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March 25th is the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord when Mary said "Yes" to God's will when the Angel Gabriel told her the exciting news that she was the mother of the Son of God! 9 months from today is when we celebrate the birth of Jesus.

We celebrated as in year's past with waffles for dinner (a Swedish tradition actually), "megaphones" to "announce" the Angelus prayer, and the table is decorated with a white candle with Baby Jesus cradled in the candle to represent how He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and lived in Mary's womb for 9 months.


In the morning of March 25th, I set up our kitchen table like this..


I put the familiar plastic white lace tablecloth over a plastic blue tablecloth.  I usually use these two tablecloths for Marian feast days because the lace looks "fancy", but it's a frugal decoration and the color blue is a traditional color for our Blessed Mother.

I made "megaphones" out of foam drinking cups so that we could "announce" the Angelus Prayer, which is a beautiful prayer about the Annunciation that we try to say each day at lunch time. I printed out artwork of the Annunciation and the first phrase of the Angelus Prayer and taped them onto the cups.


I displayed Mary: The Mother of Jesus by Tomie DePaola behind the candle.   This book has a page about the Annunciation.

I carved out a little hole at the bottom of the candle and put a plastic baby in it.  This is the same baby we use for the King Cake at our Epiphany parties and Mardi Gras.


 
The artwork on the right side of the Annunciation was painted by my oldest daughter several years ago that we have displayed in our home year round.




The other book displayed is Saints and Angels by Claire Llewellyn













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This past Monday, April 4, 2016 the Feast of the Annunciation was celebrated.  The Feast of the Annunciation commemorates the angel Gabriel's announcement to Mary that she would conceive Jesus, and the conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit. (Luke 1: 26-38)  Normally this feast day is celebrated each year on the liturgical calendar on March 25 because March 25 is exactly 9 months before December 25 when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.


So why did the Feast of the Annunciation get moved?  March 25 this year fell on Good Friday. Celebrating a feast day like the Feast of the Annunciation is one of the Solemnities on our liturgical Church calendar and it's a big deal and a time for celebrating and feasting.  Good Friday is not a time for feasting, but rather fasting (to put it simply), so the Feast of the Annunciation got moved to the day after Divine Mercy Sunday this year.  Did you know this convergence of a big fast day (Good Friday) and a big feast day (Feast of the Annunciation) won't happen for another 141 years?!!!?

"From the year 1900 until this year, the Annunciation and Good Friday have converged only five times, 1910, 1921, 1932, 2005 and will happen again this year.  After this year, however, these two holy days will not converge again for another 141 years.  This is the longest stretch of time where those two holy days will not converge since at least as far back as the year 1700.  While the stretch of time may not be of any consequence, it is interesting to think about, especially considering these two feasts will not coincide again within our lifetimes..."  Read More

In 2011, we celebrated the Feast of the Annunciation with coloring pages.  In 2014, we did this fun coloring activity and last year in 2015 we made megaphones to "announce" the Angelus prayer and ate waffles and fruit for dinner!   This is how we celebrated this year....


We had a busy evening of soccer practices, so we celebrated with a special themed lunch.  I put on our plastic blue tablecloth and then a plastic "lace" tablecloth to make it "fancy".  In the center of the table I lit a white candle and hid a Baby Jesus in a little space that I carved out of the candle.  I displayed Mary: The Mother of Jesus by Tomie DePaola behind the candle that gave information on the Annunciation.   The artwork on the right side of the Annunciation was painted by my oldest daughter several years ago.  On the left side of the table is the stack of "megaphones" I created last year to "announce" the Angelus prayer. We prayed the Angelus with our megaphones.  However, since April 4 this year was technically in the Easter season, we should have prayed the Regina Caeli vs. the Angelus.  We ate waffles, fruit  homemade whipped cream, and bacon for lunch because there is an interesting connection between waffles and the Annunciation. Yum!



The Catholic faith reminds me of a bottomless treasure chest...the more I learn and love about the faith, the more I realize how much I don't know!   Blogging allows me to share about our faith's rich history and traditions, family and homeschooling and I hope to inspire others through my little corner of the blogosphere. 



And I'll conclude this post all about the Annunciation with this beautiful song and images about the Angel Gabriel visiting Mary.



This post is linked at #48 at New Evangelists Monthly-May 2016, Issue #41

Tomorrow, March 25, is the feast of the Annunciation, when the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she is to carry and give birth to God's son and name Him Jesus.  All this through the power of the Holy Spirit!  (Luke 1: 26-38)

Nine months from today, we will be celebrating the birth of our Savior!  Today's feast day is one of the Solemnities on our liturgical Church calendar so it's a big deal and another time to celebrate and feast!

In 2010, when my oldest daughter was 10, she painted this in her homeschool art class.  We have it displayed on our piano in our dining room.  The teacher asked the students to sketch and paint a scene from the Bible and my daughter decided to paint the Annunciation when the Angel Gabriel came to visit Mary to tell her she was chosen to become the mother of God's Son.  Here is the scripture verse that my daughter wrote on the top right corner of her painting:



In year's past we have done several different activities to remember this special day.  These activities are easy enough to prepare last minute!

In 2011, I printed out this coloring page from Lacy's blog at Catholic Icing and my children enjoyed coloring it.


Last year in 2014, my children did this coloring activity that was designed by Jennifer at Catholic Inspired.


This year, I thought of a way to "announce" the Annunciation with my children that is easy and I hope fun and memorable for all.  I taped one of these Annunciation images on a styrofoam cup and printed out the words..."The Angel of the Lord announced unto Mary..." and taped the strips of paper to the cup.
The words are the first part of the Angelus prayer that is a devotion prayed at 6:00 AM, noon, and 6:00 PM.  We usually say the noon time Angelus prayer before our lunch time grace (when I don't forget).


So I thought for the feast of the Annunciation we would use our megaphones to loudly (and reverently) say the Angelus prayer at lunch time tomorrow.  Our cups look a little plain so maybe my children will want to use markers to decorate them?  I'll find out tomorrow when they wake up.

When we think of the word "annunciation" we think of the word "announce" which is what this feast day is all about...the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she conceived Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is my hope that my children will remember March 25 a little better with this simple and fun activity and that as they announce the Angelus prayer they will remember what the Feast of the Annunciation is all about. 

So grab some cups and make a megaphone and say the Angelus a little differently tomorrow to remember such a special day!

And I hear that tomorrow is Waffle Day in Sweden and we are having (frozen) waffles for dinner and bacon and fruit because it is the Feast of the Annunciation and Kendra at Catholic All Year makes a compelling case of why eating waffles on the Feast of the Annunciation is a rather fun and cool idea.
BUT what does waffles have to do with the Feast of the Annunciation you ask?  Read all about that HERE.  Interesting information, don't ya think? 

And I'll conclude this post all about the Annunciation with this beautiful song and images about the Angel Gabriel visiting Mary.


 May you have a blessed Feast of the Annunciation!