On the 25th of March, Our Holy Orthodox Church Commemorates the ANNUNCIATION of Our Most Holy Lady the THEOTOKOS and EVER-VIRGIN MARY.

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

On the 25th of March, Our Holy Orthodox Church Commemorates the ANNUNCIATION of Our Most
Holy Lady the THEOTOKOS and EVER-VIRGIN MARY.

Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn. Fourth Tone

TODAY is the fountainhead of our salvation and the manifestation of
the mystery which was from eternity. The Son of God becometh the
Virgin’s Son, and Gabriel announceth the good tidings of grace; for this
cause, let us cry to the Mother of God with him: Rejoice, thou who art
full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Kontakion Hymn. Plagal of Fourth Tone

WHEN the bodiless one learned the secret command, in haste he
came and stood before Joesph’s dwelling, and spake unto the
Maiden who knew not wedlock: The One Who hath bowed the Heavens
by His Descent is held and contained unchanging wholly in thee.
Seeing Him receiving the form of a servant in thy womb, I stand in awe
and cry to thee: Rejoice, thou Bride unwedded.

Another Kontakion Hymn. Same Tone

TO thee, the Champion Leader, we thy flock dedicate a feast of
victory and of thanksgiving as ones rescued out of sufferings, O
Theotokos; but as thou art one with might which is invincible, from
all dangers that can be do thou deliver us, that we may cry to thee:
Rejoice, thou Bride Unwedded.
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The ANNUNCIATIONs is the Great Mystery of the INCARNATION OF GOD THE LOGOS/WORD. It is one of the sublime feasts of the Mother of God celebrated by the Holy Orthodox Church. On the Day of the Annunciation, the Logos/Word of God ENTERED MANKIND in a way hitherto unexampled: the Father sent the Son; the Son was made flesh by the power and operation of the Holy Spirit. Saint Irenaeos, Bishop of Lyons (130-200 A.D.) comments that "just as Adam had been created by the Logos/Word of God from the unworked and virgin earth, so also the Logos/Word of God became the New Adam, SO AS THE CORRECT THE FALL INTO SIN BY THE FIRST ADAM."

THE VIRGIN ENTERS THE HOLY OF HOLIES

Then Zacharias, the priest of God, received her
into the Temple with rejoicing and established her
there."
He then took Mary to the vema. Thus she abode in the Holy of Holies for more than 9 years, though some Apocryphal manuscripts record her stay for as long as TWELVE YEARS. The Holy of Holies, a place that none dared enter, except the High Priest–and, then again, only at his appointed time and this happened but ONCE A YEAR.

The Holy of Holies was that place in the Temple, the Dwelling-place of God, in which God came into contact with man through the intermediary of the High Priest. Now God, Who will condescend to become man, FOREORDAINED THE Holy Virgin TO BECOME THE SUPREME ‘HOLY OF HOLIES’ through which He would come into PERMANENT CONTACT WITH MAN IN THE HOLY CHURCH, BECOMING MAN HIMSELF, CHRIST JESUS, THE GREAT HIGH-PRIEST AND INTERMEDIARY. As the Holy of Holies was filled with the Glory of God’s PRESENCE–so much that the Priests could not bear the Glory of it–so THE WOMB OF THE ALL-HOLY VIRGIN WAS TO BE FILLED WITH THE GLORY OF GOD’S PRESENCE.

THE VIRGIN RECEIVES BREAD
FROM THE ARCHANGEL

In a mosaic at the Monastery of Chora, Mary is seated on a golden Throne beneath a ciborium, her feet resting on a three-stepped podium. An Angel in flight appears from the left and OFFERS HER BREAD. Seated on a footstool on the lower left is one of the company of daughters of the Hebrews who had, from her early infancy, served as guardians and attendants to the Virgin. Saint Andrew of Crete writes that Mary, the "Holy of Holies", is placed as an infant in the Holy Sanctuary, TO BE REARED BY THE HANDS OF AN ANGEL."

In the Temple at Jerusalem, the elect Virgin would prepare Herself for Her future role as the "Temple" of His Body–a Body that would be destroyed but that He would raise up in three days and, then, with that same Body, He would be received up into heaven, and sit at the Right Hand of God" [Mark 16:19].

