One of the twelve hundred Orthodox holidays is the Annunciation. The date of the holiday precedes the Nativity of Christ for as much as nine months. The Feast of the Annunciation in Orthodoxy is celebrated on April 7 annually and is one of the brightest.
Annunciation is the good news
This day marks the good news of the future birth of God's Son, which the holy Archangel Gabriel reported in the apparition of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. This event is reflected in the Gospel. The exact history of the Annunciation holiday is not established, it is reported that in 560 King Justinian pointed to the date - April 7 in our style. The first icons with the Annunciation scene date back to the V century. The name of this holiday conveys the basic meaning of the event celebrated by the church.
Until the age of fourteen, Mary was brought up in the temple of Jerusalem and then had to marry or return home. But she announced her intention to remain a devotee forever. And then the priests of the temple betrothed her to the eighty-year-old Joseph, so that he would take care of the Blessed Virgin.
In the house of the elder Joseph, Maria modestly led a clean life, as before at the temple. During the reading of the book of Holy Scripture, the archangel Gabriel appeared to her and happily announced to Mary that she had acquired a special grace and would become the Mother of the Son of God. The Blessed Virgin humbly accepted God's will. This is what the feast of the Annunciation means - good news.
The Feast of the Annunciation is of special significance for Orthodox Christians. With the message of Mary about the imminent appearance of the Savior, the Gospel story begins about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then there will be Christmas, temptations in the wilderness, healing, the Last Supper, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. On this holiday, Orthodox believers are even allowed to weaken the Great Lent and allow the eating of wine and fish.
Annunciation among Orthodox Christians became a favorite holiday. And the first spring sun heralds the beginning of spring and the soon great Easter holiday - the Resurrection of Christ. There is a wonderful tradition, on the day of the Annunciation, to release pigeons into the sky, as a symbol of the coming of spring warmth and good news to people from the Holy Spirit.