Annunciation Day

I am not asking if we SHOULD celebrate Annunciation Day. I am asking people who DO celebrate Annunciation Day, how they use Logos to prepare for it. Are there any resources that you use in general for days like this, or any special resources for this specific day?

The Book of Common Prayer both 1662 and 1928 celebrate it on March 25th. Some churches have another date?

There is a modification of the general fasting rules for some churches?

I have a hardcopy 1662 BCP that I use to take notes about the seasonal church traditions. Annunciation Day snuck up on me, but I see that it is tomorrow. It seems like a big day. Are there Annunciation Eve traditions?

Please lets not debate if we should recognize this day. Let's just talk about what people do and have done.

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Kiyah

Try typing Luke 1:26-38 into the Liturgy Guide section, or in the Passage Guide with the Liturgy section expanded. It will show you all of the lectionaries and service books that read this text on the Annunciation. All of my lectionaries have it on March 25 (except the Wisconsin Synod Lutheran lectionaries, which don't have it at all). The service books might give you some prayers and liturgies for church services in different traditions.

You could also try searching lectionary commentaries, since some traditions will have a church service and need to prepare sermons/homilies for that day. Try creating a collection for lectionary commentaries using the following rule: type:bible-commentary (lectionary,liturg*)

You could also use the calendar devotional resources in your Verbum library (you have Verbum right?). Those will give reflections for the Annunciation.

MJ. Smith

Are there any resources that you use in general for days like this, or any special resources for this specific day?

It is one of the 12 major feasts in the Eastern Orthodox tradition; a day of obligation in the Catholic church, principle feast for the Anglicans; festival for the Lutherans. As such it has its own rubrics, readings, etc. for services (in the standard service books not supplemental ones) and the Prayer of the Hours.

The Book of Common Prayer both 1662 and 1928 celebrate it on March 25th. Some churches have another date?

Only because of the changes that have occurred in the civil calendars that changed the date. It is based on 9 months before Dec. 25. I'll ignore the symbolism of the dates. Some churches move it when it falls on Sunday, in Holy Week or Octave of Easter, some suppress it, some combine services.

There is a modification of the general fasting rules for some churches?

The general rule is that you can't fast on a feast day.

Are there Annunciation Eve traditions?

Not that I'm aware of. But waffles with cloudberries are essential tomorrow. (Yes, you can substitute lingonberries). I'm sure other ethnicities have their own food traditions.

Don Awalt

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1201316#Comment_1201316

a day of obligation in the Catholic church,

No, it is not, although imho it should be, and it probably was years ago. The current statement, at least in our diocese:

Every Catholic who has attained the age of reason, and is not prevented by sickness or other sufficient cause, is obligated to rest from servile work and attend Holy Mass on the following days. In so far as possible they are also to abstain from those labors and business concerns which impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy which is proper to the Lord’s Day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body. (See Canon 1247)

All Sundays of the year
January 1 – Octave of Christmas, Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
The Ascension of Our Lord – Observed on the seventh Sunday of Easter rather than on the Thursday after the sixth Sunday of Easter
August 15 – The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
November 1 – All Saints’ Day
December 8– The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
December 25– Christmas, The Nativity of Our Lord

When the following holy days fall on a Saturday or Monday, the obligation to attend Mass is abolished. They are:

January 1
August 15
November 1

Kathleen Marie

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1201312#Comment_1201312

You could also use the calendar devotional resources in your Verbum library (you have Verbum right?). Those will give reflections for the Annunciation.

Yes, I have Verbum on a laptop offline. I lost my free government home wifi rather suddenly, but I still have some online access through a generous data plan on my phone with a cheap add-on plan for a weaker signal with limited data on an old underpowered tablet they gave me as part of package deal. So I can access the forum here, and then try things on the laptop offline.

I have been mostly using the 1928 BCP lectionary on Verbum. I just opened the Catholic lectionary. It is not much better, except for the Roman Missal. I will try your specific search terms. The factbook brings up a couple advent sermons tied to the main pericope.

I bought the Catholic Encyclopedia just before I went offline, for situations just like this. It is not user friendly. I thought somehow it did not have an article on Annunciation, but it does after all. I could not find it using search, but it just popped up when I used the parallel resources from another Catholic dictionary.

I am trying things as I type this. Okay, if I use your search thing, it how brought up a different factbook of the CONCEPT of Annunciation. And that took me straight to the Catholic Encyclopedia and more. I'll keep working at this.

Thanks!

Kathleen Marie

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1201354#Comment_1201354

The Ecclesiastical Dictionary says that St Athanasius mentions it in a sermon and that the feast dates back to the 1st century. And that the Annunciation was the start of the new year for many countries until the 1500s.

