Verily, Gabriel did come to thee, disclosing the purpose which was before the ages, hailing thee and saying, Rejoice O unseeded land! Rejoice, O unburning bush! Rejoice, O depth inaccessible to vision! Rejoice, O bridge leading to the heavens! Rejoice, O lofty ladder whom Jacob did behold! Rejoice, O jar of divine manna! Rejoice, O dissolution of the curse! Rejoice, O recall of Adam! The Lord is with thee.
- Vespers of the Feast, Tone 6

Metropolitan Joseph's 2015 Pastoral Message for the Feast of the Annunciation
Click here to read more about the Feast of the Annunciation
Homily on the Annunciation by St. Gregory the Wonderworker
Old Testament Women at the Annunciation: Gleanings from the Western Rite Lectionary by Lynette A. Smith
God's Free Gift, by Fr. Steven Rogers

The Boy Who Died and The Boy Who Lived: Reflections on the Annunciation, by Douglas Cramer
Listen to Dn. Michael Hyatt on the Annunciation
Listen to Fr. Thomas Hopko on the Annunciation

Rejoice, O Theotokos, O deliverance of Adam from the curse! Rejoice, O chaste Theotokos! Rejoice, O living bush! Rejoice, O lamp! Rejoice, O throne! Rejoice, O ladder and door! Rejoice, O divine chariot! Rejoice, O bright cloud! Rejoice, O temple, O most-gilded jar! Rejoice, O mountain! Rejoice, O tabernacle and table! Rejoice, O deliverer of Eve!
- Orthros of the Feast, Tone 2

March 25, 2015

Behold, our restoration is now made manifest; God is ineffably joined to man.  At the words of the Archangel, error has vanished. The Virgin has received the joyful news, and the things of earth have become those of heaven.  The world is released from the ancestral curse.  Let the whole creation rejoice, singing a hymn of praise, Lord our creator and deliverer, Glory to You!   ~From the Vesperal Aposticha for the Feast of the Annunciation

We greet you with love and joy on this Feast of the Annunciation of the Archangel Gabriel to the Most Holy Theotokos.

The reading above transmits to us the essence of this feast, which is the action of a loving God which initiates the events by which humankind is saved from the ancestral error of Adam and Eve.  The Archangel announces to the woman who will become the Most Holy Theotokos that she has been chosen to be the vessel through which God Himself will take human flesh, become a Man, and dwell among his creation.

  Through her complete and unconditional acceptance of the will of God, the Virgin Mary becomes a participant in the transformation of the things of this earth into heavenly things.  The womb of the Virgin is destined to contain that which the universe itself cannot contain and she becomes the one who is more spacious than the heavens.  Saint Cyril of Jerusalem expresses the relationship of the Virgin to Eve when he says that “through Eve, yet a virgin, came death, there was need that through a Virgin, or rather from a Virgin, life should appear; that as the serpent deceived the one, so Gabriel should bring the good news to the other.” The joining of earth to heaven is also expressed by St. Ambrose who says “By a man and woman flesh was driven from paradise; by a Virgin it was joined with God.” 

The great joy of this feast, occurring in the midst of the solemn Season of the Great Fast, causes us to pause in brief celebration before we resume the spiritual struggle which accompanies our Lenten journey.  We convey our most heartfelt love to you as we celebrate this joyous feast and we ask our gracious Lord to bless you and to grant that the remainder of the Lenten Season will bring you spiritual rewards.

Yours in Christ,

+JOSEPH
Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of All North America
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archidiocese of North America

Father Anthony Yazge, Chair of the Department of College Ministry, reminds all parents, Sunday School teachers, youth workers, parish priests, and Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) alumni about OCF's First Forty Days program.

Christina Andresen, OCF's manager of Chapter Relations, writes: "It is imperative that we personally contact every first-year Orthodox college student so that they know that an Orthodox family awaits them on campus. This initiative, called the First Forty Days, has our local OCF student leaders, spiritual advisors, and lay coordinators introducing themselves to all incoming students, making sure that they know about Orthodoxy on campus and nearby Orthodox parishes.

We are asking that each parish provide us with basic information about their high school graduates who will be attending college in the fall.

You may submit your student contact information at www.ocf.net/firstfortydays. You will also find there a downloadable spreadsheet for large parishes which can be emailed to us at firstfortydays@ocf.net.

We respectfully request that you send us this information no later than July 15, 2015 so that we can organize it for our chapter leaders well in advance of the fall semester.

Please be assured that contact information will only be released internally to our OCF network. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at firstfortydays@ocf.net. On behalf of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship, I wish to thank you for joining us in this effort."

Let us honor John, that pride of ascetics, that angel on earth, that man of God in heaven, that adornment of the world, and that bliss of virtues and good deeds; for, planted in the house of God, he flourished with justice; and, like a cedar tree in the wilderness, he caused the flock of Christ to grow, those sheep endowed with speech, in righteousness and justice.

-Vespers of the Feast

On the fourth Sunday in Lent we commemorate St. John, the great seventh-Century ascetic and author of The Ladder of Divine Ascent. As we continue the Lenten fast, we recall St. John's account of the labors necessary to approach God, and we take comfort in the Lord's words: "he who endures to the end will be saved" (Mt 24:13).

Read the life of St. John of the Ladder
Listen to Fr. Thomas Hopko on St. John of the Ladder

The lessening of evil breeds abstinence from evil; and
abstinence from evil is the beginning of repentance; and
the beginning of repentance is the beginning of salvation; and the beginning of salvation is a good resolve; and
a good resolve is the mother of labors. And
the beginning of labors is the virtues; and
the beginning of the virtues is a flowering, and
the flowering of virtue is the beginning of activity. And
the offspring of virtue is perseverance; and
the fruit and offspring of persevering practice is habit, and
the child of habit is character. And
good character is the mother of fear; and
fear gives birth to the keeping of commandments in which I include both Heavenly and earthly. And
the keeping of the commandments is a sign of love; and
the beginning of love is an abundance of humility; and
an abundance of humility is the daughter of dispassion; and
the acquisition of the latter is the fullness of love, that is to say, the perfect indwelling of God in those who through dispassion are pure in heart, for they shall see God.
And to Him the glory for all eternity. Amen.

(from Step 27)

Visit our full section on Great Lent.