'Let it be to me according to your word'. The Annunciation.

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The Annunciation, Caravaggio, painted 1608-09

Luke 1:26-38 (Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition)

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?" And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible." And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. 

O God, 
who willed that your Word 
should take on the reality of human flesh
 in the womb of the Virgin Mary, 
grant, we pray, 
that we, who confess our Redeemer to be God and man, 
may merit to become partakers even in his divine nature.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 
one God, for ever and ever.

Comments

  1. Manny10:23 pm, March 25, 2012

    The Annunciatgion is such an important moment in our faith. I wonder why it's not an holy day of obligation? By the way, how is March the sixth month? Is that from the Jewish calendar?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fr Seán Coyle11:54 pm, March 26, 2012

    Thank you, Manny, for your questions.

    I think that the Annunciation was once a holy day of obligation but it isn't now. The Latin or Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, to which most Catholics belong, has ten holy days of obligation apart from Sundays: 'the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Epiphany, the Aacension of Christ, the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), the feast of Mary the Mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, her Assumption, the feast of Saint Joseph, the feast of the Apostles Saints Peter and Pauo, and the feast of All Saint'. (Catechism of the CAtholic church, No 2043. I don't know of any country that observes all ten.

    The 'sixth month' in this gospel refers to the pregnancy of St Elizabeth, not to any calendar.

    ReplyDelete

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