The age of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, is a rather surprising fact for a person of our time. To a modern person, this age may seem to be beyond all acceptable limits.
The age at which the Mother of God gave birth to Jesus is not directly indicated in the Gospel. But according to the researchers, her age at that time was in the range of no younger than 12 and no older than 15 years.
12 years of age is the age that was natural in those days for the birth of a child in the East and in the Roman Empire. From the age of 12, girls were married off.
In our time, the Mother of God is the most revered person and the greatest of all saints.
The Gospel itself says little about the details of the life of the Mother of God, so information about her is known mainly from sources not included in the Holy Scriptures. They are included in the concept of Sacred Tradition:
Sacred Tradition is the transmission of the life and experience of the Church, inspired and led by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Tradition includes: Holy Scripture, definitions of the Ecumenical Councils, liturgical tradition, the works of the holy fathers and teachers of the Church, lives of saints, etc. Holy Tradition is the action of Divine grace in the Church. It is the Holy Spirit who inspires the faithful children of the Church to a correct understanding of the Holy Scriptures, preservation of the purity of faith, and the grace-filled experience of church life. Tradition in its content coincides with the apostolic sermon and, therefore, represents the revealed teaching of God, revealed in its entirety in Christ.
According to Tradition, the Most Holy Theotokos was born in one of the suburbs of Jerusalem - in Nazareth in Galilee. Her parents - pious Jews Joachim and Anna - were wealthy, respected and noble people, but did not have much wealth. Despite their ardent desire and old age, they were never able to give birth to a child. In those days, many people considered this a sign of God's punishment. It got to the point that when Joachim once brought the prescribed sacrifice to the Jerusalem Temple, the priest drove him away, declaring that he would not accept it from an unworthy person.
One day, an angel appeared to the spouses in turn and announced the good news - they would become parents. At the appointed time, the already middle-aged woman became the mother of a healthy baby, who was named Maria. Rumor spread through the surrounding villages again, but this time people were amazed at what was happening. The miracle was obvious - this had not happened in Israel for several centuries. The old people were happy and thanked God for the gift sent down to them. It was decided to dedicate the girl, born under such unusual circumstances, to the service of God.
In her life, those around her noticed many unusual facts and assumed that something important was about to happen to her... I will not retell the numerous details. Those interested can read, for example,.
And we will return to the topic of our post. When Mary turned 12 years old, she could no longer live at the temple. She had to be married off.
She could have taken a prominent position in society, if not for one “but” - even in early childhood, the Girl took a vow of celibacy to God. The priests knew about this. When their pupil reached adulthood, and She could no longer live at the Temple, they faced a problem. No one thought of breaking the vow made by Maria, and there was no question of forcing Maria into marriage either. However, She could not live independently in the world - the law forbade unmarried girls to live among people alone. Since, apart from her long-dead parents, Mary had no close relatives, they decided to betroth Her to one of the old widowers, so that he, formally considered Her husband, would be the guardian of the purity and chastity of his wife. After long discussions and prayers, the priests decided to choose Mary's future betrothed by drawing lots - so that exclusively the will of God would be manifested. Among the candidates was Joseph, a construction foreman from the provincial Galilean town of Nazareth. When the men gathered in the Temple, the high priest took their staffs and placed them on the altar. After a long prayer, he began to return the rods to their owners one by one, with the expectation that the Lord would somehow clearly indicate the chosen one. But there was no sign, and only when Joseph’s turn came, as Tradition says, a miracle happened - the wide end of the stick separated from it and turned into a dove, which landed on Joseph’s head. Everyone understood that he was God’s chosen one.
As the Tradition says, soon after this, the events described in the Gospel as the Annunciation took place, when an angel announced that Mary would give birth to the Son of God. Again, I will not go into nuances and details; not all readers are interested in this. We have already received the answer to the question at what age Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ.
Let the post be illustrated by a screenshot from a search query in Yandex: “Girl, 14 years old.” For a clear understanding of this age.
I assume that many comments will have to be deleted. Dont be upset! This is done so as not to bring under the monastery those who do not know how to respect the feelings of believers. Mary is revered in both Christianity and Islam.
The couple, Joachim and Anna, came from a noble family and were righteous before God. Having material wealth, they were not deprived of spiritual wealth. Adorned with all virtues, they immaculately observed all the commandments of God's law. For each holiday, pious spouses separated two parts from their property - one was given for church needs, and the other was distributed to the poor.
With their righteous life, Joachim and Annatak pleased God that He vouchsafed them to be the parents of the Blessed Virgin, the chosen Mother of the Lord. From this alone it is already clear that their life was holy, pleasing to God and pure, since they had a Daughter, the Holiest of all saints, who pleased God more than anyone else, and the Most Honest of the Cherubim.
At that time there were no people on earth more pleasing to God than Joachim and Anna, because of their immaculate lives. Although at that time it was possible to find many living righteously and pleasing God, these two surpassed everyone in their virtues and appeared before God as the most worthy for the Mother of God to be born from them. Such mercy would not have been granted to them by God if they had not truly surpassed everyone in righteousness and holiness.
