Every major feast of the Church has a prescribed pre-feast, post-feast, and a day known as the “leavetaking.” Essentially this means that within the daily cycle of services (vespers, matins, etc.) there are preparatory hymns which, help to ready us by offering focus and insight. Then, after the actual feast day itself, the Church generally prescribes a period joyous or solemn celebration within the context of that particular feast. For instance, the Church prescribes a 40-day celebration after Pascha known as Paschaltide. In the case of our Lord’s Nativity, this post-festal period is only held for 6 days, and for Annunciation, it is only lasts for two. Nevertheless, the very last day of each post-festal period is known as the “day of leave-taking” – because we are now “taking leave” of that feast.
