Wishing you a grace-filled Solemnity of the Annunciation!
On this great Feast of the Incarnation, we commemorate that blessed day when “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). At this moment, in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity hypostatically united our human nature with His Divine nature. This mystery is so important that the Church proclaims it at the end of every Holy Mass in the Last Gospel (John 1:1-4).
On this sacred day, the Church equally proclaims the humility of God the Son and the greatness and glory of Mary, the Mother of God, our Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces, in Whose virginal womb the Son of God became the Son of Man. May Her prayers preserve us!
Note: We commemorate this great mystery every time we pray the Angelus.
Watch: Fr. Michael Rodríguez speak on the Mystery of the Annunciation [Audio Only Podcast] and Fr. Daniel Couture address how it is hidden in the Old Testament [Audio Only Podcast].
See also: A reflection on “The Annunciation” by Rev. L. C. Fillion.
Not a Holy Day of Obligation?
In times past, when Catholics took their faith more seriously, the Feast of the Anunciation was a Holy Day of Obligation. As is well known, it is the local bishop who generally determines which liturgical Feasts are days of precept. This is of course influenced by history and custom, for example the Feast of St. Patrick (March 17) in Ireland, St. Joseph (March 19) in Italy, or Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12) in Mexico. And there are some Feasts which are made days of precept for the Universal Church by order of the Holy Father.
The Catholic Encyclopedia informs us that March 25th was “always a holy day of obligation in the Universal Church. As such it was abrogated first for France and the French dependencies, 9 April, 1802; and for the United States, by the Third Council of Baltimore, in 1884.”[1]
I, for one, can’t understand why this particular solemnity is no longer one of our Holy Days of Obligation.[2] You see, some years ago, 2016 to be precise, I researched this topic. My conclusion was that this day ranks among the most important of the whole year, and an argument could be made that of all the days in the calendar, it is the most important.[3] Here are some of the reasons why:
(1) Incarnation
It was on this calendar day that Jesus Christ assumed our human nature. March 25th is the day of the Mysteries of the Annunciation and the Incarnation. On this day, God sent the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary and She gave Her fiat. As we well know, Christ was then born nine months later, on Dec 25th. This is what most Catholics think of when they consider this Feast Day.
(2) Crucifixion
We read in the Roman Martyrology that March 25th is also the day on which St. Dismas, the good thief, died. This corroborates the ancient and venerable tradition that Our Lord was crucified on March 25th. In other words, the calendar date of the original Good Friday was March 25th.[4] St. Irenaeus explains that it is eminently fitting that on the same day which the fallen angel seduced the virgin Eve to eat an apple from the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden, so on that day the Archangel Gabriel spoke the words of salvation for all mankind to the Virgin Mary.[5] He adds that on the same day that mankind was lost on account of the fruit of the forbidden tree, so on that day Christ hangs on the tree of the Cross and wins salvation for mankind.
We have writings from a number of other Fathers and Doctors of the Church who convey this tradition, including St. Clement of Alexandria, St. Cyprian, St. Maximus the Confessor and St. Augustine.[6]
3) Creation
According to very ancient sources, March 25th is also the sixth day of creation. Contrary to the false science and errors of evolution, Scripture and Tradition teach that God created perfectly, completely, instantaneously (simply by speaking), and out of nothing. Our tradition therefore indicates that March 25th is the day on which Adam and Eve were created and therefore also the day on which Adam and Eve committed the Original Sin.
How perfectly fitting all things are in God’s design! On the anniversary of the Old Adam’s creation, the New Adam took on human nature. On the anniversary of Eve’s disobedience, when she followed the ancient serpent’s temptation, the New Eve – Mary – obeyed and humbly accepted the message of God brought by a good angel. On the anniversary of Adam’s sin and mankind being cast out of paradise, Jesus Christ died for us and opened the Gates of Heaven for us.
This instills in me such a profound admiration, gratitude and stupefied amazement before the glory of God. All things, even the most minute details, are in His Providence. Even before He created time and space, when this created universe did not even exist, He had already decreed the very day on which His Son would become man and would die, and they perfectly matched the day on which He would create Adam from the dust of the earth.
