Augustine Sokolovski
On April 7, according to the Patristic Julian calendar—known as the “old style”—the Church celebrates the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos. The essence of this feast is summed up in the words of the Creed: “We believe in the Lord Jesus, Who was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary.” In simple human terms, the Annunciation is the day of the Conception of Jesus. The event of the Annunciation is described at the very beginning of the Gospel of Luke.
It is on the truth of the Annunciation—which proclaims that at the moment of his conception, God, in Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit, came into this world—that the unique Orthodox Christian understanding of the sanctity of human life is based. In other words, it is precisely because of the Annunciation that the Church of Christ knows and affirms that abortion is a most grave sin and impossible for a believer. Holiness is the inviolability of a person in every sense, in the likeness of God’s supernatural, incredible, incomprehensible, inexpressible, most holy—literally, super-holy—inviolability.
The date of the Annunciation was not chosen at random by Christians. In fact, the day of the Lord’s Crucifixion is the result of a historical calculation. It is precisely this day that corresponds to the date of the Annunciation. Such a coincidence is not accidental. Indeed, during the earthly life of the Lord Jesus, the biblical people were convinced that the Righteous One, the Messiah, the Christ, God’s Chosen One, God’s Chosen One was destined to live the life ordained by God and, if He were to die, it would be on the day of His Conception. This great and staggering concept is supported by the Book of Job, the prototype of Christ the Suffering One, who prophetically curses the day of his conception; by the prohibition in the Books of Moses against “cooking a kid in its mother’s milk”; and by other biblical texts.
The Russian Orthodox Church follows the patristic calendar in its liturgical services. This gives rise to remarkable coincidences, such as when the Annunciation falls on the same day as Easter, Good Friday, or days of Holy Week—as, for example, in 2026, when it coincides with Holy Tuesday. By a remarkable coincidence, it is precisely on Holy Tuesday that the Church commemorates the righteous Job.
In the Russian Church, the Feast of the Annunciation is never moved. Since the earliest possible date for Easter in Orthodoxy is April 4, such a coincidence is simply impossible in New Style Churches that celebrate the Annunciation on March 25. Finally, it is precisely from the Annunciation, nine months after the Conception of the Lord, that the Nativity of Christ is celebrated.