Annunciating Times Four

by Aleron · March 24, 2026

I would like to think that others have little spiritual idiosyncrasies like me. For example, when I pray the Second Joyful Mystery of the Holy Rosary, I announce it as “The visitation of Jesus and Mary.” I do this for two reasons. First, I read somewhere that every time we say the holy name of Jesus, there is power released. Now, if I’m asked to explain what that means, and I’m smart enough not to demonstrate my ignorance verbally, the silence would be deafening. So, moving on to the less embarrassing second reason for this prayerful peculiarity: this is my way of celebrating the touchdown on earth of the Word made flesh.

And Jesus’ arrival in the virgin womb was truly something far beyond the inadequate adjectives of amazing, astounding, miraculous, phenomenal, or even in the words of a fellow human-odd, “Super fantabulous!” God didn’t just plop His son down on ol’ terra firma. “God made man” was inconceivably conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, that the uncreated Divine might be born of a woman just like the rest of us. This momentous event of the Creator of the universe slipping into humankind, unheralded by the local press at the time, marked the beginning of the never-ending story for all of us.

Accordingly, we celebrate this supernatural encounter not only annually on the Solemnity of the Annunciation, we also memorialize it thrice daily (6 AM, noon, and 6 PM) with bells and the Angelus prayer. Though the bells are not so prominent as they once were, many folks still mark these times with a recitation of this commemorative prayer. The Pope makes an appearance at midday on Sundays and Holy Days to pray the Angelus in Rome.

I was introduced to this practice a couple of decades ago when I encountered a recitation of it at midnight during Eucharistic Adoration. A holy and grace-filled lady named Lillian, who punched in around 12 AM for an hour of adoration, would start her encounter with the Lord in the flesh, by recounting aloud the event that started it all.

Since that fateful night, I have tried to follow her thankful commemoration by reciting the Angelus at the regular hours and even, when up and around, at the first minute of the new day. When wakeful and at home, I get a cue from my computer which rings those angelic chimes at the appropriate times. After years of this practice, I find myself, when away from the techno-nudge, listening for the inner bells, and sometimes I hit the “Hail” on the head.

With the Annunciation upon us, let us give the old angelic cheer at least once, twice, thrice or even frice (you know what I mean). Let’s prayerfully honor the “annunciators”: God who blessed, Mary who “yessed,” and the Holy Spirit who did the rest, all three working together so that we “finiters” have a chance of praising God on His home turf.