Advent Calendar - December 18
Christmas Fact:
The announcement by the angel to the teenager Mary that she would bear a son by the Holy Ghost (the Annunciation) has been a source of fascination from the time of the early church to now. We still write songs and monologues and plays trying to work out for ourselves things like what about Mary made her the one God picked? How did she feel about the way God overrode her plans? What thoughts went through her mind in the days and weeks that followed, when the angel's announcement went from being an abstract idea to the takeover of her body? Did she actually handle this life-shattering event with the ease the Luke account suggests?
When, in the middle of the fourth century, Church officials in Rome scheduled December 25th as the day to celebrate the birth of Christ, the date nine months earlier when Mary would have become pregnant – March 25th – became a holy day. It was called the Feast of Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Many medieval kingdoms also chose March 25th as the day on which to begin the new year (Julian Calendar).
More about the Annunciation
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