Our Holy Brother Francis speaks:

It was through his archangel, Saint Gabriel, that the Father above made known to the holy and glorious Virgin Mary that the worthy, holy, and glorious Word of the Father would come from heaven and take from her womb the real flesh of our human frailty. Though He was wealthy beyond reckoning, he still willingly chose to be poor with His Blessed Mother. ... The Father willed that His blessed and glorious Son, whom He gave to us and who was born for us, should through His own blood offer Himself as a sacrificial victim on the altar of the Cross. This was to be done not for himself through whom all things were made, but for our sins. It was intended to leave us an example of how to follow in His footsteps.

-From a letter written to all the faithful by Saint Francis of Assisi.