The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
In Annuntiatione Beatae Mariae Virginis
The Annunciation celebrates the coming of the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary and her consent to become the Mother of God, the moment in which the Word was made flesh. This first-class feast is kept on 25 March, nine months before the Nativity of our Lord.
On this great feast the Church commemorates the mystery related by Saint Luke: the angel Gabriel was sent from God to Nazareth, to the Virgin Mary, espoused to Joseph of the house of David. The angel greeted her, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee,” and announced that she would conceive and bear a Son, and call His name Jesus, who would reign forever. When Mary asked how this should be, since she knew not man, the angel answered that the Holy Ghost would come upon her and the power of the Most High overshadow her, and that the Holy One to be born of her would be called the Son of God.
“Be it done unto me”
To this message the Blessed Virgin gave her humble and wholehearted consent: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word.” In that moment, as the Church proclaims in the Creed and at the words Et incarnatus est, the eternal Son of God took flesh in her womb by the power of the Holy Ghost. The whole of our salvation turns upon this hidden event at Nazareth, when God became man for our sake. The faithful recall it daily in the Angelus and in the joyful mysteries of the Holy Rosary.
Because the Annunciation marks the very Incarnation of the Lord, the feast is kept on 25 March, exactly nine months before Christmas. It is at once a feast of our Lord and a feast of His Mother, for in honouring her consent the Church adores the Word made flesh.
When the Feast Falls in Holy Week
Because 25 March often falls within the penitential weeks of Lent or Passiontide, and may even coincide with Holy Week or Eastertide, the feast is at times transferred to a later date according to the rubrics, so that this joyful solemnity may be celebrated with due honour outside the most sacred days of the Lord’s Passion and Resurrection.
The Collect
O God, who didst will that Thy Word should take flesh, at the message of an Angel, in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary: grant to us Thy suppliants, that we who believe her to be truly the Mother of God may be helped by her intercession with Thee. Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
Deus, qui de beatae Mariae Virginis utero Verbum tuum, Angelo nuntiante, carnem suscipere voluisti: praesta supplicibus tuis; ut, qui vere eam Genetricem Dei credimus, eius apud te intercessionibus adiuvemur. Per eundem Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Patronage
The Annunciation is honoured throughout the Church as a feast of the Incarnation and of our Lady’s perfect obedience; many churches, religious houses, and nations are placed under its title.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar, this feast is observed as a solemnity on the same date, 25 March, and is likewise transferred when it falls in Holy Week or the Octave of Easter.
Common Questions
When is the feast of the Annunciation?
It is kept on 25 March, nine months before Christmas. When the date falls within Holy Week or Eastertide, the feast is transferred to a later day according to the rubrics.
What does the Annunciation celebrate?
It celebrates the visit of the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary and her consent to become the Mother of God. At that moment the eternal Son of God took flesh in her womb by the power of the Holy Ghost.
Why is it kept on 25 March?
Because the Annunciation marks the conception of our Lord, the Church places it exactly nine months before the Nativity on 25 December.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
These pages are offered with love for the saints and for all who seek them. If anything here should need correcting, we humbly beg your pardon and ask your help — kindly write to [email protected], and we will mend it as soon as we can.
Receive the coming feasts, Mass times, and reflections from our community — sent with care, never spam.