An Ecumenical Celebration--March 25 In Various Faith Traditions
If you would like to share information on an Annunciation/Incarnation tradition associated with March 25th celebrated at your place of worship, please contact us at info@DayOfTheUnbornChild.com -- indicate denomination if applicable.
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Roman Catholic
Visit Catholic Culture’s Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord site. It not only presents a theological
perspective, but also suggests activities and prayers on a sidebar, as well as
“Things to do” at the bottom of the page to promote a pro-life outlook. CatholicCulture.org also features Father Francis Weiser's explanation of many Annunciation
traditions--for example, the papal Curia's ancient custom of
starting the year on March 25 in all their communications, calling it the
"Year of the Incarnation."
Fr. Weiser, author of The Holyday Book, also points out something
that Catholics may not always notice in the Nicene Creed section in their
church missal booklets: There are only
two days in the year in which the direction to kneel or genuflect is given
during the creed (at the words, "By the power of the Holy Spirit, He was
born of the Virgin Mary and became man")--Christmas and the Annunciation.
EWTN's web page on celebrating the Annunciation
briefly explains the importance of the feast and includes suggestions on
honoring the day with Mass attendance, family celebrations, and activities with
children.
The feast of Christ’s conception is an ideal time to begin a
church-based nine-month period of Spiritual Adoption in which
parishioners are invited to pray on a regular basis for a newly conceived child
in danger from abortion over the nine months leading up to Christmas. In the Roman Catholic Church this can be
perfectly combined with the practice of having a “novena” of pro-life masses
(meaning “nine” sequential) beginning on the Annunciation feast and ending near
Christmas. This commitment to pray regularly is not
only a vital expression of concern for endangered unborn children, but also,
the gestational duration of both the Spiritual Adoption program and the
“novena” of monthly masses emphasizes the Annunciation’s pro-life aspect and
underscores the relationship between these two central feasts of the
Incarnation. At the end of the nine
months a Spiritual Adoption "baby shower" is held in which
parishioners are invited to give contributions and needed items for a local
pro-life pregnancy center. Closing the
Spiritual Adoption program with the gift shower seamlessly blends both the
contemplative/spiritual and active/corporal works of mercy. The shower can be held late in Advent,
during the 12 days of Christmas, or even on Epiphany to recall the gifts of the
Magi to the baby Jesus; regardless of the day chosen, it represents another
opportunity to reinforce the gestational relationship between the feast date
and Christmas (with signs, banners, or info table)--especially for parishioners
who bring donations to the shower but didn’t participate in Spiritual
Adoption. Please read more about
Spiritual Adoption and available print materials on our Ideas page.
Though all
Christian clergy have an opportunity at Christmas to point out the
pregnancy-length interval between the feasts of the Annunciation and the
Nativity, Catholics and others who follow a traditional liturgical calendar
have two other occasions to touch on the symbolic spacing of the feast
dates. As with Christ's conception and
birth, the feast of Mary's conception on December 8th is set nine months before
her birth feast on September 8th. The
gestational symbolism of both these pairs of dates makes the homilies/sermons
for these two Marian feasts another opportune moment to make a brief but pointed
mention of the nine-month intervals between the conception and birth feasts of
both Christ and Mary. Note: The four feasts of March and December 25th,
and December and September 8th, are also important opportunities to clarify the
confusion that often accompanies the concept of the Immaculate Conception (a
teaching about Mary most commonly found among Catholics), which is often
confused with the virginal conception/birth of Christ. Indeed, if the Annunciation were more widely
known as the feast of Christ's conception, this confusion would be less
common. Please also see the Ideas page
section on Highlighting
the Christmas Connection.
