Every year, on March 25, the Bulgarian Church celebrates one of its brightest holidays - the Day of the Annunciation. Marked by the good news of the immaculate conception, it personifies God's infinite mercy to people and especially to the woman - a mother blessed to bear the new life. The purest among the virgins was chosen to give birth to Jesus Christ, who will return the beloved children of God to the Kingdom of Heaven. With the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary, through the grace of God, her womb is sanctified, as well as the entire female nature. As a holiday of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Day of the Annunciation is marked as Mother's Day, raised on a high pedestal in the eyes of people and the Creator himself.‎

Recalling the tradition, the theologian Alexandra Karamihaleva notes that in the sixth month after the conception of Saint John the Forerunner, the Holy Virgin read the prophecy of Isaiah about the virgin who would conceive and give birth to a son named Emmanuel, which means "God is with us": ‎

"It was at this moment that the heavenly messenger, the holy archangel Gabriel - the same one who announced the good news of the conception of St. Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Forerunner, appeared before the virgin Miriam with the greeting: "Rejoice, Oh Full of Grace, the Lord is with you" and announced that the power of the Most High would overshadow her, she would conceive and give birth to the Son of God. Here, perhaps, it is the place to note that motherhood was not part of the plans of the Blessed Virgin, who from her earliest childhood was dedicated to God and made a vow that she would serve God in virginity throughout her life... However, without any hesitation, she responded to the good news of St. Archangel Gabriel: "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word."

‎"And in practice, the essence of Christianity is precisely in this, ‎to be wise in all cases in which God calls us to ‎testify our faith. Let us answer with the humility of the Mother of God: ‎‎"Let it be with me according to your word". On this day, on the feast of the Annunciation, it is proper for each of us to ask ourselves in front of our conscience to what extent we are able to respond with "Let it be with me according to your word", in cases in which God's will does not coincide with our plans. When we are faced with something humanly inexplicable, unsolvable or absurd, in some extremely complicated situation, when dangers are lurking for us as if from everywhere or when we feel that our life is turning 180 degrees - let's realize how strong is our faith in God, in God's good plan for us, in God's love and mercy. Then it is seen how strong our determination is to give ourselves, our whole life to Christ God, as we promise at every liturgy in the exclamations.

It is in difficulties, whether it is our personal problems or trials that we face as a society, that our faith in God seems to strengthen and is strongest, concludes Alexandra Karamihaleva and adds: "Faith is in our need for support, for trust, for the power of God, and it has been said - in our weakness God's power is shown!"‎

Photos: BGNES, pravoslavieto.com