There is only one feast in the year that can match the grandeur of Pascha, and it is the Annunciation. No matter what day of the year it falls, Annunciation is celebrated. If it falls on Great Friday, there is a Vesperal Liturgy. If it falls on Pascha itself, then it is a Kyriopascha, and the hymns of the Lord’s Pascha are combined with the hymns in honor of his Mother’s Annunciation. This demonstrates how great a mystery is contained in her words, “Let it be.” The Mother of God’s “Let it be” is inseparable from the Lord’s own words, “Not my will, by thine be done,” and “It is finished.” Without the Magnificat, there would be no Paschal hymn: “Christ”—who was born of the most holy Theotokos and Ever-virgin Mary—“is risen from the dead.” As St. Nicodemus says, all creatures owe thanks to God, but God owes thanks to just one creature, the most holy Theotokos, whose free offering of herself allowed him entrance into the world.
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