Troparion. Megalynarion. Communion Hymn.

For centuries the feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos (Theotokos is Greek for Mother of God—transl.) has been among the favorite feasts of the Russian people. Even "birds do not make their nests on this day,"—our pious ancestors used to say. On this day the Virgin Mary heard the joyful news from a heavenly messenger that she had been chosen to become the Mother of the Savior of the World. The Angel greeted her with the words: "Rejoice, you, full of grace!" And these words were, in effect, the first good news for the mankind since man broke his relationship with God as a result of falling into sin. At that moment when the Angel appeared to the Most Pure Virgin a new, bright page was turned in the life of mankind.

This brochure will tell you about the event of the Annunciation, its significance for us, explain what is special about the divine services on this feast, and at the end will give you some prayers and the matins (morning service) canon.

Only one of the Evangelists, St. Luke, describes the appearance of the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary (see the Gospel according to Luke, chapter 1:26-38).

Here we are going to retell his story along with some brief explanations. In the 6th month after Elizabeth conceived St. John the Baptist, Angel Gabriel, usually called Archangel (meaning a highest ranking Angel) was sent by God to Nazareth, a little known town in Galilee, to the Virgin Mary, who was espoused to a man named Joseph. Notice that Evangelist Luke does not say, "to a virgin married to a man", but "to a virgin espoused to a man," because Virgin Mary was Joseph’s wife only legally, but was not really his wife. An ancient tradition explains why that happened. Even before Mary was born, her parents Joachim and Anna, then childless vowed before God that if they ever had a child, they would dedicate him/her to the service of God. When they got old, God sent them a daughter they named Mary. When she turned 3 years of age, her parents gave her to the Jerusalem temple to be raised. Having lived there for 10 years in an atmosphere of prayer and contemplating God, young Mary loved God so much, that she made a decision to dedicate herself to Him and vowed to never get married. When Mary turned 14, She could no longer stay at the temple: She had to either return to her parents’ home, or get married. Yet Her parents had died a few years earlier. The High Priest, being aware of her vow of virginity and desiring to help Her fulfill it, formally espoused Mary to an elderly relative of Hers, Joseph, known for his righteous life. At that time he was a widower and had quite a large family by his first marriage. He lived and worked as a carpenter in Nazareth, located in the southern part of Galilee (Matt. 13: 55-56). Thus good old Joseph agreed to take care of his young niece. Both of them descended from King David and were expecting the coming of the Messiah.

Now let us go back to the story in the Gospel. Having appeared to the Virgin Mary, the Angel Gabriel greeted her by saying: "Rejoice, you, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" Full of grace means one that received special love and benevolence from God. The appearance of the Angel and His unusual words perplexed Mary, and She started contemplating on their meaning. Comforting Her, the Angel tells Mary that She would give birth to a great Son, Who will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord would give Him the throne of David, His Father, and He will reign in the house of Jacob for ever, and His Kingdom shall have no end.

The ancient kingdom of David was an image of the coming Kingdom of God. In the kingdom of David God Himself appointed kings, the kingdom was ruled in accordance with the laws of God, and all aspects of the citizens’ lives were filled with the idea of serving God. The main special characteristic of the kingdom of David was not in its civil organization, but in its spiritual ideal as a society striving to live in accordance with the will of God. Even after the kingdom of David ceased to exist as a result of the invasion by Nebuchadnezzar around 600 B.C., the ideal of the kingdom continued to inspire religious Jews to wait for the coming of the Messiah and the Savior. Among them were the Virgin Mary and Her parents, the elder Joseph, the righteous Zachariah and Elizabeth (parents of John the Baptist), the elder Simeon the Receiver of God, the prophetess Anna, the shepherds of Bethlehem and many other believing Jewish people. The prophets had predicted that with the coming of the Messiah the kingdom of David would be restored and transformed into a Messianic Kingdom. Believers from many nations would become a part of it, and it would stand forever (see Isaiah 42:1-12, 54:12-14, Is. 2:2-3, Dan. 2:44, Dan. 7:13, Zach 9:9-11).

