Why isn’t the Annunciation celebrated on March 25 this year?
The solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, celebrated nine months before Christmas, is assigned to March 25 on the church’s General Calendar. But, on occasion, March 25 might fall on a day that would trigger a transfer of the solemnity as it does this year.
On the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord we celebrate not only Mary being chosen to be the mother of Jesus but also her acceptance in God’s will.
The Annunciation is celebrated nine months before the birth of Christ on Dec. 25 because it refers to the Gospel of Luke when the Blessed Virgin Mary is visited by the angel Gabriel to tell her that she would be the mother of the savior.
In some years, liturgical shuffling is necessary and is guided by a document promulgated after the reform of the church’s calendar following the Second Vatican Council. General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, promulgated by Pope St. Paul VI in 1969, ranks various liturgical celebrations according to an established precedence or order of importance and significance. The General Norms states that the Sundays of Lent and the days of Holy Week take precedence liturgically, even over feasts of the Lord — which is the type of feast the Annunciation is classified as.
Accordingly, if March 25 is on a Sunday of Lent, then the solemnity is observed on the following date applicable, which would most often be on March 26.
If March 25 lands during Holy Week like it does this year or during the Easter octave (the week following Easter), the Annunciation is transferred to the first Monday after the Easter octave. Therefore, this year, since March 25 is Holy Monday on the Roman calendar, the liturgical celebration of the Annunciation will be observed on Monday, April 8.
Additionally, on the solemnity of the Annunciation — just as on Christmas — the ministers and faithful genuflect during the Nicene Creed when the Lord’s Incarnation is referenced: “and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.”
In the U.S., the Annunciation is not a holy day of obligation.
This article was written by Michael R. Heinlein, OSV News. Jaimie Julia Winters of Jersey Catholic contributed to the article.
