Celebrating the Annunciation and Incarnation

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Updated Feb. 16, 2010

Restoring the Liturgy,
A Possible Solution ?
 

How would it be best to increase our emphasis on the Annunciation/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)

In years past the Solemnity of the Annunciation was a holy day of obligation, and so the entire Church was able to tap into its richness.  Unfortunately, even if that were re-instated I don’t believe most Catholics would attend since most Catholics today no longer go to holy days of obligation if they are not already attached to that particular feast.  And those who most need its evangelistic message are those least likely to attend holy days of obligation.

“This feast (Annunciation) 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 ...”
Catholic Encyclopedia

A solution for consideration would be to celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation and Incarnation every year on the Sunday closest to March 25, but of course avoiding the Sundays for Easter and Passion (Palm) Sunday.

Easter Sunday always falls between the dates March 22 and April 25 inclusive.  In our current liturgical calendar when March 25 falls between Passion (Palm) Sunday and Easter Wednesday (the latest possible day in the calendar) the Annunciation is always moved to the eighth day after Easter. 

The proposal of this website is to celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord on the Sunday that is closest to March 25 placing it between March 22 and March 28, however if the closest Sunday is Passion (Palm) Sunday or Easter Sunday, then the Solemnity would be celebrated on the Sunday following Easter and so Divine Mercy Sunday would be pushed forward one week. 

Placing the Annunciation on the Sunday between Easter Sunday and Mercy Sunday 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 placing the Annunciation / Incarnation before 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 two weeks  (March 20th to April 17th.  Almost two thirds of the time, 64.8%,  it will fall on the nearest Sunday, i.e. within three days of March 25, between the dates March 22 and March 28. 

The opportunity to celebrate and draw from the richness of the Annunciation and Incarnation only comes once a year.

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

Vocations

Increasing our focus on Jesus’ and Mary’s acceptance of their vocations given to them by God the Father will be helpful in many ways and for several reasons.  Not only would it be helpful in regards to consecrated religious vocations, but it would help inspire those in the laity to fulfill their role as well.  How much better off would the world be ...

if all Priests were faithful to the Church’s teachings,
if all professors at “Catholic” universities accepted that freedom is found in the Truth of Christ,
if all “Catholic” politicians protected the pre-born,
if all parents took an active role in teaching the faith to their children,
and if all singles used their time and resources to grow closer to Jesus and to evangelize His truths to others and to prepare for future challenges ?

Besides giving to us the perfect examples of fulfilling ones vocation, the Incarnation and Annunciation offer to us the perfect formula for making that possible.  It is not just our own personal commitment or inner strength that makes it possible (Matthew 26:33), but by following the example of Jesus and Mary by developing a deeply personal and loving relationship with God the Father through much faith and prayer.

Unfortunately some people today expect their priests to only tell them what makes them feel good.  (Cf. 2 Timothy 4:3) They assume that the priest, the church, the world, and even God owe them a life without suffering.  They look to God primarily for Him to save them from suffering.  By reflecting on Mary’s “Yes” to her vocation and by reflecting on her life’s example in how she was not saved from suffering in this life the lay faithful will have a greater opportunity to be cured of these possible false expectations and to grow in a greater appreciation of a salvation from sin rather than just a salvation strictly from suffering.

Pope Benedict XVI   Speaking about the Annunciation

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your Word". Mary's reply to the Angel is extended in the Church … The “yes” of Jesus and Mary is thus renewed in the “yes” of the saints, especially martyrs who are killed because of the Gospel.”  
(BENEDICT XVI    ANGELUS  on 25 March 2007)


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.  

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

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. 

4. It would make the unmistakably clear point of how human life begins at conception 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 against explicit words and arguments.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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/Incarnation to a Sunday celebration.

 

A New Name for the Solemnity
 

The mystery of the Annunciation/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.  (See Catholic Encyclopedia, 1907, for more history on this feast)

Previously the title focused on Mary while now the focus is on Christ, 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 my 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” 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 merely Pro-Life objectives. 

