Annunciation

A key piece of the Paleologan Mannerism - the Annunciation icon from Ohrid.

An annunciation, by definition, is an act or instance of announcing or making a proclamation. In Christianity, the Annunciation is the announcement or proclamation to Mary, the mother of Jesus by the archangel Gabriel that she would conceive a child to be born the Son of God. Christian churches, particularly within the Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions, celebrate this with the feast of Annunciation on March 25. Since it occurs exactly 9 months before the birth (or Nativity) of Jesus on Christmas Day, the Annunciation also marks the actual Incarnation of Jesus Christ - the moment that Jesus was conceived and that the Son of God became the son of the Virgin. The date of the Annunciation also once marked the New Year in many places, including England (where it is called Lady Day). The traditional location of the actual and historical Annunciation is in the town of Nazareth, Israel, where is currently located the Church of the Annunciation. The feast of Annunciation has been celebrated since the 5th century AD.

Annunciation in the New Testament

In the Bible, the official account of the Annunciation is narrated in the book of Luke, Chapter 1, verses 26-38:

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.''

Annunciation in the Old Testament

The Old Testament records an annunciation in Judges 13:2-4 prior to the birth of Samson:

A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was sterile and remained childless.

The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, "You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son."

And in Isaiah 7:14 there is found what appears to be the prophecy of the Annunciation:

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Eastern traditions

In Eastern Orthodoxy Mary is referred to as Theotokos ("god bearer"). The feast of the Annunciation, as the action initiating the Incarnation of Christ, has such an important place in Eastern Orthodox theology that the Festival Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is always celebrated on March 25th, regardless of what day it falls on. The only time a divine liturgy is ever celebrated on Great and Holy Friday is if it is on March 25, although this only occurs in the Julian Calendar. Due to this, the rubrics regarding the celebration of the feast are the most complicated of all those in Orthodox liturgics.

The Annunciation, by El Greco (1575)

Related dates

In the Roman Catholic and Lutheran liturgical calendar, the feast is moved if necessary to prevent it from either falling on a Sunday (because Sundays at that time of year are of the highest liturgical rank), or during Holy Week or Easter Week (the week in which Easter occurs). To avoid a Sunday before Holy Week, the next day (March 26) would be observed instead. In years when March 25 falls during Holy Week or Easter Week the Annunciation is moved to the Monday after Octave of Easter, which is the Sunday after Easter. (If the Feast of St. Joseph, normally falling on March 19, must also be moved to a later date as a consequence of Easter falling on one of its earliest possible dates, the Annunciation remains on Low Monday, with the feast of St. Joseph on the following Tuesday, as the higher-ranking person is transferred first.)

The Eastern churches (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental and Eastern Catholic) do not move the feast of the Annunciation under any circumstance. They have special combined liturgies for those years when the Annunciation coincides with another feast. In these churches, even on Good Friday a liturgy is celebrated when it coincides with the Annunciation. One of the most frequent accusations brought against New Calendarism in the 1920s was the fact that in the New Calendar churches (which celebrate the Annunciation according to the New Calendar, but Easter according to the Old), these special liturgies can never be celebrated any more, since the Annunciation is always well before Holy Week. The Old Calendarists believe that this impoverishes the liturgical and spiritual life of the Church.

The date is close to the vernal equinox, as Christmas is to the winter 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 were Midsummer Day, or the Nativity of St. John the Baptist—June 24—and Michaelmas, the feast day of St. Michael, on September 29).

The first authentic allusions to it are in a canon, of the council of Toledo (656), and another of the council of Constantinople "in Trullo" (692), forbidding the celebration of all festivals in Lent, excepting the Lord's day and the Feast of the Annunciation. An earlier origin has been claimed for it on the ground that it is mentioned in sermons of Athanasius and of Gregory Thaumaturgus, but both of these documents are now admitted to be spurious. A synod held at Worcester, England (1240), forbade all servile work on this feast day. See further Lady Day.

File:Damiane4.jpg

The Annunciation, mural from Ubisi, Georgia

Annunciation in the Quran (Koran)

Annunciation is also cited in the Quran, in chapters 3 (Aal 'Imran - The family of Imran) verses 45-51 and 19 (Maryam - Mary) verses 16-26, although never with the mention or insinuation that Jesus is the son of God.