Moreover, she did not venture to leave this holy place, but remained therein and CONVERSED WITH THE ANGELS. He attitude is described by the hymnographer thus: "O Venerable ‘Holy of Holies,’ thou dost love to dwell in the holy Temple; and thou abidest, O Virgin, IN CONVERSE WITH ANGELS, RECEIVING BREAD MOST MARVELOUSLY FROM HEAVEN, O THOU WHO DOST SUSTAIN OUR LIFE." Saint Romanos states in his Kontakion hymn that he believed that she was given over to the Temple TO BE REARED; AND SHE RECEIVED NOURISHMENT FROM THE ANGELS. She became a Saint among saints, and just as she was dedicated, she became the "Temple" and the "Tabernacle" of the Lord." She did not retire from praying until the appearance of the Angel of the Lord after the Ninth Hour or after 3:00 p.m. from whose hand she received food.

Saint Photios remarks that "This Festival is the beginning of all the other festivals, in that it gives us the contract for heavenly commerce, enriches the world with the inviolate wealth of the Lord’s ADVENT, and both effects the cleansing of our human frame and offers us the enjoyment of the undefiled goods…for today, the Virgin, on behalf of our whole human race, is being betrothed to the common Lord." Saint Proclos of Constantinople (446 A.D.) writes: "Thou alone hast remedied the sorrow of Eve; thou alone has wiped away the tears of the one that groaned…thou wilt bear the price of the world’s redemption."

The Holy Feast of the Annunciation is a Feast of the Lord and the Mother of God. It is a feast of the Lord because IT REFERS TO CHRIST THE LORD, WHO WAS CONCEIVED IN THE WOMB OF THE THEOTOKOS, AND A FEAST OF THE MOTHER OF GOD BECAUSE IT REFERS TO THE PERSON WHO HAS A ROLE IN THE CONCEPTION AND INCARNATION OF THE LOGOS/WORD OF GOD, THAT IS TO SAY, THE PANAGIA (ALL-HOLY MOTHER OF GOD).

Mary, the Theotokos, has great value and an important position in the Orthodox Church, precisely because SHE WAS THE PERSON WHOM ALL THE GENERATIONS AWAITED, AND IT WAS SHE WHO GAVE HUMAN NATURE TO THE LOGOS/WORD. Thus the person of the Theotokos is closely connected with the Person of Christ. And the value of the Panagia is due not only to her virtues, but chiefly TO THE FRUIT OF THE WOMB. For this reason THEOTOKOLOGY is intimately CONNECTED WITH CHRISTOLOGY. When we speak of Christ we cannot ignore her who gave Him FLESH, and when we speak of the Panagia, we are referring to Christ at the same time, because from Him she draws grace and value. This is clearly shown in the service of the Salutations, or Akathist, to the Mother of God, in which the Theotokos is extolled, but ALWAYS IN CONNECTION WITH THE FACT THAT SHE IS THE MOTHER OF CHRIST: "REJOICE! FOR YOU BEAR HIM WHO BEARS ALL THINGS."

The ANNUNCIATION IS THE BEGINNING OF ALL THE FEASTS OF THE LORD. In the dismissal hymn (Apolytikion) of the feast we chant: "Today is the crown of our salvation, and the manifestation of that mystery which is from everlasting…". The content of the feast refers to the event in which the Archangel Gabriel – the Angel with whom all the events related to the incarnation of Christ are connected — visited the Panagia at God’s COMMAND to inform HER THAT THE TIME HAD ARRIVED FOR THE INCARNATION OF THE LOGOS/WORD OF GOD, AND THAT SHE WOULD BE His Mother (see Luke 1:26-56).

The Greek word for the ‘annunciation’ (EVANGELISMOS) literally means ‘GOOD NEWS.’ This refers to the information given by the Archangel that the Logos/Word of God would be made man for man’s salvation. Essentially THIS IS THE FULFILLMENT OF GOD’S PROMISE GIVEN AFTER THE FALL OF ADAM AND EVE (see Genesis 3:15) and is called the PROTOEVANGELION. Therefore the information about the incarnation of the Logos/Word IS THE GREATEST PIECE OF NEWS IN HISTORY. [Source: The Twelve Feasts of the Lord].

(To be continued)
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George