Question:
Answer:
The Annunciation is not “less important” than Christmas, any more than we can say any celebration of a mystery of our salvation is more or less important. Without Christmas there could be no Good Friday and Easter Sunday, yet the Paschal Triduum is still the highest celebration of our liturgy rather than Christmas. It’s not about ranking the feasts in a manner of their necessity in relation to other feasts.
However there are a few issues with celebrating the Annunciation in a manner equal to Christmas:
1. On a practical level, it often falls in the middle of Lent. It would be awkward to have a joyous Octave celebration in the middle of the penitential season and then return back to penitential days. It also risks being moved due to Holy Week which is the central celebration of the Christian faith. It therefore has a practical problem of either liturgically overshadowing Lent or being liturgically overshadowed by Easter.
2. While the word became incarnate at the Annunciation, it was not until Christmas that the Savior was announced to the world. In many ways Christmas is a celebration of this public revelation (through shepherds and magi) as much as it a celebration of the Incarnation.
3. While in the womb Jesus could only relate to the world through Mary. No one could touch Him directly nor could He touch anyone. It was only at His birth that the whole of humanity’s relationship with the Savior became an experienced reality.