04 — The Feasts of the Incarnation

Two Great Feasts celebrate the Word made flesh at its two moments: the Annunciation (25 March), when the Word is conceived in the Virgin’s womb, and the Nativity of Christ (25 December), when he is born in Bethlehem. Exactly nine months apart by design, they are the feasts in which the Church confesses in worship the dogma that the councils defined — that the one born of Mary is true God and true man.

Tradition: Pan-Orthodox

Purpose

These are the feasts where liturgy and dogma most tightly coincide: the Nativity hymns are the Nicene Creed sung, and the Annunciation is the Incarnation itself. The section links the Christological feasts to the councils and the Creed that guard them.

Navigation

File	Description
the-nativity-of-christ.md	25 December; the Incarnation; the disputed origin of the date; the Christology of the feast; links to the councils and the Nicene Creed
the-annunciation.md	25 March; Luke 1; the conception of the Word; the fiat of the Virgin; the feast’s unique Lenten rank

See Also

• The Seven Ecumenical Councils — the dogma of the Incarnation the feasts embody
• Orthodoxy: The Nicene Creed — “and was incarnate… and became man”