25 March 2020

Feast of the Annunciation

Today is the International Day of the Unborn Child because it is the day that the Redeemer of the World was conceived in the Womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

From the time of Dionysius Exiguus in AD 525 until the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar Reform  it was also New Years Day in the Western Catholic countries. 

The Collect of the Feast from the Roman Rite:
O God, Who didst will that thy Word should, by the message of an Angel, take flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, grant unto us, we beseech thee, that all who do believe her to be in very deed the Mother of God, may be helped by her prayers in thy sight.
Through the same Jesus Christ, thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
R. Amen.
The Troparion and Kontakion from the Eastern Rites:

Troparion — Tone 4
Today is the beginning of our salvation, / the revelation of the eternal mystery! / The Son of God becomes the Son of the Virgin / as Gabriel announces the coming of Grace. / Together with him let us cry to the Theotokos: / Hail, O Full of Grace, / the Lord is with You!

Kontakion — Tone 8

O Victorious Leader of Triumphant Hosts! / We, your servants, delivered from evil, sing our grateful thanks to you, O Theotokos! / As you possess invincible might, set us free from every calamity / so that we may sing: Hail, O unwedded Bride!
May the Most Holy Mother of God pray that the mass murder of children may cease. Happy Annunciation Day. 

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