Kathleen Marie

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1201316#Comment_1201316

It is one of the 12 major feasts in the Eastern Orthodox tradition; a day of obligation in the Catholic church, principle feast for the Anglicans; festival for the Lutherans. As such it has its own rubrics, readings, etc. for services (in the standard service books not supplemental ones) and the Prayer of the Hours.

Only because of the changes that have occurred in the civil calendars that changed the date. It is based on 9 months before Dec. 25. I'll ignore the symbolism of the dates. Some churches move it when it falls on Sunday, in Holy Week or Octave of Easter, some suppress it, some combine services.

The general rule is that you can't fast on a feast day.

Not that I'm aware of. But waffles with cloudberries are essential tomorrow. (Yes, you can substitute lingonberries). I'm sure other ethnicities have their own food traditions.

Thank you for all this background! I cannot imagine that I can find northern traditonal berries here in this Spanish speaking desert slum, but now I want at least waffles. Hmm...Maybe I can find jam at one of the stores at the edge of the slum, if I take a long walk. So this breaks the pancake-type fast? Or were the waffles made without eggs and milk? Does anyone know the Spanish speaking Catholic food traditions?

It is okay if people do not have time to spoonfeed me answers than I can eventually find on my own. But I thought it might be a good topic for today that we could all learn together more efficiently for those of us interested in the topic.

Kathleen Marie

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1201331#Comment_1201331

a day of obligation in the Catholic church,

No, it is not, although imho it should be, and it probably was years ago. The current statement, at least in our diocese:

Every Catholic who has attained the age of reason, and is not prevented by sickness or other sufficient cause, is obligated to rest from servile work and attend Holy Mass on the following days. In so far as possible they are also to abstain from those labors and business concerns which impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy which is proper to the Lord’s Day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body. (See Canon 1247)

All Sundays of the year

January 1 – Octave of Christmas, Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

The Ascension of Our Lord – Observed on the seventh Sunday of Easter rather than on the Thursday after the sixth Sunday of Easter

August 15 – The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

November 1 – All Saints’ Day

December 8– The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

December 25– Christmas, The Nativity of Our Lord

When the following holy days fall on a Saturday or Monday, the obligation to attend Mass is abolished. They are:

January 1

August 15

November 1

I have been studying the fasting rules for Lent, and the changes over the years. One of the reasons I splurged on the Catholic Encyclopedia just before I want offline was because it was old and was written before the changes of the 1950s and 1960s in the catholic church and the 1970s changes in the Anglican church.

I am most interested in using the rules and definitions of the British and North-American Catholics and Anglicans of the 1800s and the first half of the 1900s as my default, and then learning what came before and after that, and the other denominations and countries.

Kathleen Marie

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1201358#Comment_1201358

Catholic Encylopedia: This feast was always a holy day of obligation in the universal church. As such it was abrogated first for France ... 1802; and for the United States ... 1884.

Kathleen Marie

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1201360#Comment_1201360

If anyone else is researching this for the first time, "feast of the annunciation" is better for google than "annunciation".

I made a collection as suggested. It brings up a few things. I will search my library and manually add more commentaries for this type of search.

Waffles never came up until I added waffles to my search terms. The people that blog about waffles sometimes blog about other things.

I am still having trouble wrapping my head around the idea of both pancake and waffle days in the same season, especially with whip cream on the waffles. Maybe the traditions are from different groups, and not practiced together?

Kathleen Marie

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1201394#Comment_1201394

I couldn't find what I needed in Logos. Lectionary Central was helpful, but the 15 volume set The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger was even more helpful. Is that even being discussed for Logos?

I read somewhere that the tax season being in April is one of the last things left from the civil year starting on Annunciation day, and the difference in days is partly explained by the change of calendars.

David Thomas

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1201316#Comment_1201316

There is a modification of the general fasting rules for some churches?

The general rule is that you can't fast on a feast day.

The closest Roman Catholic church to us is part of the Wichita Diocese. This is the advice given to our neighbors.

Kiyah

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1201316#Comment_1201316

The general rule is that you can't fast on a feast day.

Is it that you can't or that you don't have to? My understanding is that you don't have to fast on feast days that fall during Lent.

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1201526#Comment_1201526

Is it that you can't or that you don't have to?