Wishing to remain a Virgin, Holy Mary was not sure if She had understood the Angel, so She asked him, "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" The Angel comforted Her by explaining that Her vow would not be violated, for She would give birth to a Son in a supernatural way, without a man. The conception without semen would be effected by the Holy Spirit, by Whose action "the power of the Highest shall overshadow" Her, meaning that the Son of God Himself would come down into Her womb (in an allegory of a Church’s hymn, the Holy Spirit, like the mysterious cloud that overshadowed the Old Testament tabernacle, came down upon the Virgin at the moment of conception, Ex. 40:34, Num. 9:15). The Most Holy Virgin did not ask the Angel for a proof, but Angel Gabriel himself confirmed the truth of his words by pointing to Elizabeth, who had conceived Prophet John the Baptist in a very old age according to the will of God, for there is nothing impossible for God. The Virgin Mary, seeing the will of God in all this, humbly replied, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word."

The day Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary an ancient prediction by Isaiah was fulfilled that a Virgin would conceive in Her womb and give birth to a Son, Who would be given the name Emmanuel, meaning "God is with us" (Is. 7:14). That day God entered into the womb of the Virgin and became man, in order to set the world free from sin and the power of the devil. It is impossible to understand the miracle of conception of the eternal Infant; it is a great mystery of godliness, comprehensible only by faith (1 Tim. 3:16). In the appearance of Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary the Church sees the "Beginning of our salvation." Annunciation is the first beam of the morning dawn after a long and tormenting night. That day our world brought its best fruit to God, the brightest, the purest fruit that it could create: the Most Pure Virgin Mary. The Lord accepted this gift of humankind and responded to it with a gift of the grace of the Holy Spirit. In this mysterious meeting of the fallen humankind with the most gracious God, which meeting took place in the pure heart of the Virgin Mary, one can hear the first unique joyful sound of that angelic song that, according to earth’s time, could be fully heard on earth only 9 months later: "Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth, good will in men." The Virgin Mary was carrying "Glory to God" in Her heart, and for that the Savior promised Her "peace on earth."

In the caution shown by the Virgin Mary in response to the greeting and promise of Angel Gabriel, the Holy Fathers of the Church see a sign of great virtue known as "discernment." They see the wise caution of the Virgin Mary as the opposite of the gullibility of Eve, who thoughtlessly heeded an advice of the devil in the form of a serpent and received grief instead of happiness.

The Angel’s appearance to the Virgin Mary is surrounded by two events: the conception of John the Baptist and the visit by the Most Holy Virgin Mary to the righteous Elisabeth. During this visit, St. John the Baptist, a not-yet-born six-month-old infant, was the first to greet the Most Holy Virgin with his movement in the womb of Elisabeth. At that moment righteous Elisabeth also received the Holy Spirit and exclaimed: "Blessed are You among women and blessed is the fruit of Your womb." And then she added: "How come that the Mother of my Lord came to me!" (Lk. 1:43) Here righteous Elisabeth began her greeting with the same words that Archangel Gabriel finished his with. These words of greeting gave birth to that wonderful prayer we so often hear in church: "Rejoice, Virgin Mary, birth-giver of God, full of grace, the Lord is with You. Blessed are You among women, and blessed is the Fruit of Your womb. For you gave birth to the Savior of our souls."

The state of that affection, that holy, heavenly joy in which the Virgin Mary was on the day of Annunciation, is reflected on the "Affection" Icon, where the Virgin is depicted without the Infant, Her hands placed on Her chest, a Halo around Her head with the words "Rejoice, O Bride Unwedded." St. Seraphim of Sarov spent days and nights praying before that icon, and before it he died.

The first word of Archangel Gabriel’s greeting was Rejoice. And the feast of Annunciation is, first of all, a feast of quiet heavenly joy—joy over reconciliation with God, joy over the return of grace to earth. Annunciation is also a feast of triumph of humility, purity and chastity, a feast of unshakable faith in the Omnipotence of God and in His unlimited love toward perishing man.

