Luke 1.39-49, 56 (Matins Gospel, Annunciation)

39Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah, 40and entered into the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42She called out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44For behold, when the voice of your greeting came into my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy! 45Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord!”

46Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord. 47My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, 48for he has looked at the humble state of his servant. For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed. 49For he who is mighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name.

56Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her house.

Isaiah 26.21-27.9 (6th Hour)

21For, behold, the Lord is bringing wrath from his holy place upon the dwellers on the earth: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall not cover her slain.

1In that day God shall bring his holy and great and strong sword upon the dragon, even the serpent that flees, upon the dragon, the crooked serpent: he shall destroy the dragon. 2In that day there shall be a fair vineyard, and a desire to commence a song concerning it. 3I am a strong city, a city in a siege: in vain shall I water it; for it shall be taken by night, and by day the wall shall fall. 4There is no woman that has not taken hold of it; who will set me to watch stubble in the field? because of this enemy I have set her aside; therefore on this account the Lord has done all that he appointed. 5I am burnt up; they that dwell in her shall cry, Let us make peace with him, let us make peace, 6they that are coming are the children of Jacob. Israel shall bud and blossom, and the world shall be filled with his fruit. 7Shall he himself be thus struck, even as he struck? and as he killed, shall he be thus slain? 8Fighting and reproaching he will dismiss them; did you not meditate with a harsh spirit, to kill them with a wrathful spirit? 9Therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be taken away; and this is his blessing, when I shall have taken away his sin; when they shall have broken to pieces all the stones of the altars as fine dust, and their trees shall not remain, and their idols shall be cut off, as a thicket afar off.

Genesis 9.18-10.1 (Vespers)

18Now the sons of Noe which came out of the ark, were Sem, Cham, Japheth. And Cham was father of Chanaan. 19These three are the sons of Noe, of these were men scattered over all the earth. 20And Noe began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard. 21And he drank of the wine, and was drunk, and was naked in his house. 22And Cham the father of Chanaan saw the nakedness of his father, and he went out and told his two brothers without. 23And Sem and Japheth having taken a garment, put it on both their backs and went backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their face was backward, and they saw not the nakedness of their father. 24And Noe recovered from the wine, and knew all that his younger son had done to him. 25And he said, Cursed be the servant Chanaan, a slave shall he be to his brethren. 26And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Sem, and Chanaan shall be his bond-servant. 27May God make room for Japheth, and let him dwell in the habitations of Sem, and let Chanaan be his servant. 28And Noe lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 29And all the days of Noe were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.

1Now these are the generations of the sons of Noe, Sem, Cham, Japheth; and sons were born to them after the flood.

Proverbs 12.23-13.9 (LXX) (Vespers)

23An understanding man is a throne of wisdom; but the heart of fools shall meet with curses. 24The hand of chosen men shall easily obtain rule; but the deceitful shall be for a prey. 25A terrible word troubles the heart of a righteous man; but a good message rejoices him. 26A just arbitrator shall be his own friend; but mischief shall pursue sinners; and the way of ungodly men shall lead them astray. 27A deceitful man shall catch no game; but a blameless man is a precious possession. 28In the ways of righteousness is life; but the ways of those that remember injuries lead to death.

1A wise son is obedient to his father: but a disobedient son will be destroyed. 2A good man shall eat of the fruits of righteousness: but the lives of transgressors shall perish before their time. 3He that keeps his own mouth keeps his own life: but he that is hasty with his lips shall bring terror upon himself. 4Every slothful man desires, but the hands of the active are diligent. 5A righteous man hates an unjust word: but an ungodly man is ashamed, and will have no confidence. 7There are some who, having nothing, enrich themselves: and there are some who bring themselves down in the midst of much wealth. 8A man's own wealth is the ransom of his life: but the poor endures not threatening. 9The righteous always have light: but the light of the ungodly is quenched. Crafty souls go astray in sins: but just men pity, and are merciful.

