| Feast of the Annunciation | |
|---|---|
 The Annunciation byPaolo de Matteis. | |
| Observed by | Christianity |
| Type | Christian |
| Date | 25 March |
| Frequency | annual |
| Related to | Christmas Day,Lady Day,March equinox |
TheFeast of the Annunciation (Greek:Ο Ευαγγελισμός της Θεοτόκου,romanized: O Evangelismós tis Theotókou,lit. 'the Annunciation of the Mother of God') commemorates the visit of thearchangelGabriel to theVirgin Mary, during which heinformed her that she would be the mother ofJesus Christ, theSon of God. It is celebrated on 25 March; however, if 25 March falls either in Holy Week or in Easter Week, the feast is postponed to the Monday after theSecond Sunday of Easter.
Other names for the feast include theSolemnity of the Annunciation,Lady Day,Feast of the Incarnation (Festum incarnationis), andConceptio Christi (Christ's Conception).
The Feast of the Annunciation is observed almost universally throughout Christianity, especially within theCatholic Church, theEastern Orthodox Church,Lutheranism, andAnglicanism. It is a majorMarian feast, classified as asolemnity in the Catholic Church, aFestival in Lutheranism, and aPrincipal Feast in theAnglican Communion. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, because it announces theincarnation of Christ, it is counted as one of the eightgreat feasts of the Lord.[1] The importance attached to the Annunciation, especially in the Catholic Church, are theAngelus and theHail Mary prayers, the event's position as the firstJoyful Mystery of theDominican Rosary, theNovena for the Feast of the Annunciation,[2] and the numerous depictions of theAnnunciation in Christian art.
The "angelic salutation" of Gabriel to Mary is recorded in theGospel of Luke: "Hail, full of grace, the LORD is with thee" (1:28;LatinVulgate:ave gratia plena Dominus tecum), and Mary's response to God's will; "be it done to me according to thy word" (Luke 1:38; Vulgate:fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum).[3]
The "angelic salutation" is the origin of theHail Mary prayer and the Angelus; the second part of the prayer comes from the salutation ofSaint Elizabeth to Mary at theVisitation.[4]
The earliest evidence for a Feast of the Annunciation or Incarnation is from thesixth century,[5][6] although theCatholic News Agency dates it to the fifth century.[2] The first certain mentions of the feast are in acanon, of theCouncil of Toledo in 656, where it was described as celebrated throughout the Church, and in another of theCouncil of Constantinople "in Trullo" in 692, which forbade the celebration of any festivals duringLent, excepting theLord's Day (Sunday) and theFeast of the Annunciation. ASynod of Worcester, England in 1240 forbade all servile work on the feast. As this feast celebrates theIncarnation of the Second Person of theTrinity, many Church Fathers, includingSt. Athanasius,St. Gregory of Nyssa, andSt. Augustine, have expounded on it.[2]
From the earliest recorded history, the feast has been celebrated on 25 March, commemorating both the belief that the spring equinox was not only the day ofGod's act of Creation but also the beginning of Christ's redemption of that same Creation. Christian antiquity held 25 March as the actual day of Jesus' death.[7] The opinion that the Incarnation also took place on that date is found in thepseudo-Cyprianic workDe Pascha Computus, c. 240. It says that the coming of Jesus and his death must have coincided with the creation and fall ofAdam. Since the world was created in spring, Christ was also conceived and died shortly after the equinox of spring. Similar calculations are found in the early and laterMiddle Ages, and to them, the dates of the feast of the Annunciation and of Christmas owe their origin.[7] Consequently the ancient martyrologies assign to 25 March the creation of Adam and the crucifixion of Jesus; also, the fall ofLucifer, the passing ofIsrael through theRed Sea and the immolation ofIsaac.[8] The MedievalGolden Legend identifies 25 March as not only the date of Creation and Annunciation, but also a large number of other significant events insalvation history, includingGood Friday of Christ's crucifixion and death.[9]
In the tradition of the Western Churches (Catholic Church,Anglican,Lutheran, andWestern Rite Orthodoxy), the feast is moved if necessary to prevent it from falling duringHoly Week orEaster Week or on a Sunday on theliturgical calendars. To avoid a Sunday before Holy Week, the next day (26 March) would be observed instead. In years such as 2016, 2018, and 2024 when 25 March fell withinHoly Week or Easter Week, the Annunciation is moved to the Monday after theOctave of Easter, i.e., the Monday after the Second Sunday ofEaster.[8]
In the tradition of the Eastern churches, (Eastern Orthodox,Oriental, andEastern Catholic) the feast of the Annunciation is never moved under any circumstance. They have special combined liturgies for those years when the Annunciation coincides with another feast. In these churches, even onGood Friday aDivine Liturgy is celebrated when it coincides with the Annunciation.[10]
Greek Independence Day is celebrated on the feast of the Annunciation.[11]