The probably depends on who raised you where. The idea is that celebrations (feasts) are incompatible with fasting -- so if you continue to fast you are dissing the subject of the feast. On the other hand, fasting is usually a recommendation rather than mandatory -- depending on your work, health, age, etc. you may be encouraged to substitute some other appropriate spiritual discipline or substitute fasting for fasting, after all there are different kinds of fasts. But, on the other hand, there are conservative, legalistic Catholics who might be scandalized if you don't fast and you don't want to be an obstacle to others in your congregation ... If it starts to sound a it like Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof you understand. Catholic "law" is built on the Italian model not the English model.

Kathleen Marie

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1201527#Comment_1201527

Thanks for the picture, David!

I am trying out some of this, and studying more than I am trying out. I have been mostly vegan since Ash Wednesday, and I have been doing some fasting. I had some fish yesterday and some sweet ripe strawberries, a couple dates, and a cucumber. I skipped my usual Friday fasting and BCP litany and prayers. Different denominations and different times in history all have such different instructions.

The temperatures here are getting hot enough that touching metal outside in the afternoon can burn you and I have a sunburn. I need to haul drinking water and everything else from at least half a mile, and it is a 3-4 mile round trip to the regular American-type grocery stores. I am not sure how and if people worked in the hot sun while fasting so much. I watch some videos of people that work at a desk and are drinking coffee with cream and sugar all day, and being judgemental of others that don't fast as long and as often. I don't think I am impressed.

There is a lot to learn and process and try out for myself, before I come to any conclusions. I am a little disappointed that I had to do the vast amount of my research outside Logos. But I did eventually find what I needed.

I hope we get some more of the older public domain resources to support the traditional liturgy.

Ken McGuire

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1201316#Comment_1201316

The Book of Common Prayer both 1662 and 1928 celebrate it on March 25th. Some churches have another date?

Only because of the changes that have occurred in the civil calendars that changed the date. It is based on 9 months before Dec. 25. I'll ignore the symbolism of the dates. Some churches move it when it falls on Sunday, in Holy Week or Octave of Easter, some suppress it, some combine services

I forget the exact rules, but it can be moved if Easter is REALLY early that year since Good Friday, for example, has priority over the Annunciation, which happened in 2016.

On a different note, I remember how I was shown how festivals are different for the religious when visiting a monastery. Instead of extra or longer services, they combined them so that they would have more time off to relax from their daily work of prayer. It makes a lot of sense when I think about it, but just shows how different communities can and should come up with different ways of celebrating the church year.

SineNomine

The Book of Common Prayer both 1662 and 1928 celebrate it on March 25th. Some churches have another date?

In the Latin Catholic Church, the Solemnity of the Annunciation of Our Lord is bumped to the Monday after the Octave of Easter depending on when Easter falls. In some other Catholic churches, it trumps everything--if Good Friday or Easter fall on March 25, both will be celebrated. That occurrence is the only time I am aware of when a Catholic priest will ever celebrate Mass/Divine Liturgy on Good Friday.

Olli-Pekka Ylisuutari

... Annunciation Day.... Are there any resources that you use in general for days like this, or any special resources for this specific day?

The Book of Common Prayer both 1662 and 1928 celebrate it on March 25th. Some churches have another date?

There is a modification of the general fasting rules for some churches?

In ELCF (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland) the Annunciation was yesterday. It was an encouraging sight, a church full of teenagers Confirmation School attendants, (as the Mother of God was, also a teenager!), cautiously estimating at least 80 teenagers…

Our Service Book says (regarding the special holidays connected to Christmas):

“The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland celebrates outside Christmas time three sacred days, whose timing is being determined by Christmas. Those are Candlemas, 40 days after Christmas (the 2nd of February or the following Sunday; whenever it is Shrove Sunday, a week before), the Annunciation, nine months before the next Christmas (25^th of March, celebrated on the Sunday between 22th and 28^th of March).” (My translation)

The Service Book continues elsewhere: “Of old, the Church has celebrated also the Visitation of Mary (2^nd of July). Then it has remembered the visitation of Mary to the mother of John the Baptist, Elizabeth (Luke 1: 36-55). This commemoration day was removed from our calendar in the year 1772. The mentioned Gospel Reading has been taken as the reading for 2^nd and the 3^rd Cycle of Annunciation.” (My translation).

Kathleen Marie

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1201620#Comment_1201620

Thanks everyone!

For me, studying and celebrating the church year is grounding. Wherever we are, and whoever we are, we are welcome to join this ancient and worldwide rhythm. No one is excluded. This cannot be stolen from us. It is a birthright. It is a gift we do not earn.

It is better to attend a live gathering, but no matter where we find ourselves stranded and alone, even if we have no contact with the outside world at all, we can read and pray along and know that others are reading and praying the same thing at the same time. Just as they have for a very very long long time.