25 March is known as Lady Day, also known as the Annunciation of the Lord, and it used to be the old New Year’s Day. This is the story …
The Annunciation
The word ‘annunciation’ is an archaic term for announcement. The word is generally understood in its biblical context to refer to the announcement of the incarnation by the angel Gabriel to Mary, when she was told she would conceive and give birth to the Son of God. The story is told in Luke 1:26-38:“The angel Gabriel came to Nazareth, and spoke to Mary, who was a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, who was a descendant of David. Mary was puzzled and afraid, but the angel reassured her and told her not to be afraid. The angel told Mary that should conceive and give birth to a son, and she should call him Jesus. Mary did not understand how that is would be possible by the angel explained that it would happen by the Holy Spirit, and the child would be called the Son of God. Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word’” (Luke 1:38 NRSV).
And then the angel left her. This is generally considered to fulfil the prophecy in Isaiah 7.10-15 that a virgin would conceive and bear a son. Lady Day
The day in the Church calendar when the Annunciation is traditionally remembered is 25 March. This day is known as the ‘Feast of the Annunciation’ or the ‘Day of the Annunciation of the Lord’ in the Christian liturgical calendar. It was commonly known as Lady Day, short for ‘Our Lady’s Day of the Annunciation’, where the lady in question was Mary. The day effectively celebrates when Mary acknowledged her role in the salvation story. This was the moment when God intervened in human history to fulfil the plan of salvation. There is generally considered to be nine months between conception and birth, so it is no coincidence that Lady Day (25 March) and Christmas Day (25 December) are exactly nine months apart. In reality, it is not known how soon after the annunciation that the conception took place, but traditionally it is held to be the same day. At the Council of Toledo in AD 656 and at the Council of Constantinople in AD 692, it was declared that Christians should fast during Lent, except on Sundays and on the Feast of the Annunciation (Lady Day). In mediaeval Europe Lady Day often began with a Mass called a Missa Aurea (Golden Mass) in honour of the Lady Mary, which in some places was followed by processions and mystery plays. Traditions
In central Europe, Lady Day was known as the ‘Feast of the Swallows’, because it was observed that it was on or about that day that swallows started to return from their winter migration. In Poland, Lady Day was seen as the first day that storks returned. In Britain it was customary to eat seed cakes on Lady Day, because of the seed, which was planted in Mary, and was traditionally the day when spring seeds were sown.
New Year’s Day
From 1155, Lady Day was seen as the start of the Church year, which started the clock towards Christmas. In a time when Church and state were intertwined Lady Day was the start of the ecclesiastical, legal and economic calendars. For many centuries Lady Day was effectively New Year’s Day.
Quarter Days
The year was divided into four parts, and the start of each quarter was called a Quarter Day when rents were due. England, Wales and Ireland the Quarter Day are traditionally: Lady Day 25 March, Midsummer Day 24 June, Michaelmas Day 29 September and Christmas Day 25 December, although in Scotland the Quarter Days are always on the 28 of the previous months. It was on Quarter Days when rents were due, when legal contracts began, when families moved to new tenancies, and when workers often started new jobs. Even today, in many places in the UK quarter days are still when rents are due, and when farm leases and tenancies start.
Calendar Reform
Pope Gregory XIII sought to reform the Julian calendar to bring it back in line with the natural seasons. His reforms were pragmatic and based upon sound astronomical observations and the new calendar was known as the Gregorian calendar. In 1582, these were adopted by most Catholic countries in Europe. However, many Protestant countries were reluctant to follow suit, because they distrusted changes which were initiated by the Pope, especially so soon after the Reformation. Slowly, however other European countries followed suit. One innovation was that there would be a leap year every fourth year, except when it is a century year, unless that century is divisible by four, and then unless that century is divisible by 400. Another reform was to move New Year’s Day from Lady Day to the 1 January.
Scotland
In 1599, the Scottish Parliament decided to drop the Julian calendar and adopted the reformed Gregorian Calendar. In 1600, Scotland declared that New Year’s Day was 1 January instead of Lady Day. This brought Scotland into line with a lot of Europe, but not with England. From 1600, New Year’s Day in Scotland was just after Christmas on 1 January. The Calvinist dislike of Christmas led to the development of Hogmanay instead.
England and the American Colonies
Meanwhile England was still on the Julian calendar until 1752. In 1750 the English Parliament under King George II passed the Calendar (New Style) Act, which set the course to switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. This was designed to bring England and her American Colonies in line with Scotland and most of continental Europe. As part of the reforms, New Year’s Day was moved to 1 January and Lady Day became known as Old New Year’s Day. 1751 went from Lady Day to New Year’s Eve, and the calendar year was just over nine months long. 1752 officially started on 1 January. Then later as part of the change to the Gregorian calendar, 1752 was shortened by eleven days to re-align the calendar with the natural seasons. In 1752, September 2 was followed by September 14. No-one had a birthday between 3 and 13 September in 1752.
Old Lady Day and the Tax Year
Some dates in the calendar which had shifted by eleven days had an old and new date. So, Lady Day was now on 25 March in the new style, but 5 April became known as Old Lady Day as if the eleven days had not been lost. The English taxation year started on Lady Day, 25 March, which was the old New Year’s Day. In 1752, to ensure no loss of annual tax revenue, the Treasury decided that the taxation year which started on 25 March 1752, should still be of the usual length of 365 days, so it would instead end on 4 April 1753, and the following tax year began on 5 April. The year 1800 was not a leap year in the new Gregorian calendar, but it would have been in the old Julian system. Therefore in 1800, old Lady Day was 6 April, but then this date has remained unchanged in the UK since.
Waffle Day
In Sweden, and Norway and Denmark, Lady Day became associated with waffles. In the Swedish language the word for Lady Day which is ‘Vårfrudagen’ sounds like ‘Våffeldagen’, which translates as Waffle Day. So, it became customary to eat waffles on Lady Day and it is colloquially known as Waffle Day in Scandinavia, and in Swedish communities around the world.
Mothers’ Union
In 1897 the Mothers’ Union, a Christian network of mothers’ groups across the worldwide Anglican Communion, adopted Lady Day as a special day of prayer and thanksgiving for the Mothers’ Union. Mothers’ Union groups often hold a special thanksgiving service on Lady Day in the church they are connected to.
Prayer for Lady Day
On Lady Day the traditional readings are the prophecy from Isaiah 7.10-15 and the story of the annunciation from Luke 1:26-38. The Anglican collect prayer for Lady Day is “We beseech thee, O Lord, pour thy grace into our hearts; that, as we have known the incarnation of thy Son Jesus Christ by the message of an angel, so by his cross and passion we may be brought unto the glory of his resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
