D. ALBERT THE GREAT,

BISHOP OF REGENSBURG, OF THE ORDER OF PREACHERS,

The Marian Work, or Questions on the Gospel,

“The Angel Gabriel was sent” original: "Missus est Angelus Gabriel" (Luke 1:26)

QUESTION I.

Was it necessary for the Angel Gabriel to be sent to Mary?

1 Luke 1:26.

First, it is asked whether this mission was necessary.

And it seems that it was not.
1. Where there is no distance, no mission is necessary; but between God and the most blessed Virgin there is no distance; therefore no mission should have intervened. The minor premise is evident: because God was with the blessed Virgin by His essence, power, and presence, as He is generally in creatures, and by indwelling grace, as He is specifically in the saints; therefore, since grace was present in every way, grace was never lacking; therefore no mission was possible.
2. Also, every mission occurs through a medium:

but between her and God there was no medium; therefore there is no mission. The minor premise is evident: because she was the most worthy of creatures, as the queen of Angels elected and confirmed from eternity, according to that text of Ecclesiasticus 24:14: From the beginning and before the ages, etc.
3. Also, a mission exists on account of need; but here there was no need for a mission; therefore no mission. The minor premise is evident: for God, who is wholly present everywhere, does not need a messenger. The most blessed Virgin also did not need a messenger, because she could receive directly from the Lord.
4. Also, a messenger receives the message before the one to whom he is sent; therefore, if there was a proclamation here, the illumination descended to the Angel before it did to the Virgin; therefore it descended out of order, which is against blessed Dionysius, who says: "This is the most holy law of the Divinity: to lead the secondary things to the most divine light through the first ones." St. Dionysius the Areopagite, The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy