The “Angel’s Annunciation Feast”, which commemorates the Angel of the Lord Gabriel’s appearance to the Virgin Mary and heralded that she will be conceived by the Holy Spirit, was celebrated with a special ceremony held in St. Nichola Greek Orthodox Church.
Yusuf Nicholas Papasoğlu, one of the Fathers of the Iskenderun Orthodox Church, led the ceremony, which was held with the participation of a small number of community members within the framework of the pandemic conditions. In this special ritual, which continued with the lighting of candles and prayers, the good news that the Virgin Mary, although she was a virgin, would become pregnant by the Holy Spirit and give birth to a son and that the child would be named Jesus was remembered.
In accordance with the meaning of the day, Church Father Yusuf Nicholas Papasoğlu, who also gave a sermon in the liturgy where parts of the Luke Bible were read; ”It is important to know to whom the Angel Gabriel is giving good news, but more importantly, it is to realize whom Archangel Gabriel is giving good news. The best answer that sums up the full meaning of this holiday is the phrase ‘From True God, True God Was Born, Not Created’ proclaimed in the church’s Great Law of Faith.”
One of the Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church
It is one of the major holidays of the Orthodox Church and is celebrated on March 25, when the angel announces to the Virgin Mary that she will be pregnant with Jesus Christ. According to the expression in the Gospel of Luke (1:26-38), the archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary and gave the good news that although she was a virgin, she would become pregnant and give birth to a son, and that he would name the child Jesus.
In the tradition of the Arab Orthodox, March 25 is also celebrated as the day of the names “Bashir, Beshara or Bashar”, which means “good news” and is given to men. It is also allowed to eat fish on March 25, if this special holiday coincides with the Easter Fasting period. (SAT-7 Turk/İlyas Edip TERBİYELİ-İskenderun)