This feast, the "chief of our salvation," is a spring of "living waters," which then turn into a broad river and, finally, a boundless sea of New Testament miracles, mysteries and the Grace of the Holy Spirit given to those thirsting for righteousness by God, who gives the Spirit without a measure. Annunciation is a feast of marriage between Heaven and earth, when the Heaven comes down to earth and unites with it. Annunciation is a "blue" feast. On this day everything turns blue in the eyes of a believer, everything becomes more pure and transparent. The sky becomes even more blue and deeper. Blue becomes the air and the waters reflecting clear cloudless skies; blue turn the first flowers, and stars at night. Blue also turn human souls, becoming capable of comprehending the heavenly music of this wonderful feast.

The saying that at the feast of Annunciation even a bird would not make a nest, figuratively calls upon us on this day to lay aside everyday cares and to direct our thoughts toward the heavens, toward joyful communion with God. According to an ancient Russian custom, birds are released on this day as a sign of human soul being set free from sin.

Having released a bird, Pushkin (a Russian poet) says, "I have attained solace; why would I grumble against God, when I could give freedom to at least one creature!" Another Russian poet, Tumanski, watching a newly released bird, writes, "She disappeared in the blue shining sky, singing as if praying for me."

Annunciation is celebrated on April 7 (March 25 according to the Church calendar). Ancient Christians used different names for the feast: "Conception of Christ," "Good Tidings about Christ," "The Beginning of Redemption," "Good Tidings of the Angel to Mary." It was only beginning in the 7^th century that the feast received its current name, "Annunciation of the Most Holy Birth-giver of God." The feast is of a very ancient origin. Back in the 4^th century St. Athanasius the Great called it "the first in the line of feasts," the beginning of humankind’s salvation. In 5-6 centuries the feast became significantly more celebrated in opposition to the Nestorian heresy that belittled the Virgin Mary. (Nestorius erroneously taught that the Most Holy Virgin gave birth to a simple man, to whom Divinity was joined only after His birth. When we call the Virgin Mary the "Birth-giver of God," we mean that Jesus, at the moment of His conception in Her Virgin womb, was the true Son of God. That is why the Virgin was carrying in her Womb and later gave birth to God-man. Both natures, Divine and Human, were united together at the moment of conception in the person of Christ, and from that point on they do not merge in Him and do not change in their essence.)

Due to the fact that the feast sometimes falls during the Great Lent and sometimes during the Pascha, the order of divine services of the feast is somewhat complex. If the feast of Annunciation happens on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday of a week during the Great Lent, then the All-Night Vigil begins with the Great Compline. If it happens on a Sunday or Monday, then the Vigil is served as usual. I.e. it begins with Vespers (see our leaflet #38 about All-Night Vigil). When Annunciation happens on Pascha, then there is no polielei service, but the Canon of Annunciation is joined with the Paschal Canon, and the Gospel is read after the 6^th song.

In the stichiras (songs of the all-night vigil) of the feast of Annunciation we are reminded of the story of Archangel Gabriel’s Annunciation to the Mother of God, and our attention is drawn to the Virgin Mary’s humility. We are told how unfathomable the Nativity of the Savior from the Virgin Mary is. The Mother of God is compared to the bush in the desert of Sinai that burned yet was not consumed (Exodus 3:2). Like that bush, the Virgin Mary remained undamaged, having received God into Herself. She is also likened unto the ladder reaching from earth to heaven, which ladder was seen by Jacob (Gen. 28:12). It is said that thanks to the Lord’s birth from the Birth-giver of God, the heaven is united with earth, Adam is renewed, Eve is set free, and we become partakers of the Divine nature and the Church, i.e. the temple of God. Both heaven and earth are invited to celebrate and rejoice, because the Son of God, Who shares the Father’s Throne, enters into the virgin womb according to His goodness and takes on a human nature. The following paremia (excerpts from the Old Testament) are read during the Vespers: Gen. 28:10-17, Ez. 43:27, 44:1-4, Prov. 9:1-11, Exodus 3:1-8, Prov. 8:22-30. On the All-Night Vigil and the Liturgy of the Annunciation the following prayer, called Troparion, is sung:

The Canon sung during the All-Night Vigil (Canon is a part of divine service composed after a certain pattern, see below) tells us about the Incarnate Savior coming down to humankind and points out the greatness of the most holy Virgin accepting God into Herself. It mentions prophecies and other Old Testament pointers to the incarnation of the Son of God from the Woman, it speaks of the power of the Most Holy Spirit that overshadowed the Mother of God with His descent, explains brief, but deep in meaning words of the Archangel Gabriel to the Most Holy Virgin Mary.

