Annunciation

The Annunciation by Salomon Koninck, 1655, Hallwyl Museum, Stockholm

The Annunciation by Murillo, 1655–1660, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg

The Annunciation (Evangelismos). Orthodox style icon by anonymous, 1825, Church Museum of the Bishopry of Thessaloniki

In the Bible, the Annunciation is narrated in Luke 1:26-38:

26 And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth,27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.28 And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29 Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be.30 And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.31 Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus.32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever.33 And of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34 And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man?

35 And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.36 And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren:37 Because no word shall be impossible with God.

38 And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.(Luke 1:26-38)

The archangel Gabriel's greeting to Mary forms the first part of the prayer, Hail Mary; Mary's response to the archangel forms the second versicle and response of the Angelus prayer. (Various Bible translations also give Gabriel's salutation as a variation on: "Greetings, you who are highly favored!")Luke 1:28

A separate, briefer and different annunciation is that given to Joseph in Matthew 1:18

18 Now the generation of Christ was in this wise. When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child, of the Holy Ghost.19 Whereupon Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing publicly to expose her, was minded to put her away privately.

20 But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, saying: Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost.21 And she shall bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name JESUS. For he shall save his people from their sins.

22 Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying:23 Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.(Matthew 1:18-23)

The Annunciation is described in the Quran, in Surah 003:045 (Ali-Imran – The Family of Imran) verses 45–51 (Yusuf Ali translation):

⁴⁵ Behold! the angels said: "O Mary! God giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to God;"

Surah 019:016 (Maryam – Mary) verses 16–26 also refers to the Annuciation.

Annunciation to Zechariah, taken from an Ethiopian Bible (c. 1700), kept at the British Library

Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, Nazareth

In the Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic, and Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Feast of the Annunciation is one of the twelve "Great Feasts" of the liturgical year, and is among the eight of them that are counted as "feasts of the Lord". Throughout the Orthodox Church, the feast is celebrated on March 25. In the churches that use the new style Calendar (Revised Julian or Gregorian), this date coincides with March 25 on the civil calendar, while in those churches using the old style Julian calendar, March 25 is reckoned to fall on April 7 on the civil calendar, and will fall on April 8 starting in the year 2100.

The traditional hymn (troparion) for the feast of the Annunciation goes back to St Athanasius. It runs:[7]

Today is the beginning of our salvation,
And the revelation of the eternal mystery!
The Son of God becomes the Son of the Virgin
As Gabriel announces the coming of Grace.
Together with him let us cry to the Theotokos:[n 1]
"Rejoice, O Full of Grace, the Lord is with you!"

As the action initiating the Incarnation of Christ, Annunciation has such an important place in Orthodox Christian theology that the festal Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is always celebrated on the feast, even if it falls on Great and Holy Friday, the day when the crucifixion of Jesus is remembered. Indeed, the Divine Liturgy is celebrated on Great and Holy Friday only when the latter coincides with the feast of the Annunciation.[8] If the Annunciation falls on Pascha (Easter Sunday) itself, a coincidence which is called Kyriopascha, then it is celebrated jointly with the Resurrection, which is the focus of Easter. Due to these and similar rules, the rubrics surrounding the celebration of the feast are the most complex of all in Orthodox Christian liturgics.

St Ephraim taught that the date of the conception of Jesus Christ fell on 10 Nisan on the Hebrew calendar, the day in which the passover lamb was selected according to Exodus 12(Hymn 4 on the Nativity). Some years 10 Nisan falls on March 25, which is the traditional date for the Feast of the Annunciation and is an official holiday in Lebanon.

Annunciation in miniature

The feast of the Annunciation is usually held on March 25.[2] It is moved in the Catholic Church, Anglican and Lutheran liturgical calendars when that date falls during Holy Week or Easter Week or on a Sunday.[9] The Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, and Eastern Catholic Churches do not move the feast. Instead they have special combined liturgies for those years when the Annunciation coincides with another feast. In these churches, even on Good Friday a Divine Liturgy is celebrated when it coincides with the Annunciation. One of the most frequent accusations brought against New Calendarism is the fact that in the New Calendar churches (which celebrate the Annunciation according to the New Calendar, but Easter according to the Old Calendar), these special Liturgies can never be celebrated any more, since the Annunciation is always long before Holy Week on the New Calendar. The Old Calendarists believe that this impoverishes the liturgical and spiritual life of the Church

Greek Independence Day is celebrated on the feast of the Annunciation and 25 March is also a national holiday in the Lebanon.

