26Â And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth,
27Â To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
28Â And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29Â Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be.
30Â And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.
31Â Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus.
32Â He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever.
33Â And of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34Â And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man?
35Â And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
36Â And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren:
37Â Because no word shall be impossible with God.
38Â And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Luke 1: 26-38
The Annunciation is the greatest event since the creation of the universe. It is, also, in a sense, a little Christmas during Lent and ties in nicely with the first day of spring (in the Northern Hemisphere).
I want to add that this passage from the Gospel of St. Luke is my favorite Biblical passage.
The Annunciation is the First Joyful Mystery of the Most Holy Rosary.
Desire the love of humility. Contemplate the humility of the Blessed Virgin Mary when the angel Gabriel greeted her with these words, “Hail, full of grace . . . !”
Where is the painting from, who did it? It is a beautiful as the quoted scripture.
It was painted by Henry Ossawa Tanner in 1898. I have always thought it captures the Annunciation perfectly.