On the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, The Catholic Church celebrates when Jesus began his earthly life, and the obedience and faith of the Blessed Virgin Mary by whose consent his incarnation was possible.
The archangel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary and announced that she had been chosen by God to assist him in his divine plan by giving birth to his Son, the long-awaited Savior of the world.
Mary had free will and made a choice to give her humble and faithful submission to God’s will. This is known as her fiat. Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit at that moment and God became man.
The Annunciation is the very first Joyful Mystery of the Rosary and the inspiration for the Angelus prayer. Gabriel’s respectful greeting to Mary is the first part of the Hail Mary.
A shared feast of Jesus and of Mary, the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord is celebrated by Catholics on March 25, exactly nine months before the birth of Jesus at Christmas.
When March 25 falls on a Sunday of Lent, during Holy Week, or during the Octave of Easter, the solemnity is transferred to the next weekday that is not occupied by another solemnity or feast.
Remembering Mary’s role in God becoming man:
A birth announcement:
Announcing the birth of Christ in advance:
But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
Luke 1: 34-38
The Blessed Mother shows how to respond to God:
Without Mary’s cooperation, Jesus would not be conceived:
Mary shows how faith seeks understanding:
Mary could have said “No”:
For the Solemnity of the Incarnation of the Word, in the Roman Calendar the ancient title – the Annunciation of the Lord – has been deliberately restored, but the feast was and is a joint one of Christ and of the Blessed Virgin: Of the Word, who becomes Son of Mary, and of the Virgin, who becomes Mother of God. With regard to Christ, the East and the West, in the inexhaustible riches of their liturgies, celebrate this solemnity as the commemoration of the salvific “fiat” of the Incarnate Word, who, entering the world, said: “God, here I am! I am coming to obey Your will”. They commemorate it as the beginning of the redemption and of the indissoluble and wedded union of the divine nature with human nature in the one Person of the Word. With regard to Mary, these liturgies celebrate it as a feast of the new Eve, the obedient and faithful virgin, who with her generous “fiat” became through the working of the Spirit the Mother of God, but also the true Mother of the living, and, by receiving into her womb the one Mediator, became the true Ark of the Covenant and true Temple of God. These liturgies celebrate it as a culminating moment in the salvific dialogue between God and man, and as a commemoration of the Blessed Virgin’s free consent and cooperation in the plan of redemption.
Pope Paul VI, Marialis Cultus, 2 February 1974
Announcing God’s plan for the throne of Israel:
The Annunciation to Mary inaugurates “the fullness of time”, the time of the fulfillment of God’s promises and preparations. Mary was invited to conceive Him in Whom the “whole fullness of deity” would dwell “bodily”. The divine response to her question, “How can this be, since I know not man?”, was given by the power of the Spirit: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church 484
Celebrating the Annunciation where the angel Gabriel met Mary:
Contemplating the Annunciation in art:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
Living Heaven while still on Earth:
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