The “Angel’s Annunciation Feast”, which commemorates the Angel of the Lord Gabriel’s appearance to the Virgin Mary and giving her the good news that she will be conceived by the Holy Spirit, was celebrated enthusiastically in all Greek Orthodox Churches in Hatay.
For this special day, rituals were held in Antakya and Altınözü as well as in İskenderun. Within the framework of the pandemic conditions, a small number of congregation members attended the rites led by Fathers Cebrail Kuşoğlu and Yuhanna Abdullah Papasoğlu in Antakya Saints Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox Church, Fathers Dimitri Doğum and Can Dellüller, and Altınözü Sarılar Saint Georgios Greek Orthodox Church.
In these special rites in Antakya and Altınözü, it was commemorated that the Virgin Mary was given the good news by the Angel Gabriel that although she was a virgin, she would become pregnant through the Holy Spirit and give birth to a son and name the child Jesus. In accordance with the meaning of the day, in the rites in which parts of the Gospel of Luke were read, prayers were sung accompanied by melodies and candles were lit.
