Promote the March 25th Annunciation Year-Round

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Calendar Dates Relevant to Annunciation/Day of the Unborn Child

 

Note: Any 25th of the month can be an opportunity with 25thOfTheMonthClub, or all the 25th's from March to Christmas with 9Months4Life/Spiritual Adoption -- an easy way to periodically remind us of the 9 month interval between the Annunciation and Christmas and the importance of March 25th as Christ's conception feast and Day of the Unborn Child.  In addition, FirstDay/ConceptionDay greetings or information can also mention the celebration of Christ's conception nine months before December 25.  For colorful graphics to connect the Annunciation to the dates listed below, also see our "Use Web Banners" page.

January 1 (New Year's Day): New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and the entire month of January are ideal to point out that the March 25th Annunciation was the old New Year's Day before the 18th century.

 

January (entire month) Calendar Trivia: The first month of the year when we start a new calendar is a perfect time to point out how our current 9th through 12th months of the year -- the old seemingly misnamed numeral months of Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec. (meaning 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th) match the order of months if March is the first month -- reminding us that the new year used to begin on March 25th.

 

January (on or near the 22nd): Roe vs. Wade Memorial events are ideal to share info on the Annunciation including its New Year Calendar connection plus tips on planning for the upcoming March Day of the Unborn Child events.

 

January 25th: January's "25th of the Month Club" tip can suggest ideas for celebrating the March 25 Annunciation/Day of the Unborn Child

 

February 25th: February's "25th of the Month Club" tip can advise preparations for celebrating the March 25 Annunciation/Day of the Unborn Child

 

March (entire month): The entire month of March is an opportunity to highlight the significance of March 25th as the historical New Year's/Annunciation Day feast of Christ's conception, and as the modern Day of the Unborn Child

 

March 25th:  Maximum opportunity for promoting the Incarnational Annunciation feast and Day of the Unborn Child 9 months before Christmas -- Beginning a 25thOfTheMonthClub or 9Months4Life Spiritual Adoption on or near this day provides monthly opportunities for reminders of the day's significance every 25th year round, or until Christmas when 9MonthsForLife ends.

 

Late March/Early April (Delayed/Transferred Annunciation Feast): If Easter-conflicts prompt your church to move its Annunciation celebration to a different date in late March or early April, the later "transferred" date is another ideal opportunity to highlight the significance of the Annunciation feast of Christ's conception, and the reason this celebration date is "transferred" in some years from its usual date of March 25th 9 months before Christmas.

 

April 1st (April Fool's Day): This is a lighthearted occasion to share the main theory on the day's origins dating back to the 8-day celebration of the March 25th Annunciation as New Year's ending on April 1, and the labeling as "fools" of those who refused to abandon these festivities when New Year's Day was changed to Jan. 1st.

 

April 7th (Orthodox Annunciation): Many Orthodox churches celebrate the Annunciation on April 7, nine months before their Julian-calendar January 7th Christmas, just as we celebrate Annunciation March 25th nine months before our December 25 Christmas -- so April 7th is a great time to point out these pairs of dates and wish these churches a blessed Annunciation feast .

 

End of March to Late April (Easter's Annunciation/Good Friday Link): The Easter season, particularly Good Friday and Easter Sunday (both days when info on Christian history is expected and welcomed), are excellent opportunities to point out the historical teaching that Christ died on the same day he was conceived -- March 25th -- which explains why his Resurrection days later is celebrated so near to the Annunciation feast of his conception.

 

April Tax Season: April tax payment deadlines are a good time to point out that taxes are due in early April because the new year used to begin in late March on the 25th which was Annunciation day celebrating Christ's conception nine months before Christmas.

 

April 25th: April's "25th of the Month Club" tip or 9MonthsForLife Spiritual Adoption 2nd month of pregnancy meditations can give reminders of the March 25th feast of Christ's conception.

 

May or June (Ascension Day, Pentecost Sunday, & Trinity Sunday):  Each of these holy days (commonly observed on three consecutive Sundays) has served as the closing celebration to end the liturgical weeks of Easter, which makes all three of them appropriate occasions to remind us why the Easter season falls in the springtime: Though Easter's lunar feast date varies each year, the traditional belief that Christ died on the same March 25th date he was conceived (9 months before Christmas) resulted in the Annunciation feast of his conception being celebrated in the same season as Good Friday and therefore Easter and its related feast days.  (Note that although the dates of these feasts vary dependent upon the lunar timing of Easter, and Ascension may or may not be transferred to Sunday, unless there is a Lent/Easter conflict the Annunciation is celebrated on its set feast date of March 25th--a symbolically significant nine months before Christmas.)