During the Liturgy, before reading of the Apostle, the following prokimenon is sung: Day by day sing the good tidings of our God’s salvation. In the Apostle reading (Heb. 2:11-18) the thought is expressed that the Son of God had to take on human flesh for the salvation of men. The Gospel (Luke 1:24-38) speaks of the Angel Gabriel’s appearance to the Most Holy Virgin Mary. The following prayer is sung at the end of the Canon as well as during the liturgy instead of "It is truly meet…" (It is called Zadostoinik, or Megalynarion).

During the Liturgy before Communion we sing the following

In the established practice of the Church, when Annunciation coincides with Pascha, the light of the feast of the Good News does not fade even in the blinding sea of light of the Holy Pascha, and the music of archangelic choir is not muted by the joyful sea of sounds of the Resurrection of Christ. This is explained by the fact that the feast of Annunciation (the beginning of our salvation) and the feast of Christ’s Resurrection (the final event in salvation of the world) have the same nature!

The feast’s Canon was written in the 8^th century by St. John of Damascus and Theophanus the Metropolitan of Nicea. In its liturgical practice the Orthodox Church has deemed it necessary to supplement this discourse with a special explanatory service, the Canon of Annunciation, representing an expanded version of the dialog between the Virgin and the heavenly messenger.

Heirmos: My mouth shall I open wide, and it will thus be with Spirit filled. A word shall I then pour out unto the Mother and Queen. I will joyously attend the celebration and sing to her merrily, lauding her miracles. (Ps. 44:2-10)

Gabriel uttered responding, "Behold, the problem has been solved for you who rightly called it a thing hard to demonstrate. Persuaded, therefore, by the word of your own lips, no more doubt it as factitious, but believe it to be factual. For I myself am rejoicing and shouting: O all you works of the Lord, praise and bless the Lord."

There is for mortals a God-given law," replied the blameless one again, "that gamic union must precede a child’s birth. But the pleasure of a mate I know not at all. So, how do you say that I shall bear? I fear lest now you speak with deceit. But, notwithstanding, behold I am shouting: O all you works of the Lord, praise and bless the Lord" (Lk. 1:34)

You eluded, O Maid, nature’s laws, conceiving God in ways past understanding. For in giving birth you bypassed things proper to mothers, even if by nature you were fluxional. Wherefore are you worthily hearing: Rejoice, Maiden full of grace; the Lord is with you. (Ezek. 44:2)

The bush and the fire revealed to hierophantic Moses a strange portent. Seeking its fulfillment in the course of time, he uttered, "I shall see it fully in a Damsel pure, to whom as Theotokos be it spoken: Rejoice, Maiden full of grace; the Lord is with you" (Exod. 3:3)

The Feast of Annunciation is a day of joy for an Orthodox Christian. It was especially joyous for our pious ancestors who so much loved the Virgin Mary for Her virtues, which are so dear to the Russian soul: humility, meekness and striving towards the ideal. The Russian people dedicated many temples and monasteries to the Most Holy Birth-giver of God (Theotokos) and called their homeland "The House of the Most Holy Theotokos." To this love of Her by the Russian people the Virgin Mary responded with Her heavenly assistance and a multitude of miracle-working icons.

The feast of Annunciation reminds us of God’s great love toward people and that the Son of God became man in order to make us partakers of His Divine nature. The feast of Annunciation encourages us to imitate the Most Pure Virgin in Her purity and chastity and to strive to get to Heaven, where the angels and the saints are rejoicing in the eternal light.

On the day of Annunciation we all acquired in the person of Virgin Mary a great Advocate before the throne of God. Therefore let us be grateful to God for His mercies towards us and ask the Most Pure Virgin to help us achieve the quiet harbor of the Kingdom of Heaven.

(Blagov_e.doc, 04-06-04)

And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day, and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord GOD. Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same. Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD: and I fell upon my face.

Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars: She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table. She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city, Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding. He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot. Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.

Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him. Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.