Gabriel stood before thee, O Maiden,/ revealing the pre-eternal counsel,/ saluting thee and exclaiming:/ "Rejoice, O earth unsown!/ Rejoice, O bush unburnt[i]!/ Rejoice, O depth hard to fathom!/ Rejoice, O bridge leading to the heavens/ and lofty ladder, which Jacob beheld[ii]!/ Rejoice, O divine jar of Manna[iii]! Rejoice, annulment of the curse!// Rejoice, restoration of Adam: the Lord is with thee!
· Annunciation Sermon by St Ambrose, Bishop of Milan
· Annunciation Sermon by Pope Leo the Great
· Sermon on the Annunciation by St Proklos, Patriarch of Constantinople
· Annunciation Homily by St. Jerome
· Annunciation of the Theotokos – March 25- a Prayer
A Prayer from the Orlov Trebnic on the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos – March 25
[i] Exo 3:1-5 KJV Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. (2) And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. (3) And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. (4) And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. (5) And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
[ii] Gen 28:10-17 KJV And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. (11) And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. (12) And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. (13) And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; (14) And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. (15) And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. (16) And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. (17) And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
[iii] The manna was the “bread from heaven”. Jesus Christ said that he was this bread from heaven, so that the jar which contained the mannah, which was placed in the ark is likened to the Theotokos, whose womb was a receptacle (jar) for the bread of life.
Exo 16:31-34 KJV And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. (32) And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt. (33) And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations. (34) As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.