Feast of the Annunciation — the Day Christ Died

Luke's Gospel records the event of the archangel Gabriel coming to Mary's home in Nazareth, announcing to her that she would conceive in her womb the "Son of the most High." That's why the feast is called the Annunciation. It's been celebrated annually at least since 431A.D. when the Council of Ephesus declared Mary as the Mother of God.

Upon Mary's consent — "Be it done to me according to thy word" — the Incarnation took place. Christ, the second Person of the blessed Trinity, clothed Himself with humanity, Body and Soul, in Mary's womb. The union of divine and human nature into the one Person of Christ is called theologically the hypostatic union.

The dual events of the Annunciation and Incarnation on March 25 took place, as one would expect, exactly nine months before the birth of Christ on December 25. Few Catholics know, however, of the ancient tradition that has Good Friday in 33 A.D. — the year Our Lord died — falling on this same day of the Annunciation and Incarnation.

Good Friday coincides with the Jewish passover on 14 Nisan of the Hebrew calendar, according to Exodus 12:18 and John 13:1. Scripture scholars like Tertullian in the year 200 had already calculated that 14 Nisan, the day Jesus died on the Cross, was equivalent to March 25 in the Roman calendar.

According to Jewish tradition, it was necessary for Jesus to die on the same day He was conceived in order to be considered a true prophet. As the historian William Tighe wrote, "The 'integral age' of the great Jewish prophets" meant that "the prophets of Israel died on the same dates as their birth or conception."

Watch the panel discuss the many mysteries occurring on March 25 in The Download—The Annunciation.