 

Proposed new Name for this Solemnity :

“The Annunciation to the Virgin Mary and
the Conception of Christ”

Or abbreviated as “Annunciation and Conception”

 

And so we have the following questions:

“Would it benefit the Church to increase her reflection on the truths 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 the celebration of that Solemnity by moving it to a Sunday?”

 

Sections:
Main, Importance,  Pro-Life,  Mary,  Lent,  Easter,  and Solution.

 

 Objections
to Proposed Solution

1.  The Liturgical Calendar cannot be re-arranged just to accommodate a secondary purpose.

2. The Annunciation is a Marian Feast, and therefore, it gets outranked by the  Christological  Feasts of Lent and Easter which it cannot replace.

3. The focus of Lent should not be interrupted by this joyful feast

4. It cannot be moved to a Sunday because it has to be kept on March 25th in order to maintain its natural connection with Christmas on December 25th.

Answers

1.  The Liturgical Calendar cannot be re-arranged just to accommodate a secondary purpose.
1. The feast of the Annunciation is also the Incarnation.  It is of such major theological importance to our faith it deserves in its own right a special recognition that only a Sunday observance can adequately give.  Only a Sunday observance will direct our laity to the attention that it deserves.  In the past it was a Holy Day of Obligation, but unfortunately today many Catholics no longer observe those obligations.  Hence, it is worthwhile moving it to a Sunday just as Ascension Thursday was moved to a Sunday.

2. The Annunciation is a Marian Feast, and therefore, it gets outranked by the  Christological  Feasts of Lent and Easter which it cannot replace.
2. Pope Benedict XVI  points out how the Annunciation is also a Christological feast.
“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)
Therefore, the Church can easily rule that this feast should out rank a Lenten Sunday.

3. The focus of Lent should not be interrupted by this joyful feast
3. The early church believed that celebrating the Annunciation/Incarnation fit perfectly within the Lenten celebration of sacrifice and mortification. 1 Today however, the Annunciation is sometimes mistakenly thought of as being exclusively a joyful event because of its association with the Joyful Mysteries of the rosary.  However, God’s mysteries are as broad as they are deep.

In the history of mankind there has not been a greater example of self sacrifice than what happened at the Incarnation and the Annunciation.  See complete section dedicated to answering this question under the heading of Lent.

4. It cannot be moved to a Sunday because it has to be kept on March 25th in order to maintain its natural connection with Christmas on December 25th.
4.  This argument is short sighted for numerous reasons.

One. There is no better way to emphasis the connection between the Annunciation and Christmas than by adopting the solution proposed here.

Two. As for the argument that it cannot be moved from March 25th, this is a false and misleading argument.  It is currently moved from the 25th quite often.  The Christological feasts of Lent and Easter outrank the “Marian” feast of the Annunciation, so the Annunciation gets moved quite frequently in our current calendar.  In 2007 it was moved to March 26.  In 2008 it will be moved to March 31.  In 2005 it was moved to April 4.  (See Calendar for 2005 AD)  

Our current calendar moves the Solemnity of the Annunciation from the March 25th date 34% of the time.  26% of the time it is moved six to fifteen days ahead to the eighth day after Easter, and on some occasions as late as April 9. 

Therefore, the argument that it cannot be moved is at best misleading, if not a denial of the facts.

Three. The proposed solution here still keeps it tied to the March 25th date although somewhat loosely. Actually, it is not essential that it be celebrated on March 25th because the gestation period is not exactly 9 months.  It is 38 weeks from conception to birth, (plus or minus 2 weeks for a normal pregnancy.)  So, if a baby was born on December 25 at 6 am, based on averages, he would have been conceived on April 3 at 6 am (plus or minus two weeks) – not March 25.   The proposed solution keeps it inside those parameters of 38 weeks plus or minus 2 weeks. 

