Ευαγγελισμός της Θεοτόκου

I could not let this day pass unnoticed, even by Romanós the sinner, and so I am posting my favorite painting of the Annunciation to Mary (Greek, Ευαγγελισμός της Θεοτόκου, Evangelismós tis Theotókou), which is commemorated this day. Happy feast day to all whose names are Evángelos and Evangelía, as well as those Mary's who sometimes celebrate their nameday on this feast. Chronía pollá! Many years!
Aside from her virginity, which is an act of God in her life, the Orthodox also see Mary as the first Christian, the first to have received (accepted) the first words of the Good News of salvation, preached not by flesh and blood, but by the angel Gabriel,

Rejoice, so highly favored!
The Lord is with you.
Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favor.
Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son,
and you must name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called
Son of the Most High.
The Lord God will give him the throne
of his ancestor David;
he will rule over the House of Jacob forever
and his reign will have no end.
The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will come
and cover you with its shadow.
And so the child will be holy
and will be called the Son of God.
Luke 1: 28-35 passim

Mary’s response?

I am the handmaid of the Lord.
Let what you have said be done to me.
Luke 1:38

The symbol of Nicæa says that Christ was born of a virgin, and that is what we believe. Something extraordinary about that birth carried itself forward and colored everything in its path, to be sure, and as the early Christians pored over the scriptures (of the Old Testament) they began finding what they felt were prophetic utterances that could be applied to Mary. Hence, the Akáthistos Hymn, written by a convert from Judaism who was a deacon in the Church of Antioch, my name day saint Romanós, which hymn is sung on Fridays during the Great Fast.