Orthodox
Orthodox Church (in America)
Excerpt from the web page of The Nativity of the Holy Virgin, Orthodox Church in America, Diocese of the West:
“There are many festive hymns with which the church
celebrates today’s sacrament of the incarnation of the Son of God. They teach
us, the believers, to properly celebrate the day of our salvation; but most
frequently, we hear the words ‘Today is the crown of our salvation and the
manifestation of the mystery that is from all eternity.’” Read more at http://www.tserkov.org/about_orthodoxy.html
-- just click The Twelve Great Feasts and scroll down to the section on
the Annunciation -- includes the excerpt from the Ikos of the Matins of the
Feast: Rejoice, you who are the throne
of the King: Rejoice, you who hold Him
Who holdeth all! Rejoice, Womb of the
Divine Incarnation!
Orthodox Annunciation Prayer (Author: Orthodox Church): Click here
and scroll down to read this lovely prayer that begins, "Lord who came down
from heaven and stayed in the womb of St. Mary…"
Anglican/Episcopalian
Anglican England continued to observe the March 25th "Annunciation
Day" as the beginning of their New Year until the mid-1700s, reflecting
the importance of the feast. Roman
Catholic countries also had this tradition in the Middle Ages, but moved their
New Year's Day from March 25th to January 1st in the late 1500s with the adoption
of the Gregorian calendar. Source: "New Year’s Day," Microsoft®
Encarta® Encyclopedia 2000. © 1993-1999
Consider this excerpt from a Feast of the Annunciation homily by
the Rev. Lloyd Prator, Mar. 26, 2001, St. John’s in the Village Episcopal
Church, New York, NY:
There is a good reason why the Annunciation occurs during
Lent. Two good reasons, actually. Of course there is the rather cute little
device of the calendar. This day, the day that Mary finds out that she is
pregnant, occurs just exactly nine months before the Nativity of the Lord in
December. But, there is a deeper, subtler reason. In Lent, we talk about
the way in which God decided to save the world. It happens through the death
and the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. And, so it seems fitting that we
pause for a moment to remember the very first moment when Jesus was introduced
onto the stage of salvation history, that moment when he began his life within
the womb of his mother the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Annunciation is one of those events which points to the human
nature of Jesus. The Church has traditionally taught that Jesus is both God and
human, and today we consider the implications that he was born of an earthly
mother, conceived in a unique way, but conceived nevertheless.
Read more at:
http://www.stjvny.org/homilies/annunciation_01.asp
Lutheran
As the feast date approaches the Lutherans For Life home
page features a
link to its Annunciation
Web Page (click here for direct access). The web page features many worship resources
including materials that can be downloaded or ordered free of charge:
Bulletin Insert — (“The Miracle of the
Incarnation”) — Read the text here — complimentary copies can be ordered on-line
Sample Sermon — Rev. Dr. James I. Lamb’s
sermon “Pregnant with God” (based on Luke 1:26-38) uses Scripture, Reformation
Era writings, the Lutheran Confessions, and quotes from more recent scholars
and theologians (Dr. Edward Koehler, Francis Pieper) to highlight the
Incarnational and pro-life significance of Christ’s conception. The sermon can be read/downloaded in PDF, Word, Rich Text, and Plain Text formats.
(If a box appears asking for a network password and
user name just click "Cancel" and it should continue downloading, or
you can just right click the format you desire and save directly to your hard
drive.)
Worship Service — A sample worship service
that can be read read/downloaded in PDF, Word, Rich Text, and Plain Text formats.
(If a box appears asking for a network password and
user name just click "Cancel" and it should continue downloading, or
you can just right click the format you desire and save directly to your hard
drive.)
Brochure — (“The Annunciation and
Abortion”) by Rev. Edward Fehskens — offers a historical review and addresses
the pro-life implications of the Annunciation and Visitation of Mary and the
Incarnation of Jesus Christ. The text
of the brochure can be read here.
Brochures can be ordered on-line.
Article — (“Womb and Tomb”) by Rev. Dr. James I. Lamb — The text of the article can be read here.
Fact: Listed first among
the surviving cantatas of German composer Johann Sebastian Bach, his Cantata BWV
1, "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" was written in March 1725 for
the Feast of the Annunciation.
[This
page was updated 10/09]