ARTICLES

Annunciation to the Mother of God - 21/Nov/2010

Submitted by Rev. Fr. John Samuel on 20/Nov/2010

Old Testament Readings Catholic Readings Holy Gospel
Genesis 28 : 10 - 22
Judges 13 : 2 -14
Isaiah 63:15 - 64 :5 		1 John 3: 2 - 17
Galetians 4 : 1 - 7 		St. Luke 1: 26 - 38

Mother of God or Theotokos

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The coming Sunday is observed as The Annunciation to the Mother of God by the holy church. Annunciation is the proclamation of the Word of God to St. Mary through Angel Gabriel. The day is observed and celebrated twice in a liturgical year, ie, on 25th of March and also on these periods of Sundays where we immediately progress towards the Great Nativity Day. We know that, even if a Good Friday comes on March 25th, the holy church is particular in observing and celebrating the Annunciation Day first and then observe the Good Friday service. Hence we need to know that the day is not trivial and understand how far the it is significant.

March 25th is celebrated as the day of annunciation since the day is exactly 9 months before December 25th, the Nativity day. We know that the normal period for an offspring to be in its mother's womb to get into the matured stage for delivery is 9 months. Hence March 25th, (the day exactly 9 months before Dec 25th is considered again as the Annunciation Day.

Given below are the two lines from the liturgy song of the Sunday evening service pertaining to the holy annunciation to St. Mary and her holy conception.

(please excuse me for the barricade by using the manglish transliteration given below)

"Karnathal Avane Kaikkondudhare pe - ri Garbhashaya Kanya Mudrakaleennum Nirgathanayi

These lines are codified by the holy church fathers extracting biblical verses pertaining to the annunciation of the Mother of God, the meaning of which is unique and mysterious.

Karnathal means 'Through Ears'

Avane means 'Him'

Kaikkondu means 'Received'

Udharam means 'The womb'

Pe- ri means 'Carried'

Garbhashaya Kanya Mudhrakaleennum means 'From the holy conception in virginity'

Nirgathanayi means " was begotten"

The two lines denote the holy annunciation and holy conception. How did St. Mary conceive God, The Unlimited Infinite Being in her finite limited womb? This still remains as a mystery.

It happened through the Word of God. Just pay an attention to the above lines. The whole meaning of the two lines goes as follows:

"Karnathal Avane Kaikkondudhare pe - ri means St. Mary received Him through her ears and carried him in her womb.

Garbhashaya Kanya Mudrakaleennum Nirgathanay " means He (the Lord) was begotten from the holy conception in virginity

So the Word of God was announced to St. Mary by the Angel and she received it through her ears and that was how the procreation happened in her womb. It was not happened by a relationship with a man.

The holy church believes that St. Mary is a true virgin in spirit and in body and the forefathers address her as The Holy Virgin. She received Jesus Christ through her ears and carried Him in her womb. Wherever Jesus wanted to enter, He was much particular that the place / the thing must not be used by anybody else. Let us go through two examples from the Bible to substantiate this.

One is about the colt (donkey) on which He wanted to climb upon. He never wanted a donkey on which somebody else has already sat or ridden.

Luke 19: 30
"Go to the village ahead of you; as you go in, you will find a colt tied up that has never been ridden"
Another is about the tomb where Jesus was entombed after His death.
Luke 23 : 53
"Then he took the body down, wrapped it in a linen sheet, and placed it in a tomb which had been dug out of solid rock and which had never been used"

See how the Lord wished to be in certain places where he needed them absolutely for His own. If the colt for just a day and the tomb for just 3 days were being given such a prominence, how much significant would be the womb for Him to be conceived where He had to be in for 9 months!!! .

This is the reason why the Orthodox churches are so particular to come with fasting for at least 6 hours to receive Holy Communion. We are receiving the Lord in our stomach where nothing else must be kept. However, exceptions are given for small children, the sick and the pregnant women.

Let me take my fingers off the key pad. Let the thought for the day be about the Holy Virgin Mother who received the Lord through her ears and carried Him in her womb. Theologically she is termed as Theotokos (The one who carried God, both in body and in spirit). Let her prayers be a stronghold for all of us in our spiritual pilgrimages and sojourns.

Prayers,

Fr. John Samuel