The Annunciation (also called the Feast of the Annunciation) celebrates the announcement given by the archangel Gabriel to Mary that she would conceive and give birth to the Son of God. The feast is observed on March 25th, which is nine months before the Christmas celebration of the birth of Jesus. This date also coincides with the observance of Good Friday, when Holy Week occurs in the month of March.
The correlation between the conception of Christ and his death falling on the same day follows a doctrinal belief of the early Church, which proposed that many of the major events in the Bible coincided with the Spring Equinox. Events such as the creation of the Earth, the creation of Adam, the fall of Lucifer, and the crossing of the Red Sea are all purported to have occurred on March 25th. Calculations of this nature, which were popular during the Middle Ages in conjunction with the spread of Christianity in Northern Europe, underpin the observance of many Christian holy days during the solstice and equinox periods of the calendar year. The date for the celebration of the Annunciation proved advantageous for the Church in terms of incorporating more Christian theology among the pagan tribes of Europe.
