Happy New Year!

Well, not really. It would have been if we still operated under the Julian calendar. But then, if we still operated under the Julian calendar, today would be April 13th.

Under the Julian calendar, March 25th was New Year's Day. The 25th is the feast of the Annuciation, marking the archangel Grabriel's visit to Mary to announce that she would become the Mother of the Messiah. When Mary answered "be it done unto me according to thy word", the Christ child was conceived in her by the Holy Ghost, the Word became flesh, and the Christian Era began. So, when the Christian method of dating years was invented in the 6th century, March 25 of the Year of Our Lord (Anno Domini) 1 was reckoned the beginning of the calendar.