The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Mary that she would conceive and bear a son through a virgin birth and become the mother of Jesus Christ, the

Christian Messiah Christ, used by Christians as both a name and a title, unambiguously refers to Jesus. It is also used as a title, in the reciprocal use "Christ Jesus", meaning "the Messiah Jesus", and independently as "the Christ". The Pauline epistles, the e ...

and Son of God, marking the Incarnation. Gabriel told Mary to name her son Jesus, meaning " YHWH is salvation". According to , the Annunciation occurred "in the sixth month" of Elizabeth's pregnancy with John the Baptist. Many Christians observe this event with the

Feast of the Annunciation The Feast of the Annunciation, in Greek, Ο Ευαγγελισμός της Θεοτόκου, contemporarily the Solemnity of the Annunciation, and also called Lady Day, the Feast of the Incarnation ('), or Conceptio Christi ('), commemorates the ...

on 25 March, an approximation of the northern

vernal equinox Spring equinox or vernal equinox or variations may refer to: * March equinox, the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere * September equinox, the spring equinox in the Southern Hemisphere Other uses * Nowruz, Persian/Iranian new year which be ...

nine full months before Christmas, the ceremonial birthday of Jesus. The Annunciation is a key topic in Christian art in general, as well as in Marian art in the Catholic Church, having been especially prominent during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. A work of art depicting the Annunciation is sometimes itself called an Annunciation.

Biblical account

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.()

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!") 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.()

Manuscript 4Q246

Manuscript

4Q246 4Q246, also known as the Son of God Text or the ''Aramaic Apocalypse'', is one of the Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran which is notable for an early messianic mention of a son of God.

of the Dead Sea Scrolls reads:

shall be great upon the earth. O king, all people shall make peace, and all shall serve him. He shall be called the son of the Great God, and by his name shall he be hailed as the Son of God, and they shall call him Son of the Most High.

It has been suggested that the similarity in content is such that Luke's version may in some way be dependent on the Qumran text.

In the Quran

The Annunciation is described in the Quran, in Surah ( Al-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 ( Maryam – Mary) verses 16–26 also refers to the Annunciation.

Eastern Christianity

Annunciation to Zechariah British Library Add

In the Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic, and

Oriental Orthodox The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the Nicene Christian tradition, and represent o ...

Churches, the Feast of the Annunciation is one of the twelve " Great Feasts" of the

liturgical year The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and whi ...

, and is among the eight of them that are counted as "feasts of the Lord". Throughout the Orthodox Church, the feast is celebrated on 25 March. In the churches that use the new style Calendar (

Revised Julian The Revised Julian calendar, or less formally the new calendar, is a calendar proposed in 1923 by the Serbian scientist Milutin Milanković as a more accurate alternative to both Julian and Gregorian calendars. At the time, the Julian calendar w ...

or Gregorian), this date coincides with 25 March on the civil calendar, while in those churches using the old style Julian calendar, 25 March is reckoned to fall on 7 April on the civil calendar, and will fall on 8 April starting in the year 2100. The traditional hymn ( troparion) for the feast of the Annunciation goes back to St Athanasius. It runs:

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 ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or ''Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are " ...
:, from , ''theo-'', "God", and , ''tokos'', "bearer"). "Rejoice, O Full of Grace, the Lord is with you!"

As the action initiating the Incarnation of Christ, the 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 Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Hol ...

, 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. 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 Nisan (or Nissan; he, נִיסָן, Standard ''Nīsan'', Tiberian ''Nīsān''; from akk, 𒊬𒊒𒄀 ''Nisanu'') in the Babylonian and Hebrew calendars is the month of the barley ripening and first month of spring. The name of the month is ...

on the Hebrew calendar, the day in which the passover lamb was selected according to

Exodus 12 Bo ( — in Hebrew, the command form of "go," or "come," and the first significant word in the parashah, in ) is the fifteenth weekly Torah portion (, ''parashah'') in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the third in the Book of Exodus ...

(Hymn 4 on the Nativity). Some years 10 Nisan falls on 25 March, which is the traditional date for the Feast of the Annunciation and is an official holiday in Lebanon.

Churches marking the location of the Annunciation

Both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches hold that the Annunciation took place at

Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

, but slightly differ as to the precise location. Catholic tradition holds that the Annunciation occurred in Mary's home, while Eastern Orthodox tradition holds that it occurred at the town well. The

Basilica of the Annunciation : ''This article refers to the basilica in Nazareth. For information on the church associated with the Blagoveschenskaya Tower in Russia, see Kremlin towers or Cathedral of the Annunciation.'' The Church of the Annunciation ( la, Basilica Annunti ...

marks the site preferred by the former, while the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation marks that preferred by the latter.