 

May 25th: May's "25th of the Month Club" tip or 9MonthsForLife Spiritual Adoption 3rd month of pregnancy meditations can give reminders of the March 25th feast of Christ's conception.

 

June 24th/Eve of June 25th: The Birth Feast of St. John the Baptist usually celebrated June 24 is calendar-connected to the March 25 Annunciation, and an oft-overlooked opportunity to teach the New Testament nativity narratives and the feasts that celebrate them.  John's birth is celebrated three months after the Annunciation feast, for as Luke states in the Bible, John's mother Elizabeth was already six months pregnant when Mary conceived Jesus at the Annunciation and she stayed with Elizabeth those final three months till John was born.  (In 2022 June 24th took on added pro-life import as the Supreme Court Dobbs decision reversing the Roe vs. Wade decision that forced legal abortion on the U.S. states was finally reversed).  NOTE: There are only three birth feasts on the Catholic feast day calendar--John the Baptist, Mary, and of course Jesus--and the interesting reason for this can be explained in a longer Internet post/bulletin for their birth or conception feast months (March, June, Sept., Dec.) or an anytime "Did You Know?"  The following sample texts of varied length can be used for Catholic Calendar posts--three specifically for June 24th, (or the date the feast is moved in years with a conflict)--and an "anytime" post that covers the conception and/or birth feasts for John, Mary, and Jesus titled "3-2-1 Feast Day Facts--3 Birthdays, 2 Conceptions, 1 Explanation" at the end. The first is short enough for Twitter:

"WHAT'S JUNE 24?" MEMORY TIP–Remember John the Baptist's June 24 birth feast is celebrated three months after the March 25 Annunciation feast of Christ's conception–because the Bible indicates that after Mary conceived she visited with Elizabeth three months till John was born.  JUNE 24th CALENDAR CLUES:  Learning John the Baptist's birth feast date (and that newly-pregnant Mary stayed with Elizabeth three months before John's birth), will help us see the calendar relationship between John's June 24th and Christ's two 25th feasts (March 25 celebrated three months earlier for His divine conception, and December 25 six month later for His Virgin Birth -- and by process of elimination it also helps us see that those two feasts on the 8ths (Dec. & Sep.) are for Mary's Immaculate Conception and birth, feasts separated (as are Christ's 25ths) by nine months.  JUNE 24th CALENDAR Q & A:  Q:  Why was the 24th chosen for John the Baptist's June birth feast--shouldn't it be on the 25th three months after March 25 (Christ's conception feast) for the three months newly-pregnant Mary visited Elizabeth before John's birth?  A:  At the time of John the Baptist and in the Church even today, days were divided differently--the new day began at sundown on what we now think of as the previous day.  That tradition is reflected in Saturday and feast day vigil Masses and the reason attending Christmas Eve Mass in the early evening counts as having attended on Christmas Day.  In earlier times the major Christmas celebrations began December 24th, and so John the Baptist's birth was celebrated accordingly six months earlier on June 24th.  3-2-1 FEAST DAY FACTS:  3 Birthdays, 2 Conceptions, 1 Explanation -- Why They're on the Feast Day Calendar (when most feasts are set on the date of death).  Most feast days for saints and religious figures celebrate the date they passed away into eternity when they begin a new everlasting life and receive their eternal reward.  But there are three birthdays on the traditional Church calendar for three of the most familiar names in the Bible--Jesus, Mary, and John the Baptist.  This reflects Church teaching that all three were holy before birth, though the reasons and timelines obviously differ.  The first name we know is celebrated at Christmas--Jesus himself as God is all-good throughout time.  Second is Mary the Blessed Mother who Catholics recognize as having been preserved by God from original sin from the moment she was conceived by her parents.  Third is John the Baptist sanctified before birth by the Unborn Christ via their prenatal meeting at Mary's Visitation to Elizabeth, but this sanctification in the womb happened months after John's conception.  That is why John does not have an additional conception feast, but Jesus and Mary do.  The two conception day feasts on the calendar are for Christ (the March 25 Annunciation) and Mary (the Dec.8 Immaculate Conception) -- nine months before their Dec. 25 and Sep. 8 birth feasts. 

 

June 25th: June's "25th of the Month Club" tip or 9MonthsForLife Spiritual Adoption 4th month of pregnancy meditations can give reminders of the March 25th feast of Christ's conception.

 

July 25th: July's "25th of the Month Club" tip or 9MonthsForLife Spiritual Adoption 5th month of pregnancy meditations can give reminders of the March 25th feast of Christ's conception.

