03/24/2026
Greetings in the Name of our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ...
Dearly beloved in the Lord:
Our journey through Great Lent pauses to give us the blessing of celebrating the great feastday of the Annunciation. As we contemplate this day, we are called to “rejoice” as the Good News of our salvation through the Virgin Mary is announced! I pray that the our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ, bless you and protect you in His loving grace!
We are blessed that our Cathedral Parish is dedicated to the great feastday of the Annunciation. For you and me, it is a constant reminder of God’s desire that we “…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…” (2 Peter 3:18). When we can truthfully and seriously say we acknowledge the presence of the our Lord in our lives, then we have good cause to “rejoice” and to “…Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good…” (Ps. 107:1).
This Tuesday and Wednesday (March 24th and 25th), we celebrate the Parish Feastday of our Cathedral – our spiritual home. Dedicated to the Great Feast of the Annunciation of the Theotokos, it is a time for us all to stop our daily routine and think about what this means.
The beautiful hymn of the Annunciation reveals the message of the importance of this feastday in our lives. It is a hymn we should all learn and one that, when we hear it being chanted, that we sing along with. The hymn states:
“Today is the crown of our salvation, and the revelation of the mystery planned from eternity; the Son of God, becomes the Virgin’s Son, and Gabriel announces the grace. Wherefore, we along with him, to the Theotokos let us cry out: Rejoice, O full of grace, the Lord is with you.”
“Σήμερον τῆς σωτηρίας ἡμῶν τὸ Κεφάλαιον, καὶ τοῦ ἀπ' αἰῶνος Μυστηρίου ἡ φανέρωσις,
ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, Υἱὸς τῆς Παρθένου γίνεται, καὶ Γαβριὴλ τὴν χάριν εὐαγγελίζεται. Διὸ καὶ ἡμεῖς σὺν αὐτῷ τὴ Θεοτόκω βοήσωμεν· Χαῖρε Κεχαριτωμένη, ὁ Κύριος μετὰ σοῦ.”
“Simeron tis sotirias eemon to Kefalaion, ke tu ap’eonos Mystiriu ee fanerosis;
o Ios tu Theu, Ios tis Parthenu ghinete, ke Gavri-il tin harin evangelizete. Dio ke eemis syn afto ti Theotoke voisomen; Haire Keharitomeni, o Kyrios meta su.”
The families who founded our Parish dedicated our community to the Virgin Mary. They understood, as we must, that the all-holy Theotokos would be an inspiration for us to grow in faith and love. To celebrate the Annunciation is to experience the joy that the Annunciation brings to all mankind. As we celebrate on these days, let us be mindful of our relationship with the Mother of God who is our constant intercessor to her Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ.
We are extremely fortunate and blessed to welcome our Hierarch and Chief Shepherd, Metropolitan Constantine of Denver, to preside over the services and offer his archpastoral guidance and blessing.
The schedule of services for the Great Feast of the Annunciation is:
Tuesday, March 24th: Hierarchical Great Vespers and Artoklasia - 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday, March 25th: Orthros - 8:30 a.m. / Hierarchical Divine Liturgy - 9:30 a.m.
Following the Divine Services on Wednesday, March 25th, our Ladies Philoptochos Society will be hosting a luncheon for our community. We hope you can join us to celebrate!
On the occasion of the Great Feastday of the Annunciation of the Theotokos, I pray that our Lord grant you good health and well-being through the intercessions of our most holy Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. To those who may be celebrating their nameday, and to all of us in our beloved Annunciation Cathedral, and to all faithful and pious Orthodox Christians... May God grant you many years!
Faithfully yours in Christ,
+Fr. Efstratios J. Magoulias
