Solemnity of the Annunciation

Feast of the Annunciation
The Annunciation by Paolo de Matteis.
Observed by	Christianity
Type	Christianity
Date	25 March
Frequency	annual
Related to	Christmas Day

The Feast of the Annunciation, contemporarily the Solemnity of the Annunciation, also known as Lady Day, the Feast of the Incarnation (Festum Incarnationis), Conceptio Christi (Christ’s Conception), commemorates the visit of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, during which he informed her that she would be the mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is celebrated on 25 March each year.

The Feast of the Annunciation is observed almost universally throughout Christianity, especially within Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, Catholicism, and Lutheranism. It is a major Marian feast, classified as a solemnity in the Catholic Church, a Festival in the Lutheran Churches, and a Principal Feast in the Anglican Communion. Two examples in liturgical Christianity of the importance attached to the Annunciation are the Angelus prayer, and especially in Roman Catholicism, the event's position as the first Joyful Mystery of the Dominican Rosary.

Here is recorded the "angelic salutation" of Gabriel to Mary, 'Hail, full of grace, the LORD is with thee" (Ave, gratia plena, Dominus tecum; Luke 1: 28), and Mary's response to God's will, "Let it be done to me according to thy word" (fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum; v. 38). The "angelic salutation" is the origin of the Hail Mary prayer and the Angelus; the second part of the prayer comes from the salutation of Saint Elizabeth to Mary at the Visitation.

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