The annunciation is a prediction. It tells now what will inevitably happen later.
Mary is told that she will give birth to God's son. And indeed, soon after hearing this announce, she is pregnant although she is still a virgin.
With gabriel carrying God's word, the annunciation is also an epiphany.
Φαίνω (phaïnò) : to manifest itself, to appear, to display. Ἐπιφάνεια (epiphaneia) : manifestation, apparition.
Already from long before christianity, epiphany meant the manifestation of the divine on the surface of the earth. The term was also already associated with the period of the year that follows the winter solstice. The epiphany is the celebration of the light, the announce of the return of the sun.
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