The Annunciation of the Lord

The Annunciation of the Lord is the solemnity that celebrates the message of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary at Nazareth, when he announced that she had been chosen to become the Mother of God's own Son. Hailing her as "full of grace," the angel told her that she would conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit and bear a son to be called Jesus, who would reign forever; and Mary, giving her free and humble consent — "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to your word" — opened the way for the salvation of the world.

In that moment, at Mary's yes, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and the eternal Son of God took to himself our human nature in her womb. Because it marks the very beginning of the Incarnation, the feast is kept on 25 March, nine months before the Nativity of the Lord at Christmas. The solemnity honors both the mystery of God becoming man and the faith and obedience of the Virgin through whom he came.