 

August 25th: August "25th of the Month Club" tip or 9MonthsForLife Spiritual Adoption 6th month of pregnancy meditations can give reminders of the March 25th feast of Christ's conception.

 

September (entire month) Calendar Trivia: The fact that September (meaning 7th) is out of sequence as the 9th month of our calendar is an opening for calendar trivia that serves as a useful reminder that the March 25th Annunciation feast of Christ's conception used to begin the new year -- in other words, the year began nine months before Christmas.

 

September 8th: The Virgin Mary's Birth Feast is celebrated 9 months after the December 8th feast of her conception, which is an opportunity to point out that Christ's conception and birth are also celebrated a logical and symbolic 9 months apart -- March 25th-Annunciation and December 25th-Christmas -- and a great time to give a quick tip on remembering the two pairs of feasts: 8ths are Mary's (conception and birth) -- 25ths are Christ's (conception and birth).

 

September 25th: "25th of the Month Club" tip or 9MonthsForLife Spiritual Adoption 7th month of pregnancy meditations can give reminders of the March 25th feast of Christ's conception.

 

October (entire month) Calendar Trivia: The fact that October (meaning 8th) is out of sequence as the 10th month of our calendar is an opening for calendar trivia that serves as a useful reminder that the March 25th Annunciation feast of Christ's conception used to begin the new year -- in other words, the year began nine months before Christmas.

 

October 25th: "25th of the Month Club" tip or 9MonthsForLife Spiritual Adoption 8th month of pregnancy meditations can give reminders of the March 25th feast of Christ's conception

 

November (entire month) Calendar Trivia: The fact that November (meaning 9th) is out of sequence as the 11th month of our calendar is an opening for calendar trivia that serves as a useful reminder that March 25th Annunciation feast of Christ's conception used to begin the new year -- in other words, the year began nine months before Christmas.

 

November 25th: "25th of the Month Club" tip or 9MonthsForLife Spiritual Adoption 9th month of pregnancy meditations can give reminders of the March 25th feast of Christ's conception

 

December (entire month) Calendar Trivia: The fact that December (meaning 10th) is out of sequence as the 12th month of our calendar is an opening for calendar trivia that serves as a useful reminder that March 25th Annunciation feast of Christ's conception used to begin the new year -- in other words, the year began nine months before Christmas.

 

December 8th: The Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary in her mother's womb, is celebrated nine months before the September 8th feast of her birth, which is an opportunity to point out that Christ's conception and birth are also celebrated a symbolic nine months apart, the March 25 Annunciation and December 25th -- and also to give a quick tip on remembering the two pairs of feasts: 8ths are Mary's (conception and birth) -- 25ths are Christ's (conception and birth).

 

December 25th & Christmas Season: The Christmas season and December 24th/25th are the easiest and most natural times to highlight the Annunciation's import -- anything from web greetings to holiday mailings can note that the Dec. 25th feast of Christ's birth comes 9 months after the March 25th Annunciation feast of his conception.  An easy catchy phrase to add to cards, gift tags and e-mail signatures is: A Blessed Annunciation (Mar.25) + 9 Months = A Merry Christmas (Dec. 25)

 

December 25th: "25th of the Month Club" tip or 9MonthsForLife Spiritual Adoption December/Christmas closing birth meditations can give reminders of the March 25th feast of Christ's conception

 

December 31st (New Year's Eve): The last day of the year is a perfect time to highlight the fact that the first of the year used to be March 25th -- Annunciation Day -- when Christ's Conception was celebrated (so in the old calendar the new year began nine months before Christmas).

 

(In addition, all FirstDay or ConceptionDay celebrations and discussions are opportunities to note the March 25th Annunciation celebration of Christ's conception 9 months before Christmas.  Our "Celebrate FirstDays Like BirthDays" banner gives the March 25/Dec.25 interval as an example, and our "Remember to Think Plus9" banner mentions both the Annunciation feast and FirstDays).

 

Note: Visual aids greatly improve the effectiveness of social media promotion: See the web banners page for a wide selection of graphics that can be used for the dates included in the above listing.

 

An easy way to use both text and images year-round to promote the Annunciation as it relates to various other holidays is to follow/retweet us on Twitter @March25info and share/like on Facebook at AnnunciationDayMarch25 -- or use these direct links:  "Like" us on Facebook at facebook.com/AnnunciationDayMarch25 and follow our tweets at twitter.com/March25info

 

Explore more pages at DayOfTheUnbornChild.com for additional information to include in postings, blogs, and Christmas newsletters on the link between the Annunciation and many other special days.

 

[To return to home page click http://dayoftheunbornchild.com/ ]

 

[Updated 6/9/2022]