Celebrating the Annunciation and Incarnation

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Updated October 2, 2012

A Possible Solution
Alternative Suggestion
Advantages of this Proposal
Making the Connection Between Annunciation and Christmas
A New Name for the Solemnity

 

Restoring the Liturgy,
A Possible Soluti
on ?

 

How would it be best to increase our emphasis on the Annunciation and Incarnation in order to tap into this powerful and theologically rich mystery ?  
How can we reach the greatest number of people with this message ?

  Marian or Christological Feast ?

Pope Benedict XVI  

“This is why the Annunciation is a Christological feast as well, because it celebrates a central mystery of Christ: the Incarnation.”  
(BENEDICT XVI    ANGELUS  on
25 March 2007)

 

Please consider changing the name of this solemnity to :

The Annunciation of our Lord and His Conception,
or abbreviated as
Annunciation and Conception.

The Catholic Encyclopedia lists older names for this feast as :

Festum Incarnationis,
Initium Redemptionis Conceptio Christi,
Annuntiatio Christi,
Annuntiatio Dominica. …

This feast was always a holy day of obligation in the Universal Church. As such it was abrogated first for France and the French dependencies, 9 April, 1802; and for the United States, by the Third Council of Baltimore, in 1884. …

The Greek Church, when the 25th of March occurs on one of the three last days in Holy Week, transfers the Annunciation to Easter Monday;

on all other days, even on Easter Sunday, its office is kept together with the office of the day. Although no octaves are permitted in Lent, the Dioceses of Loreto and of the Province of Venice, the Carmelites, Dominicans, Servites, and Redemptorists, celebrate this feast with an octave.

 

Consider restoring this solemnity to a Holy Day of Obligation.
And please consider always celebrating it on March 25. 

Even when that would mean co-celebrating whatever other feast fell on that day even if it be Easter Sunday or Good Friday the meaning of those feasts can be brought out with more clarity by including the Annunciation and Incarnation.  The Annunciation - Incarnation is integral to each of our other feasts.  And it does not take a lot of reflection to see the relationship between them.

Easter Sunday always falls between the dates March 22nd and April 25th inclusive.  In our current liturgical calendar when March 25th falls on a Lenten Sunday the Annunciation is always moved to the following Monday.  When March 25th falls between Passion (Palm) Sunday and Easter Wednesday inclusive (the latest possible day in the calendar) the Annunciation is always moved to the eighth day after Easter. 
The Solemnity of the Annunciation is NEVER celebrated on a Sunday.

The following proposal is submitted :
1. To change the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord  to a Solemnity that honors both the Annunciation to Mary and the Incarnation of Jesus Christ,
2. To recognizing its Christological character and rank,
3. To always celebrate the Feast of Annunciation-Incarnation on March 25.
4. To make it a day of holy obligation.
 

Alternate Suggestion Plan 2

If that cannot be done, then I suggest this feast be moved to a Sunday celebration each and every year,
to mediate on these profound mysteries and to draw from the immeasurable graces that God will provide by our focusing on this profound Mystery and gift from God.

The Solemnity could be celebrated on the Sunday that is closest to March 25th  placing it between March 22nd and March 28th  for most of the year.  However, if the closest Sunday is Passion (Palm) Sunday or Easter Sunday, then the Solemnity would be celebrated on the Sunday following Easter.  It would be celebrated on the same day as Divine Mercy Sunday.  The Incarnation is so rich it has many facets.

Current Problem

I fear that many people do not value or take for granted the idea that God loves them.  They fail to value the Sacraments and the Church and the truths God has revealed through her.  Their thinking in some cases is, “So, I will get married for the third time and outside of the Church this weekend.  God loves me. He understands.”  Or “So, I will get an abortion tomorrow.  I don’t need to go to the Sacrament of Confession.  God loves me.  He understands.”  The price which was paid to win for us this grace needs to be contemplated to be appreciated.

Pope John Paul II had written an address that was given posthumously the day after his death on Divine Mercy Sunday. He shows how the foundation of our trust in God’s mercy is in our Father’s love for us.

“Lord, who reveal the Father’s love by your death and Resurrection, we believe in you and confidently repeat to you today:  Jesus, I trust in you, have mercy upon us and upon the whole world.”
Pope John Paul II, Regina Cćli, 3 April 2005, Eucharistic celebration for the repose of the soul of His Holiness JP2 - Divine Mercy Sunday

The Father’s love, that He gave us his only Son knowing that He would suffer and die, needs to be contemplated so that we appreciate what is offered to us on Divine Mercy Sunday.  By celebrating the Incarnation on Divine Mercy Sunday, or shortly before it, will help us appreciate the Father’s love and His Divine Providence.

