Our Lady of the Annunciation

Marian devotion of Nazareth (Galilee)

La Announcement is above all a Gospel mystery, narrated by Luke: the angel Gabriel is sent by God to a virgin married to Joseph, called Mary, Nazaret de GalileaAnd there he proclaims to him that he will conceive of the Son of God; Mary answers with her "be done in me according to your word" (cf. Lk 1: 26-38). This mystery has given rise to the invocation of Our Lady of the Annunciation and the development of a Marian sanctuary in the traditional place of Mary's house.

Main data

Origin and history

La Announcement is above all a Gospel mystery, narrated by Luke: the angel Gabriel is sent by God to a virgin married to Joseph, called Mary, Nazaret de GalileaAnd there he proclaims to him that he will conceive of the Son of God; Mary answers with her "be done in me according to your word" (cf. Lk 1: 26-38). This mystery has given rise to the invocation of Our Lady of the Annunciation and the development of a Marian sanctuary in the traditional place of Mary's house.

According to the ancient Christian traditionFrom the first centuries the memory of Mary's house and the place where the Annunciation took place was venerated in Nazareth. Throughout the Byzantine era, a church would have been built on the revered grotto / house; this tradition was continued, with interruptions and reconstructions, under cross and then Franciscan rule, always maintaining the reference to the Gospel episode.

As for the documented history of the sanctuarythe existence of a Byzantine church in the place at least since the IV-V century, then a cross basilica, destroyed after the fall of the cross kingdom, and small Franciscan chapels in the later centuries; the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land is recognized as responsible for the place since the Middle Ages. The present basilica was built in the 20th century (1960-1969) on the archaeological remains of previous structures, identified with the old house of Mary, retaining the grotto as the nucleus of the sanctuary.

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The image and the sanctuary

In Nazareth the center of devotion is not a single miraculous image, but the place itself of the Annunciation: the Grotto / house of Mary, conservada en la Basilica of the Annunciation. In the interior are venerated various representations of the Virgin, of contemporary and international style, offered by episcopal conferences from all over the world; they usually show Mary at the time of the fiat or as Mother of God, but there is no single "headline" image, of a miraculous type, specifically associated with this advocation under a single iconographic model. There is therefore no unique official description of "the image of Our Lady of the Annunciation of Nazareth."

The temple is called Basilica of the Annunciationin Nazareth (Galilee, the Holy Land), and is entrusted to the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. It is a large complex of two levels:

– Lower level: conserva la Grotto / house of Mary, núcleo arqueológico y espiritual del santuario, con restos de construcciones de época antigua identificadas por la tradición como la vivienda de la Virgen. – Top level: great modern church for the celebration of the liturgy, with Marian mosaics from different countries and an architecture that highlights the centrality of the mystery of the Incarnation.

The Basilica is recognized in the Catholic Church as minor basilica; se celebra allí la liturgia según el Latin rite and there are also several Eastern Christian Churches who venerate the same mystery of the Annunciation.

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Sponsorship and coronation

In the field of the Holy Land, the Our Lady of the Annunciation of Nazareth is particularly linked to the city of Nazareth and the region of Galilee; however, there is no specific decree to declare it exclusive canonical pattern of the city or of a diocese under this title with official mention detailed in the accessible sources. In the Church as a whole, the Annunciation is rather a Universal Literary Mysteries that a restricted territorial patronage.

About a canonical coronation of a concrete image of Our Lady of the Annunciation in the Basilica of Nazareth, with explicit mention of the year and pontiff or delegate, does not contain a documented canonical coronation in the sources consulted.

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Party and devotion

La fiesta litúrgica principal related to this advocation is the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, celebrada el 25 March in the Roman calendar and in the liturgy of most of the Christian Churches. Although the feast is centered on Christ, it is inseparable from the figure of Mary in her fiat, so it has a strong Marian dimension.

Nazareth is one of the main Marian shrines of the Holy Landwith an intense influx of pilgrims from all over the world, both Catholic and other Christian denominations. The pilgrimages are especially intensified around March 25 and in the strong times of the liturgical year (Christmas and Easter), when many faithful visit the Basilica to pray the Angelus, participate in the Eucharist and contemplate the Grotto of the Annunciation.

Between the Devotional features destacan: – la oración del Angelus, que recuerda diariamente el diálogo entre el ángel y María; – la lectura y meditación del pasaje de Lc 1,26‑38 dentro de la gruta; – la fuerte dimensión ecuménica e internacional del santuario, que acoge peregrinos de numerosos ritos y lenguas, subrayando el carácter universal de la Encarnación.

In the case of specific annual inflow data, it is generally recognized that Nazareth is one of the most important destinations of Christian pilgrimage in the Holy Land.

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Link to the Rosary

La advocación de Our Lady of the Annunciation is deeply linked to Rosary, en particular al primer mysteries gozosowhich contemplates precisely the Annunciation of the angel to Mary. The prayer of the Rosary, by meditating on the joyful, painful, glorious and luminous mysteries, repeatedly turns the look to the The docility of Mary In Nazareth, where he accepted the will of God and the Word became flesh (cf. Lk 1: 38).

In the Basilica of the Annunciation, and in many places of the world, the Rosary is prayed by contemplating this initial mystery as the door of all the other mysteries of Christ's life. Where there are no specific written practices of the sanctuary, it can be said in general that the Rosary helps the faithful:

– contemplar con María el momento de la Encarnación y aprender de su fe obediente; – unir la repetición del Hail Mary al recuerdo del anuncio del ángel y de la respuesta de la Virgen; – entender a Nazaret como "Rosario school"where you learn to welcome the Word of God with the very availability of the Mother of the Lord.

There is no document of an exclusive or peculiar form of Rosary of Nazareth, which is officially linked to the sanctuary; it is rather a spontaneous and universal implementation from the Rosary to the mystery of the Annunciation, which finds in the Basilica of the Annunciation its privileged geographical and spiritual framework.