Lebanon observes 25 March as a national holiday.[12] In 2010, theCouncil of Ministers of Lebanon agreed to a proposal by Prime MinisterSaad Hariri to proclaim the day in the interest of interfaith dialogue, as the Annunciation is described in both Christian and theIslamic texts.[13] PresidentMichel Suleiman described the holiday as a "Common Religious National Day" in a speech before theUnited Nations General Assembly.[14]
The date is close to thevernal equinox, asChristmas is to thewinter solstice; because of this the Annunciation and Christmas were two of the four "quarter days" in medieval and early modern England, which marked the divisions of the fiscal year (the other two wereMidsummer Day, or the Nativity ofSt. John the Baptist, on 24 June, andMichaelmas, thefeast day ofSt. Michael, on 29 September).[7] The calculation hypothesis relies on the date for the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25 to date the Feast of the Nativity of Jesus (Christmas) on December 25, as Mary carried Jesus in the womb for nine months.[15]
When the calendar system ofAnno Domini was first introduced byDionysius Exiguus in AD 525, he assigned the beginning of thenew year to 25 March, because according to Christian doctrine, the age ofgrace began with theIncarnation of Christ at the Annunciation, on which date Jesus Christ is believed to have been conceived in the Virgin Mary by theHoly Spirit.[7]
PopeJohn Paul II established 25 March as theInternational Day of the Unborn Child, for its commemoration of the conception of Jesus.[16]
According toLuke 1:26, Gabriel's annunciation to Mary took place in the "sixth month" of Elizabeth's pregnancy. That is, Mary conceives sixth months after Elizabeth. Luke repeats the uniqueness of the timing in verse 26. Counting six months from September 24 we arrive at March 25, the most likely date for the annunciation and conception of Mary. Nine months hence takes us to December 25, which turns out to be a surprisingly reasonable date for the birthday [of Jesus]. Someone might object that the birth could not have occurred in midwinter because it would have been too cold for shepherds in the fields keeping watch by night (Luke 2:8). Not so. In Palestine, the months of November through February mark the rainy season, the only time of the year sheep might find fresh green grass to graze. During the other ten months of the year, animals must content themselves on dry straw. So, the suggestion that shepherds might have stayed out in the fields with their flocks in late December, at the peak of the rainy season, is not only reasonable, it is most certain. ... And so, besides considering the timing of the conception, we must take note ofthe earliest church records. We have evidence from the second century, less than fifty years after the close of the New Testament, that Christians were remembering and celebrating the birth of the Lord. It is not true to say that the observance of the nativity was imposed on Christians hundreds of years later by imperial decree or by a magisterial church ruling. The observance sprang up organically from the authentic devotion of ordinary believers. This in itself is important. But, besides the fact that early Christians did celebrate the incarnation of the Lord, we should make note that they did not agree upon a set date for the observance. There was no one day on which all Christians celebrated Christmas in the early church. Churches in different regions celebrated the nativity on different days. The late second-century Egyptian instructor of Christian disciples, Clement of Alexandria, reported that some believers in his area observed the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth day of the Egyptian month of Parmuthi (the month that corresponds to the Hebrew month of Nisan—approximately May 20). The Basilidian Christians held to the eleventh or fifteen of Tubi (January 6 and 10). Clement made his own computations by counting backward from the death of Emperor Commodus, the son of Marcus Aurelius. By this method he deduced a birthdate of November 18. Other Alexandrian and Egyptian Christians adopted January 4 or 5. In so doing, they replaced the Alexandrian celebration of the birth of Aion, Time, with the birth of Christ. The regions of Nicomedia, Syria, and Caesarea celebrated Christ's birthday on Epiphany, January 6. ... According to researcher Susan Roll, theChronograph or Philocalian Calendar is the earliest authentic document to place the birth of Jesus on December 25. ... And we should remember that although theChronograph provides the first record of December 25, the custom of venerating the Lord's birth on that day was most likely established well before its publication. That is to say, December 25 didn't originate with theChronograph. It must have counted as common knowledge, at least in Rome, to warrant its inclusion in theChronograph. Soon after this time, we find other church fathers such John Chrysostom, Augustine, Jerome, and Leo confirming the twenty-fifth as the traditional date of celebration.
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