 

Or See Alternative Suggestion.

Read about objections to this proposal.
Doesn't this feast interfere with the theme of Lent ?
Isn't it necessary to keep the feast nine months before Christmas on March 25
th
?,  Etc.
Objections and Answers

Placing the Annunciation-Incarnation on the Sunday after Easter has enormous advantages.  While Divine Mercy Sunday has a much needed and powerful message I believe that the message is not heard by many because they have fallen into a presumptuous way of thinking.

Many in the world today are not conscious of their own separation from God and how He established a Church to minister His preaching and Sacraments to reconcile them back to Him.  Most people in the world today think of themselves as being a basically good person who is going to heaven regardless of whether they are going to Church or not.  They are not murdering anybody, they are doing all those bad things that read about others doing.  They think of themselves as being better than the standard that is presented to them in the press, or at least as good if not better than all those  “hypocrites who go  to church every Sunday.”

Many believe that they have earned heaven by being good, or at least that they are not so bad that a loving, merciful and soft God would send them to hell.   Many are presumptuous about God’s mercy and they do not believe that they have to do anything to attain it.  And this attitude prevents them from understanding and or appreciating the message of God’s mercy that is presented to them on Divine Mercy Sunday.  Until we acknowledge that our sin separates us from God and that heaven is a gift that none of us could ever earn we cannot appreciate our need for His Mercy or His gift of it.

We need to discover His plan for our return to Him.

And so, by occasionally placing the Annunciation - Incarnation on Mercy Sunday we have the best opportunity to prepare them for that revelation.  On the Solemnity of the Incarnation the Church has the opportunity to teach and to show how Jesus is the promised Messiah promised in Genesis 3:15.  It is the perfect time to teach that God so loved the world that He sent His Son with a three fold mission, to Teach, to Rule, and to Sanctify. 

By helping those who have come back to the Church at Easter time to realize that Jesus is a Teacher we are wetting their appetite to learn what God wants to teach us on Divine Mercy Sunday.

This suggestion to move the Annunciation to a Sunday would keep it between March 22nd and April 11th and thereby keep it within the normal pregnancy period of 38 weeks plus or minus a couple of weeks  (March 20th to April 17th.)  When Easter falls on April 5th or later - almost two thirds or 64.8% of the time  -  the Annunciation and Conception would fall on the nearest Sunday, i.e. within three days of March 25th, between the dates March 22nd and March 28th

Making room in the Liturgical Calendar

Adopting this suggestion would mean that the Annunciation would be celebrated on the 3rd, 4th, 5th Sunday of Lent or the Sunday after Easter.  So, one of those Sunday readings would be displaced on a given year, but it would vary from one year to the next so that none of the Liturgical readings would be completely displaced.  So, there would be no need to make any major changes to our Liturgical Calendar other than those mentioned.

 

Alternative Suggestions

Plan 2B
When the Annunciation-Incarnation falls on Divine Mercy Sunday move Divine Mercy Sunday to the following week.

Plan 2C
The same as above except that when the nearest Sunday is Passion (Palm) Sunday or Easter Sunday then the Solemnity of the Annunciation and Conception would be moved to the second Sunday after Easter so that Divine Mercy Sunday would stay as it is.  Therefore, the Solemnity would still fall between March 22
nd and March 28th  64.8% of the time. 

Its latest celebration would be on April 18th.   This is one day beyond the time span of pregnancy of 38 weeks plus or minus a couple of weeks from conception to birth.  Counting backward from December 25th gives the corresponding window of  March 20th to April 17th. The Solemnity would only land on April 18th  when Easter fell on April 4th. This only happens 3.2% of the time. However, even this late date still falls within what “The World Health Organization defines normal term for delivery.” In fact, even at this shortest possible time span between the Annunciation and Christmas under the proposed plan presented here, a woman would have been defined as being “at term” a full six days prior to delivery. See reference.

When Easter comes earlier than April 4th the second Sunday after Easter  is the 17th or before.  When Easter comes after April 4th then the nearest Sunday to March 25 is always one of the Sundays that precede Passion (Palm) Sunday.

