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Vorfrudagen

Now I will tell you about a special Swedish custom for Annunciating Day March 25. In Swedish that day is called Vorfrudagen and when you speak that word hastily it could sound like the Swedish for "Waffles Day" and so it has been! People eat waffles on March 25 with whipped cream and cloudberry jam or raspberry jam in the south where you cannot find cloudberries.
But at church we celebrate Annunciating Day on a Sunday near the correct date. This year 2018 it is March 18.

There are a lot of old ideas about "Vorfrudagen". My mother used to talk about sitting in the twilight and she also said: "The crane brings light to beds".

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Probably that saying comes from the fact that the cranes are coming back from their winter sojourn at the time of vernal equinox and now the lighter time of the year is coming and you can go to bed in daylight. Especially the children.....
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A crane standing on one leg and holding a stone in the other foot is a symbol of awareness. It she lets the stone fall she is hurt on the other foot and wakes up. Annuciating Day is bringing a message of awareness too, a message of waiting. This day here in Sweden is coming when we don't have to light up as early as before in the afternoon. But still we must wait for spring. It is Lent - even if Annunciation Day is a day of joy and breaking the fasting. Lent is the time when we are preparing us for Easter. We are awaiting spring - looking for all signs that springtime is coming. The bulb flowers coming out, the return of the migrating birds, and the evenings getting lighter each day. The signs of spring are alike the message of Easter: the victory of life over death.

The 25 of March in very old times was thought to be the date when The Lord created the world. The creation must have been when day and night are equal in length. And as God is absolute perfect must his new creation in Jesus Christ, the Savior, be made at this date. And that is why Christmas is celebrated nine months later, December 25.

Annunciating Day

celebrated at Church March 18 this year 2018

The texts in the churches are as follows (from Luk 1:26-38 and Luk 1:46-55)
And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.
And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

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And Mary said,
My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden:
for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;
As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

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WE PRAY
Lord
you have made the Universe,
you have given us our lives,
you became a human being,
to be able to come us near.
We thank you for Mary, the Mother of Jesus,
our sister, our ideal.
Help us to live open
to your will in our lives,
so that rigthtfulness and truthfulness can be formed in our lives.
In the name of Jesus Christ
AMEN

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Some thoughts on Annunciating Day A new being in the womb of Mary - as in the womb of so many other women. But still totally different. A new being - created by the Holy Ghost.
Mary was a young girl 13-14 years old. At that age you are looking for the meaning of life.
And the young girl got asking, disputing, she gets some answers from the angel. And finally she says yes to the quest. She will receive the Holy Ghost, as the prophets in time of the old Testament did. But she is not supposed to bring the message from God in words. She will bear it, give birth to it, in pain, she will bear the whole burden of being a mother.
Mary is an asking, reflecting young woman. Faith and doubt is in her. Without doubt - no real faith. We have to grow in our faith. And doubt and reflection are instruments for growing faith.
I am in this world because God made me. Not to make a lot of things. He made us to his copy, to be a pot for his love. A pot which fluids over and distributes its content, adminstering the love of God to the people which are near to us.

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Sources: King James Bible, my diaries, etc
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