From chapter 3

[45] (Remember) when the angels said: "O Maryam (Mary)! Verily, Allâh gives you the glad tidings of a Word ("Be!" - and he was! i.e. 'Isâ (Jesus) the son of Maryam (Mary)) from Him, his name will be the Messiah 'Isâ (Jesus), the son of Maryam (Mary), held in honor in this world and in the Hereafter, and will be one of those who are near to Allâh."

[46] "He will speak to the people in the cradle and in manhood, and he will be one of the righteous."

[47] She said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man has touched me." He said: "So (it will be) for Allâh creates what He wills. When He has decreed something, He says to it only: "Be!" - and it is.

[48] And He (Allâh) will teach him ('Isâ (Jesus)) the Book and Al-Hikmah (i.e. the Sunnah, the faultless speech of the Prophets, wisdom), (and) the Taurât (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel).

[49] And will make him ('Isâ (Jesus)) a Messenger to the Children of Israel (saying): "I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, that I design for you out of clay, a figure like that of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by Allâh's Leave; and I heal him who was born blind, and the leper, and I bring the dead to life by Allâh's Leave. And I inform you of what you eat, and what you store in your houses. Surely, therein is a sign for you, if you believe.

[50] And I have come confirming that which was before me of the Taurât (Torah), and to make lawful to you part of what was forbidden to you, and I have come to you with a proof from your Lord. So fear Allâh and obey me.

[51] Truly! Allâh is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him (Alone). This is the Straight Path.

From chapter 19

An Armenian miniature from the Roslin Gospels, 1287.

[16] And mention in the Book (the Qur'ân, O Muhammad (peace be upon him) the story of) Maryam (Mary), when she withdrew in seclusion from her family to a place facing east.

[17] She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent to her Our Ruh (angel Jibrîl (Gabriel)) and he appeared before her in the form of a man in all respects.

[18] She said: "Verily! I seek refuge with the Most Gracious (Allâh) from you, if you do fear Allâh."

[19] (The angel) said: "I am only a Messenger from your Lord, (to announce) to you the gift of a righteous son."

[20] She said: "How can I have a son, when no man has touched me, nor am I unchaste?"

[21] He said: "So (it will be), your Lord said: 'That is easy for Me (Allâh): And (We wish) to appoint him as a sign to mankind and a mercy from Us (Allâh), and it is a matter (already) decreed, (by Allâh).' "

[22] So she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a far place (i.e. Bethlehem valley about 4-6 miles from Jerusalem).

[23] And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a date-palm. She said: "Would that I had died before this, and had been forgotten and out of sight!"

[24] Then (the babe 'Iesa (Jesus) or Jibrîl (Gabriel)) cried unto her from below her, saying: "Grieve not: your Lord has provided a water stream under you.

[25] "And shake the trunk of date-palm towards you, it will let fall fresh ripe-dates upon you."

[26] "So eat and drink and be glad. And if you see any human being, say: 'Verily! I have vowed a fast unto the Most Gracious (Allâh) so I shall not speak to any human being this day.'"

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Balay, Diane Huie. The Man from Nazareth: The Life of Christ from the Annunciation to the Resurrection in a Series of 24 Chancel Dramas. Abingdon Press; Spiral edition (July 1997). ISBN 978-0687053186.
• Editors of Phaidon Press. Annunciation. Amazon Remainders Account (September 25, 2000). ASIN B000FILLNC.
• _____________________. Annunciation (Art). Phaidon Press; New Ed edition (November 1, 2004). ISBN 978-0714844473.

External links

All Links Retrieved November 8, 2007.

• Entheomedia.org www.entheomedia.org.
• 'The Annunciation' by Edward Burne-Jones at the Lady Lever Art Gallery www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk.
• Read the account (Luke Ch.1 26-55) at Bible Gateway www.biblegateway.com.
• The Annunciation Icons (mostly Russian) www.icon-art.info.
• MP3 of Orthodox Byzantine Hymn(s) for the Annunciation archangelsbooks.com.
• The Feast of the Annunciation BBC- Religion and Ethics-Christianity-Holy Days
• The Annunciation - Catholic Encyclopedia

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