Tuesday, March 25, 2025

It is the 25th of March 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Thanks to those of you sending in notes and messages, either in email form or via the chacelebrate page. NOW- in return for your kindness, I do not want your head to explode- figuratively or literally. But have I got some “on this day” news for you…. I think I’m ready to call March 25th the most significant day on the calendar. We’ve touched on a few of these things before, but let’s put them all together in one place.

And, because Easter is late this year, March 25th falls during Lent- but it’s such a big day that historically, Lenten practices have been loosened for this day. Why? Let’s go.

 March 25th was the original New Year's Day when Little Dennis, the inventor of BC/AD dating in the 500s, said everything began. And so, on account of this and some dating folklore, this became THE day to celebrate “beginnings.” According to Hebrew Gematria (the numerology we discussed yesterday), “let there be light” has a numerical value of 25.

In Hebrew and later Christian tradition, it was believed that today- the 25th day of (what used to be) the first month marked not only creation but the fall of Lucifer, the Fall of Adam and Eve, the binding of Isaac, and the passing through the Red Sea. So… that seems like a big day. But how, you ask, could the Fall of Adam and Eve take place on the same date as creation? Traditions vary with them living in the Garden, pre-fall for anywhere from hours to one day to seven days to sometimes less than 130 years based on what we know about Adam’s age and the birth of Seth in Genesis 5.

There was a belief that one was conceived not only exactly 9 months before birth but that you also died on the day you were conceived.

So, what do we celebrate 9 months from today (and because of Calendar reform, we need to have some leeway)? Christmas- or the incarnation. So today is the feast of the Annunciation- the Archangel Gabriel appears to Mary, and she becomes pregnant. If feast days pertaining to Mary confuse you, that’s ok- I just counted at least 17 in the Catholic tradition.  

And if you also die on the day you were conceived, then this would be not only the day Jesus was crucified, it also marks the day that “the Good Thief” Dismas died (he was on the right of Jesus and asked to enter his Kingdom). And you might ask: why don’t we celebrate the Crucifixion today- to which I answer, have you not been with me so long that you don’t remember: the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox?

The Italian Poet Dante Alighieri made March 25th the first day of his journey through the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. I’ve just made a whiteboard note here at the studios for a Weekend Edition on Dante and what is, perhaps, the most famous piece of theological fiction ever written and forever shaped our imagination about the afterlife.

I will also note that while I sometimes avoid talking about JRR Tolkien for fear of the wrath of a certain kind of fan, today, March 25th, marks the anniversary of the ring being cast into Mt. Doom—that was when Huck Finn, carried by Rudy, destroyed the ring before the CGI monster could get it (I only saw the movies, so that’s how I remember it).

So, have I convinced you that today is a pretty big day? March 25th- creation, fall, Abraham’s almost sacrifice, passing through the Red Sea, the Annunciation and Crucifixion… and your reminder that Christmas is only 9 months away.

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and, unsurprisingly from Luke 1 and the Annunciation:

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 25th of March 2025, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who told me his favorite part of the Tolkien books is when Count Dooku and Magneto are fighting in that one place… he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who gave up ESPN morning television for Lent but might keep that one going, even today- I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.