"The Annunciation of the Most Holy Mother of God"

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The Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos is an evangelical event and a Christian holiday dedicated to it; the proclamation by the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary of the future birth of Jesus Christ from her flesh.

In Orthodoxy, it is one of the Twelve Holidays. The Jerusalem, Russian, Georgian, Serbian and Polish Orthodox Churches, as well as the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (within Ukraine), Old Believers and some others celebrate the Annunciation according to the Julian calendar (in the XX-XXI centuries, March 25 according to the Julian calendar corresponds to April 7 according to the Gregorian calendar). Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Albania, Czech Lands and Slovakia, the American, as well as the Catholic Church and Protestant denominations celebrate March 25 on the Gregorian calendar.

Plot of the Annunciation

According to the Canonical Gospels
The events of the Annunciation are described by a single evangelist, the Apostle Luke. In his Gospel he reports that in the sixth month after the conception of St. John the Forerunner by righteous Elizabeth, the archangel Gabriel was sent by God to Nazareth to the Virgin Mary with the news of the coming birth from her of the Savior of the world:

According to a number of theologians, the words of the Archangel Gabriel – “Rejoice, Graced One” – became the first “good news” for mankind after his fall. Theophylactus of Bulgaria in the interpretation of the Gospel of Luke writes: “Since the Lord said to Eve: “In sickness you will give birth to children”, now this disease is resolved by the joy that the Angel brings to the Virgin, saying: Rejoice, Holy One! Because Eve was cursed, Mary now hears, Blessed are You.

Doubting (in the opinion of Gregory of Neocaesarea, fearing the violation of her virginity), Mary asked the angel: “How will this be, when I do not know a husband?” To which the angel promised a seedless, mysterious conception - "The Holy Spirit will find on You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You" (), and then in confirmation that "no word will remain powerless with God," gave the example of her relative Elizabeth.

Mary, seeing in the words of the angel the will of God, utters very meaningful words: “Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” It is believed that at the time of the utterance of these words by the Virgin Mary, the virgin conception of Jesus Christ took place. Nikolai Kavasila comments on these words:

The incarnation was not only the work of the Father, His Power and His Spirit, but also the work of the will and faith of the Most Holy Virgin. Without the consent of the Immaculate, without the assistance of Her faith, this plan would have remained unfulfilled as it would have been without the action of the three Persons of the Divine Trinity. It is only after God has instructed and persuaded the Holy Virgin that He receives Her into the Mother and borrows from Her the flesh which She gladly gives Him. Just as He was incarnated voluntarily, so it was His will that His Mother should give birth to Him freely and of Her own free will.

By her submission and consent, according to Athanasius the Great, Mary expressed her confession of faith. He compares it to the tablet on which the Pi Pi Pi