The Annunciation (Evangelismos in Greek) of the Theotokos is one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the Church. It is third in the list of Great Feasts, after the Nativity of the Lord and Holy Theophany. On the Old Calendar, it is celebrated on April. The word Evangelismos (Ευαγγελισμός) means the announcement of the Good News of the salvation of humankind by the Lord our God. This salvation was made possible by the consent of the most pure, most humble, and most faithful human being in the history of mankind: the young maiden Mary, or Mariam – the God-sent daughter of the old, faithful and barren couple, Joachim and Anna. According to Orthodox teaching, She is “the most honorable than the Cherubim and the most glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim” – Cherubim and Seraphim being the two highest ranks of angels who stand constantly in the presence of God. Orthodox Christians don’t call the Virgin Mary by her name, as it is considered disrespectful. In the Orthodox tradition, she is called the Theotokos, which literally means “She who gave birth to God”, or in short, “the Mother of God”. Greeks also call her Panayia (pronounced: Pa-na-YEE-ah), the All-Holy one, and most affectionately invoke her intercessions to our Lord in every instance of need. Main points of this Feast• The Theotokos is the most pure, most humble, and most faithful human being in the history of mankind.• The Archangel Gabriel was sent to tell her that, because of that, she was chosen to become the Mother of the Incarnate God.• On the Feast of the Annunciation, we celebrate two things:
1) The divine initiative of God: He took on flesh from the Theotokos for our salvation.
2) The Theotokos’ consent: she freely accepted the vocation offered to her. • In our own lives, we are called to imitate the Theotokos’ example; God wants us to freely accept and follow His Will.