Exodus 3.1-8 (Vespers, Annunciation)

1And Moses was feeding the flock of Jothor his father-in-law, the priest of Madiam; and he brought the sheep near to the wilderness, and came to the mount of Choreb. 2And an angel of the Lord appeared to him in flaming fire out of the bush, and he sees that the bush burns with fire, —but the bush was not consumed. 3And Moses said, I will go near and see this great sight, why the bush is not consumed. 4And when the Lord saw that he drew near to see, the Lord called him out of the bush, saying, Moses, Moses; and he said, What is it? 5And he said, Draw not near hither: loose your sandals from off your feet, for the place whereon you stand is holy ground. 6And he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraam, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and Moses turned away his face, for he was afraid to gaze at God. 7And the Lord said to Moses, I have surely seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and I have heard their cry caused by their taskmasters; for I know their affliction. 8And I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that land, and to bring them into a good and wide land, into a land flowing with milk and honey, into the place of the Chananites, and the Chettites, and Amorites, and Pherezites, and Gergesites, and Evites, and Jebusites.

Proverbs 8.22-30 (Vespers, Annunciation)

22The Lord made me the beginning of his ways for his works. 23He established me before time was in the beginning, before he made the earth: 24even before he made the depths; before the fountains of water came forth: 25before the mountains were settled, and before all hills, he begets me. 26The Lord made countries and uninhabited tracks, and the highest inhabited parts of the world. 27When he prepared the heaven, I was present with him; and when he prepared his throne upon the winds: 28and when he strengthened the clouds above; and when he secured the fountains of the earth: 29decree. and when he strengthened the foundations of the earth: 30I was by him, suiting myself to him, I was that wherein he took delight; and daily I rejoiced in his presence continually.

Hebrews 2.11-18 (Epistle, Annunciation)

11For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12saying, “I will declare your name to my brothers. Among the congregation I will sing your praise.”

13Again, “I will put my trust in him.” Again, “Behold, here I am with the children whom God has given me.” 14Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16For most certainly, he doesn’t give help to angels, but he gives help to the offspring of Abraham. 17Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. 18For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

Luke 1.24-38 (Gospel, Annunciation)

24After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and she hid herself five months, saying, 25“Thus has the Lord done to me in the days in which he looked at me, to take away my reproach among men.”

26Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28Having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!”

29But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered what kind of salutation this might be. 30The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31Behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and shall name him ‘Jesus.’ 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.”

34Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, seeing I am a virgin?”

35The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God. 36Behold, Elizabeth your relative also has conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37For nothing spoken by God is impossible.”

38Mary said, “Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

The Annunciation of Our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary

When Mary the Virgin was about fourteen years old, the Archangel Gabriel came to Joseph’s dwelling, where she was living, and said to her, ‘Rejoice, thou Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.’ Receiving assurance that she had been chosen to be the Mother of God Himself, she answered in humility, ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.’ Immediately, the Holy Spirit came upon her, the power of the Most High overshadowed her, and the Incarnation, long awaited by the whole creation, took place: He who contains the whole universe consented to be contained in the womb of one woman, the most holy Theotokos.

The Church teaches us that it was within the holy Virgin’s power to refuse the divine conception: her knowing and willing acceptance, the consummation of the faith of the whole righteous remnant of Israel, shows us that our very salvation is the fruit of the cooperation (synergia) of human faithfulness with God’s saving grace.

Carrying in her womb the Savior of the Universe, the Virgin went to the hills of Judea to stay with her kinswoman Elizabeth, who six months before had conceived in her old age (by Zacharias the priest) St John the Forerunner. As the holy Virgin approached, the child John leaped in his mother’s womb for joy, prophesying the coming of Emmanuel. Feeling the prophecy, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and blessed the holy Mary and the fruit of her womb. And Mary in turn glorified God, saying ‘My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior’ (Luke ch. 1).

New Confessor/Hieromartyr Tikhon, patriarch of Moscow (1925)

Born in 1865, he was tonsured a monk in 1891, and consecrated a Bishop in 1891. From 1900, he was Bishop of Alaska, with oversight of the Church throughout North America. In America, he consecrated the first Orthodox monastery on the continent and worked tirelessly to unite all ethnic groups as one flock. In 1907 he was made Bishop of Yaroslavl and returned to Russia.

In 1917, he was elected to be the first Patriarch of Moscow since the abolition of the Patriarchate by Tsar Peter the Great more than 200 years before. Almost immediately, the Russian Church was plunged into new and terrible persecution as an atheist and totalitarian government seized control. Patriarch Tikhon always sought not to quarrel with the Communist government, but his refusal to deny his faith or his Church marked him in their eyes as an enemy. In 1925 he died under mysterious circumstances, and is generally thought to have been murdered by the Soviets. He is commemorated as a Confessor, and by many as a Martyr also.

Note: because his commemoration falls on the Feast of the Annunciation, his service is usually transferred to the day before or after the Feast.