Celebrating the Annunciation and Incarnation
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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 feast 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 do not go to holy days of obligation if they are not already attached to that particular feast. And those who most needing its evangelistic message would be those most unlikely to attend.
“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 no later than the Sunday prior to Passion (Palm) Sunday.
It is not a question of choosing or not to move the celebration of the Annunciation. We are already moving it. 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.
However, at no time – 0% – is the Annunciation celebrated on a Sunday when it would have the potential to reach the masses with its powerful message. Instead it is always celebrated, on an obscure and all but forgotten by most Catholics, on a weekday Mass. And the daily communicants are probably already converted to the pro-life message.
Is March 25 Essential ?
While keeping the Annunciation on March the 25 has some advantages, I doubt most people consciously think of its connection to December 25. For this reason I believe it is essential that the word “Conception” be added to the title of the Solemnity. From a scientific perspective it is not necessary to keep it on March the 25, because the gestation (pregnancy) period is not nine months, but 38 weeks from conception, (plus or minus 2 weeks for a normal pregnancy.) So, if a baby was born on December 25 at 11:59 pm, based on averages, he would have been conceived on April 3 at 11:59 pm – not March 25.
“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
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 the 25th.
Because Easter Sunday always falls between the dates March 22 and April 25 inclusive, this possible solution would place the Solemnity of the Annunciation/Incarnation on March 8 at the earliest and on March 28 at the latest, but 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 displaced Lenten Sunday readings could be read during any of the ordinary Sundays of the year, but 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 to be
saved 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.
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 better vehicle 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. The point made by implication could reach those who have built up defense mechanisms against explicit words and arguments.
5. The advantages of this plan would be that it 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.
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 this Solemnity 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 40 weeks, not nine months.)
However, it is essential that they make this connection for them to be deeply influenced by the strong implication of this Solemnity 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 month” 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.
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 and irregular and infrequent
occurrence would be 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
The Changes
With the current calendar when Easter falls between the dates March 22nd and April 1st, the normal date for the Annunciation, March 25th, falls on a Christological Feast and so the Solemnity of the Annunciation is moved forward to the eighth day after Easter. This happens 26% of the time and the Annunciation is moved forward 6 to 15 days with April 9th being the latest date.
During those same dates with the new proposed plan the Annunciation/Incarnation would be moved backward to the Sunday before Passion Sunday resulting in a move of 7 to 17 days with March 8th being the earliest.
With the new proposed plan when Easter falls on April 2nd, 3rd, or 4th the Annunciation/Incarnation is moved 6, 5, or 4 days respectively to the previous Sunday of that week (two weeks before Easter.) 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.
When Easter falls on April 8th, 15th, or 22nd the current calendar moves the celebration of the Annunciation one day forward. With the new proposed plan the celebration of the Annunciation/Incarnation would be kept on March 25th as that day would be a Sunday celebration. This happens 20 times out of the 250 year period considered, or 8% of the time.
Making room in the Liturgical Calendar
The biggest difficulty in implementing the proposed solution is making room for it in the liturgical calendar. Three sets of Sunday readings, one for each year A, B, and C, would have to be moved or deleted from the calendar. We would still have four regular Lenten Sundays which could be arranged however the Church decides best. The other Lenten Sunday reading would have to be moved to another Sunday or displaced somehow.
I see four possible solutions as to how room could be made.
1. Currently the Church covers most of the New Testament in the three year cycle. While this is a great goal, it is not an absolute. The Church could change the calendar to a four year cycle so that major themes or Gospels could be repeated.
2. Eliminate one of the Gospels texts for each year, A, B, and C, that is closely paralleled in another Gospel.
3. Find three Gospel texts to be removed from the Sunday calendar that are already repeated during the weekday calendar.
4. Combine one of the shorter Gospels texts for each of the years, A, B, and C, with another Gospel passage.
While each one of these possible solutions involves certain hardships to attain, enduring each and every one of them would be better than missing out on the opportunity and the advantages of implementing the proposed solution.
Therefore, 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.