The Annunciation of the Lord

The Gospel of Luke tells how God sent the angel Gabriel to a virgin of Nazareth named Mary, betrothed to Joseph. Greeting her as "full of grace," the angel announced that she would conceive and bear a son, to be called Jesus, Son of the Most High, whose kingdom would have no end. When Mary asked how this could be, Gabriel answered that the Holy Spirit would come upon her, for nothing is impossible with God. Mary replied: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."

In that moment the eternal Son of God took flesh and became man. The feast, celebrated nine months before Christmas, honors both Christ's Incarnation and Mary's free and faithful consent. It was kept in the East and in Rome by the 7th century. When March 25 falls in Holy Week or the Easter Octave, the solemnity is moved to the Monday after the Second Sunday of Easter.

The Angelus, prayed morning, noon and evening, recalls this mystery every day. Several Latin American countries, including Argentina, Chile, Peru and Guatemala, observe March 25 as the Day of the Unborn Child, with Masses and pro-life walks. In Nazareth pilgrims gather at the Basilica of the Annunciation, and in Greece the feast coincides with national Independence Day.