Although celebrating the Annunciation and Incarnation-Conception Sunday on April 18th falls one day outside of the range of 38 weeks plus or minus two weeks it has a distinct advantage. Currently our culture has a very distinct prejudice against motherhood.  Every pregnant mother anxiously counts down the days of her confinement.  What mother would not be relieved and overjoyed to have her period of confinement reduced by a day? The symbolic reducing by the Church  of Mary’s  “confinement”  by one day could be a symbolic jester to how the whole Church should value and cherish  and assist mothers especially during their pregnancy.

On the other hand, if celebrating the Annunciation and Conception Sunday on April 18th is an insurmountable obstacle, then when Easter falls on April 4th  the celebration for the Annunciation and Conception could be pushed back to the Sunday prior to Passion (Palm) Sunday on March 21st.

The proposal of Alternate Plan 2 does move the feast more frequently, but it moves it to a prominent yearly Sunday celebration in a simple consistent manner.  It is still tied to the March 25th date although less strictly, so that its much needed message is heard by those who most need to hear it.  And when March 25th falls on a Lenten Sunday the Annunciation will stay on March 25th, unlike our current system.

To see how these percentages above are calculated see the
CALCULATIONS  WEB  PAGE


Advantages: 

1. This proposed plan would enhance our Lenten celebration by providing us with two prefect examples, Jesus and Mary, who gave up worldly pleasures to give themselves entirely to God the Father and His plan even when much suffering ensued.  Read more on Lent.

2. It provides a more enhanced liturgical opportunity to prepare the Catechumens for their reception of Christ coming into their world. Read more on Easter.

3. It would lay the bed rock foundation for Marian devotion on how Jesus united Himself to Mary, as we meditate on how God incorporated Mary into His plan of salvation for us.  Read more on Mary.

4. It would make the unmistakably clear point of how human life begins at fertilization (or conception according to the traditional definition) and thus make an obvious pro-life message without even using the emotionally charged words such as abortion, etc.  That point being made by implication could reach those who have built up defense mechanisms and become closed minded when they hear explicit pro-life terminology and arguments.  Read more on Pro-Life.

5. The implementation of this plan provides a simple consistent liturgical calendar that would tap into the powerful message of this feast on a yearly basis.  And most importantly, it would greatly benefit the vast majority of Catholics who only attend Sunday Mass and never celebrate this feast according to today's calendar.

6.  By reflecting on Jesus’ and Mary’s yes to God the Father and His plan for them and how their love that made that yes possible we can greatly aid all the faithfully to reflect on their own vocation and its importance.  Read more on Vocations.

7.  Jesus' and Mary's yes to the Father provides us with the key to handling our own crosses in life, a deep love for the Father and trust in His most perfect will as to what is best for us even when some cross ensues.

8.  With the rise of Islam in Western Europe and America it would seem advantageous to have a Sunday devoted to the distinctively Christian doctrine of the Incarnation.

9.  There is no more powerful means of fighting the satanic forces of abortion than by celebrating the liturgy that honors the Author of Life when He took on a human life.

10.  Even if the priest never made the connection between this feast and its  Pro-Life implications the laity will figure it out.

Just as the Church  (in North America, in most of the states) moved the Feast of the Ascension, forty days after Easter, to a Sunday in order to help the whole congregation to focus on and to draw upon its theological importance, the Church has all the more reason to consider moving the Annunciation and Incarnation to a Sunday celebration.

 

Making the Connection Between
Annunciation and Christmas

There are two other problems with our current situation. 
First, the Solemnity of the Annunciation is currently moved from March 25th  34% of the time plus it is only celebrated on a weekday.  These two facts make its celebration irregular and inconsistent for most Catholics.  Therefore, it is harder for the laity to develop a fondness and devotion to this particular liturgical day.

Second, the current title, “The Annunciation of our Lord” does not readily call to mind its connection to Christmas.  (The catechetical development of many Catholics is not that great.)  And the lack of devotion to this particular liturgical day because of the above reasons of its irregular and obscure weekday celebration make the realization of the connection to Christmas harder to recognize and to remember.

Regardless of whether we keep the current calendar or accept the proposal stated here this feast is going to be moved from the March 25th date on a somewhat regular basis.  Therefore, it behooves us to consider the proposed name change below to make this connection to Christmas more obvious.  

 

A New Name for the Solemnity
 

Proposed new Name for this Solemnity :

The Annunciation of our Lord to the Virgin Mary and
His Conception

Or abbreviated as Annunciation and Conception

orAnnunciation and Incarnation

 

The mystery of the Annunciation and Incarnation is so powerful and theologically rich the Church might want to consider renaming the Solemnity of  “The Annunciation of the Lord” to make some of these deeply needed truths more obvious.  I suggest two considerations.