One other interesting note is that since March 25th is the sixth day of creation, that means March 20th is the first day of creation. March 20th is the first day of spring, which always calls to our mind new life. And if March 25th was a Friday, that means March 20th was a Sunday. God began His creation on a Sunday, and on that same day of the week Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
(4) Other Old Testament Events
Traditions that come to us from antiquity also claim that many other key events in salvation history occurred on March 25th. For example: Cain slaying Abel, Noah entering the Ark and the Great Deluge beginning, Melchisedech offering bread and wine in the presence of Abraham, Abraham’s offering of Isaac, and the Crossing of the Red Sea.
(5) Some New Testament Events
There are some old traditions which claim St. John the Baptist was beheaded on March 25th, even though we celebrate this event on August 29th in the liturgy. It is believed that the relic of St. John’s skull was found on August 29, comparable to how the True Cross was found by St. Helena on May 7th. According to tradition, March 25th is also the day that St. Peter was freed from prison by an angel and the entire Church prayed for the first Pope (see Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 12). And some sources also claim St. James Major, the first Apostle to be martyred, was beheaded by Herod on this date.[7]
(6) End Times
Given all these tremendously important events in salvation history which have occurred on March 25th, it leads many people to wonder if March 25th will somehow be a key date in the End Times. Could it be the start or end of Antichrist’s reign? The day that Enoch and Elijah are executed near Jerusalem? Could it even be the calendar day on which Christ returns upon the clouds in all His glory?
Fatima Connections
Obviously, I see many connections between Fatima and this Feast Day. The children at Fatima were visited by St. Michael the Archangel and Our Lady was visited by St. Gabriel the Archangel. At Nazareth, the angel brought the greatest message of hope for mankind, though it spelled disaster for the devils and evil men. At Fatima, Our Lady brings a wonderful message of hope for our time, though She also foretells great chastisements for those who refuse to convert and continue to offend God. The Eternal Word became flesh on March 25th; hence, it is a great Eucharistic Feast. The Message of Fatima is centered on the Eucharist and teaches us great reverence for the Blessed Sacrament and to offer reparation for the sacrileges, outrages, and indifferences against Our Eucharistic King.
The Apostolic Church fervently prayed for the Pope. The chains miraculously fell off him, the soldiers remained asleep, and an angel freed him from prison just before he was scheduled for execution. So too all Catholics of the Church today must pray for the Pope, that he be released from the [metaphorical] chains of modernism and the prison of false ecumenism and synodalism. That an angel will lead him from the darkness of diabolical disorientation into the light of Christ and the soldiers of the New World Order will be unable to prevent him.
Then there is the ominous connection of this date to the End Times. I am firmly convinced that Fatima signals the end of our present age.[8]
In 1980, at Fulda, Germany, when asked about the Third Secret of Fatima, Pope John Paul II stated: “It should be sufficient for all Christians to know this: if there is a message in which it is written that the oceans will flood whole areas of the earth, and that from one moment to the next millions of people will perish, truly the publication of such a message is no longer something to be so much desired.” Note the contextual connection to the Deluge that destroyed the earth in the days of Noah.
And in 1988, prior to becoming Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Josef Razinger confirmed that the messages of Our Lady at Fatima and at Akita are essentially the same. At Akita, Our Lady spoke of Cardinals opposing Cardinals and bishops against bishops. She said the world would be chastised in a manner greater than the Deluge with fire falling from above, so that the living who survived would envy the dead.[9] This certainly sounds to me like the end of our age.
Faithfully Live the Fatima Message
Let us consider the Providence of God behind these remarkable events of March 25th and respond by cooperating as much as we possibly can with His grace.
Sister Lucia stated, “a Pope will consecrate Russia when a sufficient number are fulfilling the Fatima Message.”
Hence, let us heed Our Lady’s URGENT call to Live the Message of Fatima. Time is short.
Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
We always appreciate hearing from our readers and supporters. Please add your comments on the article (below). We would be particularly interested in knowing:
[1] What other connections do you find between the Mystery of the Annunciation and the Message of Fatima?
[2] Do you know of other spiritually notable events, for example in the history of the Church, which have taken place on March 25?
