April 7, 2031

Events of the day

• Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos

  Twelve Great Feast

  The Archangel Gabriel announces to the Virgin Mary the birth of the Saviour. Fish is allowed if the feast falls in Great Lent (except Holy Week).

• St Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (repose, 1925)

  Polyeleos rank

• Great and Holy Monday

  Commemoration

• Holy Week begins

  Informational

? The coincidence rule is not yet approved — check this year's liturgical instructions.

Fasting

Fast day · Holy Week

Annunciation in Holy Week: food with oil and wine, no fish.

• Meat: not allowed
• Dairy & eggs: not allowed
• Fish: not allowed
• Oil: allowed
• Wine: allowed

Food rules are reference church information. Agree your personal measure of fasting with a priest; consult a doctor if you are ill.

Readings of the day

• Gospel · Bridegroom

  Matthew 21:18–43

• Vespers · Annunciation

  Genesis 28:10–17

• Vespers · Annunciation

  Ezekiel 43:27–44:4

• Vespers · Annunciation

  Proverbs 9:1–11

• Matins Gospel · Annunciation

  Luke 1:39–49, 56

  Show the text

  ³⁹Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah,

  ⁴⁰and entered into the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.

  ⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

  ⁴²She called out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

  ⁴³Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

  ⁴⁴For behold, when the voice of your greeting came into my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy!

  ⁴⁵Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord!”

  ⁴⁶Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord.

  ⁴⁷My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,

  ⁴⁸for he has looked at the humble state of his servant. For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed.

  ⁴⁹For he who is mighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name.

  ⁵⁶Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her house.

• 6th Hour

  Ezekiel 1:1–20

• Vespers

  Exodus 1:1–20

• Vespers

  Job 1:1–12

• Vespers · Annunciation

  Exodus 3:1–8

• Vespers · Annunciation

  Proverbs 8:22–30

• Epistle · Annunciation

  Hebrews 2:11–18

  Show the text

  ¹¹For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brothers,

  ¹²saying, “I will declare your name to my brothers. Among the congregation I will sing your praise.”

  ¹³Again, “I will put my trust in him.” Again, “Behold, here I am with the children whom God has given me.”

  ¹⁴Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,

  ¹⁵and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

  ¹⁶For most certainly, he doesn’t give help to angels, but he gives help to the offspring of Abraham.

  ¹⁷Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.

  ¹⁸For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

• Gospel · Presanctified

  Matthew 24:3–35

  Show the text

  ³As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?”

  ⁴Jesus answered them, “Be careful that no one leads you astray.

  ⁵For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will lead many astray.

  ⁶You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you aren’t troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet.

  ⁷For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines, plagues, and earthquakes in various places.

  ⁸But all these things are the beginning of birth pains.

  ⁹Then they will deliver you up to oppression, and will kill you. You will be hated by all of the nations for my name’s sake.

  ¹⁰Then many will stumble, and will deliver up one another, and will hate one another.

  ¹¹Many false prophets will arise, and will lead many astray.

  ¹²Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold.

  ¹³But he who endures to the end will be saved.

  ¹⁴This Good News of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

  ¹⁵“When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),

  ¹⁶then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

  ¹⁷Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take out the things that are in his house.

  ¹⁸Let him who is in the field not return back to get his clothes.

  ¹⁹But woe to those who are with child and to nursing mothers in those days!

  ²⁰Pray that your flight will not be in the winter, nor on a Sabbath,

  ²¹for then there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be.

  ²²Unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened.

  ²³“Then if any man tells you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or, ‘There,’ don’t believe it.

  ²⁴For there will arise false christs, and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones.

  ²⁵“Behold, I have told you beforehand.

  ²⁶If therefore they tell you, ‘Behold, he is in the wilderness,’ don’t go out; or ‘Behold, he is in the inner rooms,’ don’t believe it.

  ²⁷For as the lightning flashes from the east, and is seen even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

  ²⁸For wherever the carcass is, that is where the vultures gather together.

  ²⁹But immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken;

  ³⁰and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.

  ³¹He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

  ³²“Now from the fig tree learn this parable. When its branch has now become tender, and produces its leaves, you know that the summer is near.

  ³³Even so you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

  ³⁴Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away, until all these things are accomplished.

  ³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

• Gospel · Annunciation

  Luke 1:24–38

  Show the text

  ²⁴After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and she hid herself five months, saying,

  ²⁵“Thus has the Lord done to me in the days in which he looked at me, to take away my reproach among men.”

  ²⁶Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

  ²⁷to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary.

  ²⁸Having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!”

  ²⁹But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered what kind of salutation this might be.

  ³⁰The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

  ³¹Behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and shall name him ‘Jesus.’

  ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,

  ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.”

  ³⁴Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, seeing I am a virgin?”

  ³⁵The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God.

  ³⁶Behold, Elizabeth your relative also has conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

  ³⁷For nothing spoken by God is impossible.”

  ³⁸Mary said, “Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” The angel departed from her.

Source: Orthocal: lectionary data — Slavic tradition, Julian calendar. Text: World English Bible.

Saints and icons

• Prayer of the day: Troparion of the Annunciation