Following the cosmic Yes
by Mark Byford, Church Times:
IT WAS a chance viewing of a picture in the National Gallery in London which inspired my three-year quest to understand more about the spiritual meaning of the annunciation. The early-18th-century painting by the French artist François Lemoyne (on loan from Winchester College) depicts the encounter between the angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary, as described in Luke 1.26-38.
That meeting — when Gabriel tells Mary that she will conceive a son, and must name him Jesus — is a pivotal point in Christianity. The usual date of the feast of the Annunciation, 25 March, exactly nine months before Christmas and known as Lady Day, was once the start of the New Year and an important event in the nation’s calendar.
This year, because 25 March was Palm Sunday, the Annunciation is transferred to the next possible day according to the rules governing the calendar, Low Monday, 9 April. Yet relatively few Anglican churches will hold a celebration of the eucharist, let alone a sung one, or a special service that day, partly because many of the clergy may be on holiday. And for most people in Britain today, the story is not only little understood, but little known. Why has its status and significance been lost?
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