Wikipedia

“Childbirth usually occurs about 38 weeks from fertilization, i.e. approximately 40 weeks from the start of the last menstruation.”    See Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pregnancy
 

Four. Just as the Ascension Thursday, a holy day of obligation 40 days after Easter, was moved to a Sunday for greater observance, the Annunciation, which also used to be a holy day of obligation, could be moved to a Sunday.

Five.  Emphasizing the March 25th date is more effectively achieved by adopting this proposal than by keeping the current calendar.  For example, the question to ask is, “Which method, the current calendar or this proposal, makes the connection between the Annunciation on March 25th and Christmas on December 25th most obvious to most of the people.”

Currently, we are drawing a line connecting the dots by using March 25th, but unfortunately, albeit unintentionally, by far most Catholics never see that line.  At no time – 0% –  is the Annunciation celebrated on a Sunday when it would have the greatest potential to reach the masses with its powerful message.  Instead it is always celebrated, on an obscure –  and all but forgotten by most Catholics –  weekday Mass.   And so what is the point of drawing a line to connect the dots if almost no one sees the line?

Besides that there are two other problems with our current situation.  First, the Feast of the Annunciation is 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 to make this connection to Christmas more obvious.  

Proposed new Name for this Solemnity :

“The Annunciation to the Virgin Mary and
the Conception of Christ”

Or abbreviated as “Annunciation and Conception”

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.

The proposal offered at this website 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.

So, in conclusion, the adoption of this proposed change to the calendar as well as the new title for this feast – unlike our current calendar –  will make the connection between this feast and Christmas obvious to every one, and it will be made known every year.

The Changes

The proposal at this website is to move the celebration of the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord to the Sunday that is closest to March 25 placing it between March 22 and March 28.  However if the closest Sunday is Passion (Palm) Sunday or Easter Sunday, then the Solemnity would be celebrated on the Sunday following Easter and so Divine Mercy Sunday would be pushed forward one week. 

When Easter falls on April 5th or later the Annunciation is moved three days or less to the nearest Sunday with the new proposed plan.

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 there would be no need to make any major changes to our Liturgical Calendar.

Some Details

Question:
Would it not be better to keep celebrating this Solemnity on its own special day during the week?

Response:
God will undoubtedly reward those faithful who make sake sacrifices to praise His glory at daily Mass.  However, many Catholics for numerous reasons do not attend daily Mass.  Not only will celebrating this Solemnity on Sunday reach many more Catholics, it will reach the ones who are even more likely to have the need to hear its powerful message.

 

The Solemnity under this proposed solution could come as early as third week of Lent, but would more frequently come toward the end of Lent, i.e. fourth or fifth week. 

Solutions that Don’t Work and their Disadvantages

(Alternate Plan 1)
Keep the current calendar, but make the Annunciation a Holy Day of obligation.  However, the Church would probably still fail to reach those who need it the most since many Catholics do not go to Mass on Holy Days of obligation, and especially not those feasts to which they are not already devoted. 

(Alternate Plan 2)
The Solemnity could be moved to a Sunday, but only when March 25 falls on one of the first five Sundays of Lent (that is, prior to Passion Sunday – since for this discussion we will assume that the Church will not want to displace Passion Sunday or Easter.)  However, this would limit its Sunday celebration to only these few years for the next 120 years. 
2012, 2057, 2063, 2068, 2074, 2085, 2091, 2096, 2114, 2125 …
Such an irregular and infrequent occurrence would make the rule hard to remember from one generation to the next. And its lack of frequency would make it less effective.

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

I submit this idea so that the Church may decide its merits ( and, or my state of confusion.)

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:
Of course, I will support whatever decision is made by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. Regardless of how the Holy Spirit ends up leading the Church in organizing her liturgical calendar, I believe we would do well to emphasize these mysteries of God, the Annunciation and Incarnation.  I am not claiming to know with infallible certainty what the Church should do in this matter.  Rather, I am just asking if the Church would like to consider these reasons for implementing this suggestion of moving the Annunciation/Incarnation to a Sunday celebration on a yearly basis.  If it is a bad idea I hope someone will do me the favor of educating me why that is so.
Thanks, John.