Joel J. Miller
Not only are we looking backward when we commemorate feasts like the Annunciation, so were the apostles and early Christians who preserved the tradition of Mary at the well. They experienced the same layering effect we do because they remembered and wrote from this side of the Resurrection too. They could only see the Annunciation and Nativity by looking through Easter. Mary standing near the well is already Mary sitting by the manger, weeping at the cross, and rejoicing over an empty tomb.
Archbishop Demetrios, Metropolitan Joseph
The great joy of this holy feast, occurring in the midst of the solemn Holy Season of the Great Fast, brings us a moment of uplifting joy in the midst of our Lenten spiritual struggle. We convey our most heartfelt love to you as we celebrate this joyous feast and we ask our gracious Lord to bless you and to grant that the remainder of the Lenten Season will bring you spiritual renewal.
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The services for the feast of the Annunciation present a broad and profound exegesis of the Gospel reading on the Annunciation of the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary before she conceived in her most pure womb the incarnate Logos. The stichera and canon for the feast explain the Archangel’s greeting to the Most Holy Theotokos and her answer to this greeting (Lk. 1:26-38). Thanks to this exegesis the entire mystery and meaning of this event is presented to the faithful in all its universal significance.
Fr. James Guirguis
This Cross is not magic. It is the remembrance of Christ Our Lord’s sufferings and trials at the hands of sinners. It is the remembrance of the manly, heroic courage of Our Lord in the face of unrestrained evil. But the reminder is of a dual nature. We are reminded of Christ’s heroic struggles on our behalf and the demons are reminded of their ultimate defeat at the hands of the Holy Son of God.
Metropolitan Varnavas of Neapolis and Stavroupolis
The path of salvation is difficult, long and arduous. It’s a path of suffering. Christ Himself warned us how narrow and full of sorrows is the way that brings us close to Him. But He Himself encourages us! He reminds us that He’s vanquished the world and that, with Him at our side, we too, can accomplish this. He reminds us that the great turnaround of the dishonourable manner of his killing, which led to His Resurrection, to His famous victory over death, can happen in our own lives, too.