First,

In old calendars this feast has been called Festum Incarnationis, and also Conceptio Christi, among other titles. 

Previously the title focused on Mary while now the focus is on Christ as the Annunciation of our Lord, even though it is a “Marian” feast.  I suggest a new title that refers to both, Christ and how He works in and through Mary.  Please read the section on Mary explaining why I believe this would both help better explain who Christ is and his plan of salvation for us as well as help explain and instill a greater Marian devotion.

 

Second,

When the average Catholic is asked, “When does the Church celebrate the coming of Christ?” they will almost always say Christmas and ignore or forget about the Annunciation.  And this is quite understandable since our Sunday liturgy tends not to emphasize the Annunciation and since most Catholics neither go to daily Mass nor do they make the conscious connection between the Annunciation and Christmas nine months later.  (Actually the gestation period for humans is 38 weeks, not nine months.)

So, it is essential that we help them make this connection for them to be deeply influenced by the strong implication of this Solemnity, which is that human life begins at conception.  Therefore, in addition to moving the Solemnity of the Annunciation to a Sunday, I propose that this feast be given a new name to make its “9 months - or rather its 38 weeks” connection with Christmas more obvious, regardless of whether or not the homilist draws out this point. 

The following title is long, but when we consider the number of Catholic girls getting an abortion, it seems worth the sacrifice.  Of course, the evangelistic advantages of this new name go far beyond just the Pro-Life objectives. 

 

Proposed new Name for this Solemnity :

The Annunciation of our Lord to the Virgin Mary and
His Conception

Or abbreviated as Annunciation and Conception

Or abbreviated as Annunciation and Incarnation

 

All of us would do well to meditate on the beauty, the significance, and power that this Solemnity, and this infinite Truth, has to offer.  This feast contains in its very nature the answers to many of society’s errors and lies.  And those who don’t go to daily mass are perhaps those most vulnerable to those lies and therefore are in most need to hear and meditate on its message.  The benefits of moving it to Sunday are enormous because it is only on Sunday that most people will be in a position to recognize its connection to those truths including its connection to Christmas.

So, in conclusion, the adoption of this proposed change to the liturgical calendar as well as the new title for this feast – unlike our current calendar –  will make the connection between this Solemnity and Christmas obvious to every one, and it will be made known every year.  The opportunity to celebrate and draw from the richness of the Annunciation and Incarnation only comes once a year.

And so we have the following questions:

Would it benefit the Church to increase her celebration and reflection on the mysteries revealed by the Annunciation and Incarnation?  and

What would be the most effective method of helping the average Catholic to reflect on those mysteries?   and

Would the Church be able to emphasize this celebration by changing our current calendar which presently makes the Annunciation a somewhat obscure feast by Never celebrating it on a Sunday ? 
By adopting the proposal to always keep this great feast on March 25,  the average Catholic would again celebrate this great Solemnity.  To make it a holy day of obligation will make this encounter a yearly occurrence.

 


Sections:
Main, ImportancePro-LifeMaryLentEaster,  and Solution.

 

 

 

 Objections
to Proposed Solution

 

This section has been moved to it own page at
Objections and Answers

See responses to:

Since the early church did not place the Solemnity of the Annunciation on a Sunday and the Incarnation was not a liturgical feast at all, should we not maintain that tradition that was passed down to us?

Is it not wrong to alter the things of God such as the timings of the Solemnity of the Annunciation to fix the lesser things of man such as the abortion issue?

Doesn't the Annunciation interfere with the theme of Lent ?

Doesn't the “proposed solution” presented here interfere with a necessary 9 month association between the Annunciation and December 25th, Christmas Day ?

 


To see how these years are calculated see my
CALCULATIONS  WEB  PAGE


The ideas submitted here are so that the Church may decide their merits.  And of course, all faithful Catholics believe that the Holy Spirit will continue to lead the Church the way God sees as best.


Thanks to Rev. Fr. René Butler, M.S., for his help in research. 


All comments, criticisms, or suggestions are most welcome. Please  E-Mail.


Endnote:
We all would do well to emphasize these mysteries of God, the Annunciation to Mary and the Conception of Christ.   
Obviously, I accept whatever the Church decides, but I do ask for the Church's consideration on this issue because the current regulations were made before abortion became the widespread problem that it is today. While the themes in the Lenten Gospels are applicable throughout most of the year, the opportunity to fully focus on the Annunciation and its message comes only once a year.