March 25, 2025
Nine months before the birth of Christ, the Virgin Theotokos is visited by the Archangel
Gabriel with the gladdest of tidings: that she shall conceive and bear a son, and that this son’s name
shall be Emmanuel (meaning “God with us”). This is commemorated as the Feast of the Annunciation
(meaning “announcement”), and it is one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church. This
feast is ranked so highly precisely because of what it commemorates: the beginning of the
Incarnation, the dwelling of the Son of God within the womb of the Theotokos, by the intercession of
the Holy Spirit. On this day, we celebrate God’s saving plan for us, and we celebrate the Theotokos’s
willful obedience to that plan. In doing so, we ourselves seek to emulate the Theotokos in her humility
and obedience to God, so that we also might bear Christ within us, by that same Holy Spirit.
March 25th is exactly 9 months before Nativity, and it normally falls within the Lenten Season.
Therefore, the Feast of the Annunciation is treated as an exception within the Lenten liturgical
calendar. Typically, only Pre-sanctified Liturgies are permitted to be performed during the weeks of
Lent. But, if Annunciation falls on a weekday, there is a Vesperal Liturgy prescribed. A Vesperal
Liturgy is a special combination of both Vespers and Liturgy, used whenever a Liturgy is technically
prescribed for the afternoon. The Lenten fast is also relaxed on this feast day, and it is permitted to
eat fish, wine, and oil.
This mid-Lent relief is meant to fortify us with respite and hope. Though we use Lent to remind
ourselves of our fallenness and of our own sins, we should not lose sight of the fact that God has
already crafted our salvation for us! This salvation comes in the form of a person: Jesus Christ. Our
Lord has already offered Himself up for our deliverance, by sacrificing Himself upon the Cross and
rising again. We are left to ponder how Christ’s Incarnation – being both God and Man – speaks to
and points towards that saving work on the Cross. This uniting of humanity and Divinity, through
Christ, opens for us the ability to now be united to God, ourselves!