When the calendar system of Anno Domini was first introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in AD 525, he assigned the beginning of the new year to March 25 since, according to Catholic theology, the era of grace began with the Incarnation of Christ. The first certain mentions of the feast are in a canon of the 656 Council of Toledo, where it is described as celebrated throughout the church.[2] The 692 Council of Constantinople "in Trullo" forbade observance of any festivals during Lent, excepting Sunday and the Feast of the Annunciation. An earlier origin had been claimed for it on the grounds that it appeared in manuscripts of the sermons of Athanasius and Gregory Thaumaturgus but they were subsequently discovered to be spurious.[2]

Along with Easter, March 25 was used as the New Year's Day in many pre-modern Christian countries.[10] The holiday was moved to January 1 in France by Charles IX's 1564 Edict of Roussillon. In England, the feast of the Annunciation came to be known as Lady Day,[11] and Lady Day marked the beginning of the English new year until 1752.[11] Also in England, the 1240 Synod of Worcester banned all servile work during the Feast of the Annunciation, making it a day of rest.[12]

Part of a series on the
Mariology of the Catholic Church
Virgo by Josef Moroder-Lusenberg
Overview Prayers Antiphons Hymns to Mary Devotional practices Saints Societies Consecrations and entrustments Veneration
Prayers Angelus As a Child I Loved You Fátima prayers Flos Carmeli Hail Mary Hail Mary of Gold Immaculata prayer Magnificat Mary, Mother of Grace Mary Our Queen Memorare Sub tuum praesidium
Antiphons Alma Redemptoris Mater Ave maris stella Ave Regina caelorum Salve Regina
Hymns to Mary Hail Queen of Heaven, the Ocean Star Immaculate Mary Avé de Fátima Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming O sanctissima Regina Caeli Stabat Mater
Devotional practices Acts of Reparation Consecration to Mary First Saturdays Rosary Seven Joys of the Virgin Seven Sorrows of Mary Three Hail Marys
Movements and societies Sodality of Our Lady Congregation of Marian Fathers Company of Mary (Montfort) Marianists (Society of Mary) Marist Fathers Marist Brothers Schoenstatt Movement Legion of Mary World Apostolate of Fátima (Blue Army) Mariological Society Our Lady's Rosary Makers Marian Movement of Priests Fatima Family Apostolate Queen of Angels Foundation
Apparitions Approved by the Pope Aparecida Banneux Beauraing Fátima Guadalupe La Salette Laus Lourdes Miraculous Medal Pontmain
Key Marian feast days Mother of God (1 January) Annunciation (25 March) Assumption (15 August) Immaculate Conception (8 December)
Catholicism portal

The Annunciation has been one of the most frequent subjects of Christian art.[13][14] Depictions of the Annunciation go back to early Christianity, with the Priscilla catacomb including the oldest known fresco of the Annunciation, dating to the 4th century.[15] It has been a favorite artistic subject in both the Christian East and as Roman Catholic Marian art, particularly during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and figures in the repertoire of almost all of the great masters. The figures of the virgin Mary and the angel Gabriel, being emblematic of purity and grace, were favorite subjects of Roman Catholic Marian art, where the scene is also used to represent the perpetual virginity of Mary via the announcement by the angel Gabriel that Mary would conceive a child to be born the Son of God.

Works on the subject have been created by artists such as Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio, Duccio, Jan van Eyck, and Murillo among others. The mosaics of Pietro Cavallini in Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome (1291), the frescos of Giotto in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua (1303), Domenico Ghirlandaio's fresco at the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence (1486), and Donatello's gilded sculpture at the church of Santa Croce, Florence (1435) are famous examples.

• 
  The Annunciation by Johann Christian Schröder, c. 1690
• 
  The Annunciation by Paolo de Matteis, 1712, Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis. The white lily in the angel's hand is symbolic of Mary's purity[n 2] in Marian art.[16]
• 
  The Annunciation in Russian art, 14th century.
• 
  The Annunciation in Armenian art by Toros Taronetsi, 1323.

• Angelus
• Annunciade, religious order
• Annunciation of Ustyug
• Basilica of the Annunciation
• Chronology of Jesus
• Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
• Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, Nazareth
• Incarnation (Christianity)
• Order of the Most Holy Annunciation
• Roman Catholic Marian art

• Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878), "Annunciation" , Encyclopædia Britannica, 2 (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, p. 90
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911), "Annunciation" , Encyclopædia Britannica, 2 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 78
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911), "Lady Day" , Encyclopædia Britannica, 16 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 62

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Annunciation.

Wikisource has the text of the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article The Annunciation.

• The Annunciation Icons
• The Annunciation at art-threads