The Annunciation of the Lord. Solemnity

Feast March 25.

Day 1. March 17

Annunciation of Mary. Megarynarion hymn. [4]

You gave milk to our bread. Quote by Saint Augustine [4]

On March 25, we will celebrate the announcement of the Incarnation by to the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the conception of Christ in her womb (Lk. 1:26-38) [7]

Day 2. March 17. 1148 PM

Quite a bit of distractions this evening. I keep observing, and learning a bit, about places, and time to time about lives on my travels, which take about 5/32 to 3/16 of my functional day time travelling.

"The angel Gabriel said to Mary in greeting:
Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you; 
blessed are you among woman (alleluia)." [9]

Day 3. March 20. 0:03 am

"A shoot will spring froth from the shock of Jesse, and a flower will blossom from his root. The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him (alleluia)." [9, p. 1114]

Hail! Full of Grace. The search of clarifying the mystery of the announciation, and the actual fact of incarnation continues. [10, p. 674]

Day 4. March 22. 6:50 pm

Novenas, likely, hereafter, won’t be too elaborated.

Also, I got a book from the lives of the Saints [10], which is a discard from a library. I got from ebay. I rarely buy things in ebay, I have bought electronics there in the past, and I believe at least one sweater. I was busy and do not frequent any more the area of Moe’s bookstore. But around early December I had a lunch in that area. I should have bought the book there. That is how I found this book. I was thinking on my loading capacity and finances. But this book has a strange small. Old books can release toxic chemicals. So, I am a sort of afraid when reading the book, which is not an enjoyable situation, because the book is good.

I also, might not complete, the whole novena every day. This practice might become a partial novena in many cases. But I will think on the Saint or feast or solemnity for the ten-day period. So many things to remove here.

OK. Day 4. Because of Our Lady humility, while she doubted at first, she accepted God’s gift. Because of her humility and submission she said: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word” [10]. She accepted that it was God’s glory. Glory is something I do not understand yet. God, help me to understand it. But back to the topic. Our Lady Virgin Mary fully understood that this was about the Lord, not about her. She might not have, or definitely did not, assessed what she could get of that. Or envisioned herself in the future as the Queen of Angels. All of that was given from the God Himself. If I am not mistaken. Mary submitted. She co-operated. Then the Holy Spirit did His work.

Is this a correct interpretation?

I might have made errors. But it is interesting the call, and the acceptance to fully submit herself, and allow the Lord to do Thy Will, which was to incarnate into a Human person, through childbear, without actual intercourse with a man.

Day 5. March 23. 11:58 Mix feelings of writing this because one should pray in private. But only God knows what one does. As today’s gospel for instance. One thing that I can remember is that the first joyful mystery is the The Annunciation. One thing is learn and feel. Another is remember. A mystery or learning could reach the heart when it has meaning, or it is connected with some kind of experience.

Day 6. March 25. 2:15 AM. Unless that I could add something later today, this is the last day of prayer and text related to the annunciation in this occasion. But I would continue adding with time, and as I learn. Again, the copy Buttler’s text of Lives of the Saints that I have is terrible in terms of material, but beautiful in terms of content. It is and old book, which might release some bad chemicals.

By the way there is a Cathedral of the Annunciation, which is a Greek Orthodox Church in Stockton, CA.

Back to some learnings. St. Augustine in his De Tritate said that Jesus was put to death upon March 25, the same day he was conceived. [1, p. 674]

So, it seems that was the first understanding or tradition in the Church, expressed by writers such us Hippoluyos and Tertullian in the third century. [1] PK. More to learn about this…. One day.

But happy Annunciation. What a gift of the Lord to this world. And we, or I, are still trying to grasp it, to understanding it, to figure it out.

Day 7. March 25 11:02 PM. Pray the Magnificat every evening, as my grandma Rosa Elena, instructed me since early ages. It is part of the vespers in any case, and the first joyful mysteries.

Happy Feast Blessed Mother and Our Lord Jesus!

It might not have been a complete novena in 2026, in part with the Saint Patrick and Saint Joseph feasts within the novena time on March 17 and March 19 respectively. But this actually might become the new normal? It was not a bad novena either.

Blessed Virgin Mary, pray for us!

Prayer

“God our Father,

your Word became man and was born of the Virgin Mary…” [9]

References

[1] https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/annunciation-of-the-lord/

[2] https://www.vaticannews.va/en/liturgical-holidays/solemnity-of-the-annunciation-of-the-lord.html

[3] Suite for the Panagial: (Songs for the Theotokos)

[4] Douglas Lee, Pierce. 2021 SUITE FOR THE PANAGIA (SONGS FOR THE THEOTOKOS). The University of Nebraska – Lincoln ProQuest Dissertations & Theses,  2021. 28490564.

[5] Starbuck, Scott R. A. 2018 25^th March: Annunciation of the Lord: Psalm 45; Luke 1.26–38 Volume 129, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1177/0014524617731270c

[6] Duffy, Eamon, William Granger Ryan, and Jacobus de Voragine. 2012. The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints. Course Book ed., Princeton: Princeton University Press. https://muse.jhu.edu/book/30479.

[7] Annunciation of the BVM. (2013). In The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. : Oxford University Press. Retrieved 17 Mar. 2026, from https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199659623.001.0001/acref-9780199659623-e-271.

[8] Peter, Chrysologus. 2010. Saint, Archbishop of Ravenna, et al. Selected Sermons, Volume 3. The Catholic University of America Press. Project MUSE, https://muse.jhu.edu/book/20968. (See series of sermons 142-144 on the Annunciation of the Lord)

[9] Christian Prayer: The Liturgy of The Hours, 1976 [Improve reference].

[10] Thurston, Herbert S.J. and Donald Attwater. 1963 Butler’s Lives of the Saint. Complete Edition. Edited, revised and supplemented by Herbert Thurston, S.J. and Donald Attwater. PJ Kenedy & Sons. New York.