The Annunciation of the Theotokos

The Annunciation of the Virgin Mary is the blessed event for universal Salvation.

It is the message of joy which God sent to mankind. A message conveyed reverently by Archangel Gabriel, the messenger of Heaven, traversing the space from Heaven to Earth.

Here, on Earth, he finds the chosen person who is worthy to receive the message on behalf of mankind. He finds her who is full of grace, the most blessed of women in the world, the Virgin Mary, the new Eve. The living Ark, who would receive in her womb and give flesh to the Saviour, so that the new Adam would be born, destined to reunite what had been torn asunder and to reconcile man with God.

Solemn and mysterious are the words heard from the Archangel’s mouth: “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus”, (Luke A’, 31). When the humble maiden asked the Archangel: “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”, the mystery of the holy incarnation was revealed in all its divine splendour: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and God’s power of the Highest will overshadow you”, (Luke A’,34-35).

Then the most obedient and humble Mary accepted the Archangel’s message by saying: “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word”; (Luke A’, 38).

We should not forget that the Annunciation of the Theotokos is the fulfilment of an old promise of God to the old Adam and to the old Eve, the first created persons through whom mankind was to be created. While Adam and Eve lived blissfully in the abundance of Paradise, ecstatic in the knowledge of their direct communication with God, they eventually sank into the abyss of misfortune on account of their disobedience.

They believed the words of the enemy of man, the devil, who approached them in the form of the snake, the most prudent animal, in order to deceive them. You will become “gods” too, the devil told them, if you eat the fruit, forbidden by God. They believed the words of the devil, disobeying the will of God.

It is not a trivial matter to disobey the will of your God and Creator who loves you and blesses you with happiness and to be misled by the lures of the devil, who is your enemy and the destroyer of your happiness.

As a result of their disobedience, the first people sank to a pitiful condition and led a sorrowful existence, having cut themselves off from the Divine Grace of God.

The burden of guilt on man is as heavy as death. The wages of sin is death which casts mankind into a terrifying and hopeless situation. The punishment is severe to match the unfathomable insult man has caused to his Creator.

Thus mankind fell from the grace of God to a situation of eternal damnation. It was at that moment that God’s paternal heart, full of love and forgiveness, gives the first promise to mankind, raising the hope of his restoration to the abundance of Paradise and the everlasting Kingdom of God. The voice of God is heard in all its magnificence; “a woman will bring forth Him Who will shatter the head of the snake.”

This, my dear brothers and sisters, is the first promise and word of salvation to the fallen man. It is the ray of light that comes to disperse the impenetrable spiritual darkness brought about by the disobedience, the revolt of man against the commandment of God.

It is proper, therefore, that this first promise of God is described as the first good tidings. (ÐñùôïåõáããÝëéï)

God the Father continues with his Messianic prophecies in the passage of the centuries, to encourage mankind with the revival of hope for salvation.

However, the Annunciation of the Theotokos marks the “fullness of time” for the realisation of the promise and the good tidings, for the Son and the Word of God to assume the human form and to also become the Son of the Virgin Mary.

On the day of the Annunciation the heavens opened. The Archangel spread his wings and traversed the celestial expanse to reach our grieving earth. In the small township of Nazareth he announced to the humble Maiden the will of God.

The heavenly melody filled the skies: “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus”, (Luke A’, 31).

God the Father declares, God the Son accepts and the Holy Spirit reveals the age old mystery, and Mary accedes obediently to the fulfilment of the “Great Mystery of Divine Providence”, by whispering, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word”.

The Annunciation of Mary is the landmark of the “Favour of God”, it is the preamble, the Chapter of the salvation of man. St John Damaskenos has these enlightening and instructive words to say, “At the time of the Annunciation the Son and the Word of God, co-substantial with the Father in a certain manner with the power of the Holy Spirit, was formed in the clean and pure blood of the Virgin into living flesh and intelligent soul, not through a sperm, but through the creative power of the Holy Spirit. Such a union of the Divine with the human nature in the substance of the Word, in the womb of the Theotokos, constitutes the deification of the human nature.

The message of the Archangel to the Theotokos that she will become the temple and the residence of Jesus, God and man, is “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God…”.

This message fills everybody with joy, the like of which man has not experienced since his fall, because it erases the damnation of mankind.

The Virgin Mary, the new Eve, through the Annunciation becomes the Mother of Life, the Harbinger of Hope to the Christians.

On this most auspicious day of Christendom let every soul chant åšáããåëßæïõ ãy ÷áñNí ìåãÜëçí ákíåsôå ïšñáíïr, Èåï™ ôxí äüîáí.

However, over and above all this, let everybody understand that the Annunciation opens up for everyone a new and significant Chapter, the Chapter of their Salvation which each person should put to good use.

By the late Father Nicholas Moutafis 1931-2001