Feast day

The

feast of the Annunciation The Feast of the Annunciation, in Greek, Ο Ευαγγελισμός της Θεοτόκου, contemporarily the Solemnity of the Annunciation, and also called Lady Day, the Feast of the Incarnation ('), or Conceptio Christi ('), commemorates the ...

is usually held on 25 March. It is moved in the Catholic Church,

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

and Lutheran liturgical calendars when that date falls during Holy Week or Easter Week or on a Sunday. 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. 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 25 March 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. The 692 Council of Constantinople " in Trullo" forbade observance of any festivals during

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

, excepting

Sunday Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of Christianity, 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. Along with Easter, 25 March was used as the

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...

in many pre-modern Christian countries. The holiday was moved to January 1 in France by Charles IX's 1564

Edict of Roussillon The Edict of Roussillon (french: Édit de Roussillon) was a 1564 edict decreeing that the year would begin on 1 January in France. During a trip to various parts of his kingdom, the King of France, Charles IX, found that depending on the diocese, ...

. In England, the feast of the Annunciation came to be known as Lady Day, and Lady Day marked the beginning of the English new year until 1752. Also in England, the 1240 Synod of Worcester banned all servile work during the Feast of the Annunciation, making it a day of rest.

In Christian art

The Annunciation has been one of the most frequent subjects of Christian art. Depictions of the Annunciation go back to early Christianity, with the

Priscilla catacomb The Catacomb of Priscilla is an archaeological site on the Via Salaria in Rome, Italy, situated in what was a quarry in Roman times. This quarry was used for Christian burials from the late 2nd century through the 4th century. This catacomb, ac ...

including the oldest known fresco of the Annunciation, dating to the 4th century.''The Annunciation To Mary'' by Eugene LaVerdiere 2007 page 29 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 Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...

, Duccio, Henry Ossawa Tanner,

Jan van Eyck Jan van Eyck ( , ; – July 9, 1441) was a painter active in Bruges who was one of the early innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most significant representatives of Early Northern Renaissance art. Ac ...

, and Murillo among others. The mosaics of Pietro Cavallini in Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome (1291), the

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

s of Giotto in the

Scrovegni Chapel The Scrovegni Chapel ( it, Cappella degli Scrovegni ), also known as the Arena Chapel, is a small church, adjacent to the Augustinian order, Augustinian monastery, the ''Monastero degli Eremitani'' in Padua, Italy, Padua, region of Veneto, I ...

in Padua (1303),

Domenico Ghirlandaio Domenico di Tommaso Curradi di Doffo Bigordi (, , ; 2 June 1448 – 11 January 1494), professionally known as Domenico Ghirlandaio, also spelled as Ghirlandajo, was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Florence. Ghirlandaio was part of ...

'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. File:The Annunciation - Johann Christian Schröder - Google Cultural Institute.jpg, ''The Annunciation'' by Johann Christian Schröder, c. 1690 File:Paolo de Matteis - The Annunciation.jpg, ''The Annunciation'' by Paolo de Matteis, 1712, Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis. The

white lily ''Lilium candidum'', the Madonna lily or white lily, is a plant in the true lily family. It is native to the Balkans and Middle East, and naturalized in other parts of Europe, including France, Italy, and Ukraine, and in North Africa, the Canary ...

in the angel's hand is symbolic of Mary's purityPurity is a wider concept than virginity, which is comprised within it, but which relates to a physical aspect only of purity. in

Marian art Mary has been one of the major subjects of Western Art for centuries. There is an enormous quantity of Marian art in the Catholic Church, covering both devotional subjects such as the Virgin and Child and a range of narrative subjects from the ' ...

.Ross, Leslie. ''Medieval Art: A Topical Dictionary'', p. 16, 1996 File:The annunciation (Trinity-Serguis Lavra).jpg, ''The Annunciation'' in Russian art, 14th century. File:The annunciation, Gladzor.jpg, ''The Annunciation'' in Armenian art by Toros Taronetsi, 1323.

Music

Hans Leo Hassler composed a motet '' Dixit Maria'', setting Mary's consent. Johann Sebastian Bach and others composed cantatas for the feast of the annunciation which is still celebrated in the

Lutheran Church Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

, such as ''Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern'', BWV 1.

Notes

Citations

References

* * *

External links

The Annunciation Icons

{{Authority control 1st-century BC Christianity Angelic apparitions in the Bible Christian terminology Gabriel Gospel of Luke Joyful Mysteries Mary, mother of Jesus Nativity of Jesus in worship and liturgy New Testament miracles Vulgate Latin words and phrases