ENDNOTES
[1] I find it interesting to note that the first attack upon this Feast came from Revolutionary France, which was overrun by freemasonic ideals. This is the country where they had already blasphemously enthroned the ‘goddess of reason,’ represented by an immodestly clad woman, in Notre Dame Cathedral. It was the nation where, under penalty of death, priests were forced to sign the Civil Constitution claiming absolute loyalty to the atheistic French government over the Pope and proper Church hierarchy. The second attack came in the United States, which was a country run by Protestants where prejudice against Catholics was socially acceptable, often encouraged. Some American Catholics in the late 19th Century, often accused of being ‘papists,’ could be overly concerned with proving their patriotism (loyalty to the state) even at the expense of loyalty to the Church.
[2] Given its importance, I actually think the Solemnity of the Annunciation should be honored liturgically with its own Octave. Unfortunately, nearly all the Octaves were eliminated from the liturgical calendar during the first phase of the liturgical revolution (falsely called ‘reform‘) which was spear-headed by Annibale Bugnini. Following the devastation he wrought upon the annual liturgical cycle’s integrity, beauty, and spiritual depth, in 1955/56, only three Octaves remained: Easter, Pentecost, and Christmas.
[3] By this I mean a set month and day in the Gregorian calendar year, as opposed to a moveable Feast like Easter and Pentecost.
[4] One of the reasons my interest was sparked in this topic back in 2016 is because that year Good Friday fell on March 25th. That only happened twice this century (the other year was 2005, just a few weeks before Cardinal Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI). In the previous century, Good Friday fell on March 25th three times: 1910, 1921, and 1932. In all likelihood, none of us will still be alive the next time Good Friday falls on March 25; the year will be 2157. This 141–year gap will be the longest gap in several centuries.
[5] St. Irenaeus is the most prolific writer among the early Church Fathers. He was the spiritual son of St, Polycarp, who in turn was ordained and taught by St. John the Apostle. He emigrated from the East to Lyon (Gaul or France), advised several Popes, was consecrated a bishop, fought against numerous heresies, and was ultimately martyred for the Faith. The Popes of his day considered him a most reliable source for Apostolic Tradition and on that basis accepted his counsel on several important matters. Thus, in the writings of St. Irenaeus, we have a very important and trustworthy witness; and we are in direct contact with the traditions taught by the Apostles themselves. For example, St. Irenaeus writes that it is an apostolic tradition that Our Lord was conceived on March 25th. Those interested in this topic can read a bit more about this from the entry for March 25 in Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year.
[6] In his work On the Trinity (Book 4, Chapter 5), St. Augustine writes: ”For He [Jesus] is believed to have been conceived on the 25th of March, upon which day also He suffered; so the womb of the Virgin, in which He was conceived, where no one of mortals was begotten, corresponds to the new grave in which He was buried, wherein was never man laid, neither before nor since.”
[7] People often claim that the execution of St. James and imprisonment of St. Peter happened in close proximity because of the way St. Luke narrates them in Acts 12. However, St. Luke gives no indication if there was a lapse of time between the events (for example, one year), or if they occurred in immediate chronological proximity. St. Luke does clearly state that St. Peter was imprisoned in the days of Azymes, or of Unleavened Bread, that is the Passover.
[8] Venerable Bartholomew Holzhuaser († 1650), a Bavarian priest and mystic, divided the history of the Church into seven ages. According to his schema, we are currently in the Fifth Age, the Age of Tribulation. It began with the Protestant Revolution. He calls the Sixth Age an Age of Consolation, which corresponds well to the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. And the Seventh Age will the Age of Desolation, the time of Antichrist, which corresponds to the terrifying prophecies of Our Lord in the Gospels (see Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21).
[9] It is noteworthy that nowhere in the published messages of Fatima did Sister Lucia indicate these kinds of chastisements. Yet Cardinal Ratzinger says the messages of Fatima and Akita are essentially the same. To those who have ears to hear, this is a clear indication as to the contents of the Third Secret heretofore not yet revealed. For this part of the Fatima Message still remains hidden, contrary to Our Lady’s express order to have it revealed to the world by 1960.