woman brought before Jesus. She was to be stoned to death for the transgession until Jesus convicted the scribes and Pharisess of their own shortcomings.

Being a fair man, Joseph didn't want to make a public example of Mary. Instead he wanted to put her away secretly. As Joseph was deciding what to do, a second angel appeared before him. The angel told Jospeh not to be afraid and that the conception was of the Holy Spirit. Joseph did as instructed and took Mary as his wife.

The Virgin BIrth has been looked at from a multitude of angles. Some consider it heretical to question it, while others dismiss the Virgin Birth as a myth. If the subject is to believed it needs to be explained on how the Immaculate Conception was accomplished. While it seems impossible to the average person, Old Testament scriptures foretold that the saviour would be born of a virgin. God chose this mode of conception so that people would recognize it as a fulfillment of scripture and give it more credence.

There is little reference to Mary in the four gospels. After the Feast of the Passover was finished. Mary and Joseph were a days journey out of Jerusalem. They assumed Jesus was part of their company. They sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. Not finding Jesus, Joseph and Mary returned to Jerusalem to find him three days later holding diccussion with the scholars. Years later when Mary and sons once sent for Jesus, his response was that those who did the will of God was his brother, sister and mother. To give credit where credit is due to women, it was Mary, among other woman, who stayed to the end of the crucifixion of Jesus. Women of Mary's day were more accepting of men being the bearers of authourity and were content to remain in the shadows. This may suggest that these women were content and be faithful without seeking reward. It wasn't until this century that women got concerned with equality and recognition.