But just as the Lord Himself had to be incarnate from the Most Holy and Most Pure Mother, so it was fitting for the Mother of God to come from holy and pure parents. Just as earthly kings have their purples, made not from simple matter, but from gold-woven material, so the Heavenly King wanted to have His Most Pure Mother, in whose flesh, as in royal purple, He had to put on, born not from ordinary incontinent parents, as would be from simple matter, but from chaste and holy ones, as if from cloth woven with gold, the prototype of which was the Old Testament tabernacle, which God ordered Moses to make from scarlet and scarlet cloth and fine linen (Ex. 27:16).
This tabernacle prefigured the Virgin Mary, in whom God dwelt “to dwell with men,” as it is written: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them” (Rev. 21:3). The scarlet and scarlet cloth and fine linen from which the tabernacle was made typified the parents of the Mother of God, who came and was born from chastity and abstinence, as if from scarlet and scarlet clothing, and their perfection in fulfilling all the commandments of the Lord, as if from fine linen.
But these holy spouses, by God’s will, were childless for a long time, so that in the very conception and birth of such a daughter the power of God’s grace, the honor of the Born One and the dignity of the parents would be revealed; for it is impossible for a barren and aged woman to give birth otherwise than by the power of God’s grace: it is no longer nature that acts here, but God, who defeats the laws of nature and destroys the bonds of infertility. To be born from barren and elderly parents is a great honor for the one born herself, because she is born not from incontinent parents, but from abstinent and elderly ones, such as Joachim and Anna, who lived in marriage for fifty years and had no children.
Finally, through such a birth, the dignity of the parents themselves is revealed, since after a long period of infertility they gave birth to joy to the whole world, thereby becoming like the holy patriarch Abraham and his pious wife Sarah, who, according to the promise of God, gave birth to Isaac in his old age (Gen. 21:2). However, without a doubt, we can say that the Nativity of the Mother of God is higher than the birth of Isaac by Abraham and Sarah. Just as much as the born Virgin Mary herself is higher and more worthy of honor than Isaac, so much greater and higher is the dignity of Joachim and Anna than Abraham and Sarah.
They did not immediately achieve this dignity, but only through diligent fasting and prayers, in spiritual grief and in heartfelt sorrow, they begged God for this: and their sorrow turned into joy, and their dishonor was a harbinger of great honor, and the diligent petition of the leader to receive benefits, and prayer is the best intercessor.
Joachim and Anna grieved and cried for a long time that they had no children. Once, on a great holiday, Joachim brought gifts to the Lord God in the Jerusalem Temple; together with Joachim, all the Israelites offered their gifts as sacrifices to God. Issachar, the high priest at that time, did not want to accept Joachim’s gifts because he was childless.
“We should not,” he said, “accept gifts from you, because you do not have children, and therefore no blessings from God: you probably have some secret sins.”
Also, one Jew from the tribe of Reuben, who brought his gifts along with others, reproached Joachim, saying:
“Why do you want to make sacrifices to God before me?” Do you not know that you are not worthy to bring gifts with us, for you will not leave descendants in Israel?
These reproaches greatly saddened Joachim, and in great sorrow he left the temple of God, disgraced and humiliated, and the holiday for him turned into sadness, and the festive joy was replaced by sorrow. Deeply grieving, he did not return home, but went into the desert to the shepherds who tended his flocks, and there he cried about his barrenness and about the reproaches and reproaches made to him.
Remembering Abraham, his forefather, to whom God had given a son already in old age, Joachim began to earnestly pray to the Lord that He would grant him the same favor, would hear his prayer, have mercy and take away the reproach from people from him, granting him in his old age the fruit of his marriage, as Abraham once was.
“May I,” he prayed, “have the opportunity to be called the father of a child, and not endure reproaches from people childless and rejected from God!”
Joachim added fasting to this prayer and did not eat bread for forty days.
“I won’t eat,” he said, “and I won’t return to my house; Let my tears be my food, and let this desert be my home, until the Lord God of Israel hears and takes away my reproach.
In the same way, his wife, being at home and hearing that the high priest did not want to accept their gifts, reproaching her for barrenness, and that her husband had retired into the desert out of great sorrow, cried inconsolable tears.
“Now,” she said, “I am the most unfortunate of all: rejected by God, reproached by people and abandoned by my husband!” What to cry about now: about your widowhood, or about childlessness, about your orphanhood, or about the fact that you are not worthy to be called a mother?!
She cried so bitterly all those days.
Anna's slave, named Judith, tried to console her, but could not: for who can console one whose sadness is as deep as the sea?
One day, sad Anna went into her garden, sat down under a laurel tree, sighed from the depths of her heart and, raising her eyes, full of tears to the sky, saw a bird’s nest with little chicks on the tree. This sight caused her even greater grief, and she began to cry with tears:
- Woe to me, childless! I must be the most sinful among all the daughters of Israel, that I alone am so humiliated before all the wives. Everyone carries the fruit of their womb in their hands - everyone is comforted by their children: I alone am alien to this joy. Woe is me! The gifts of all are accepted in the temple of God, and they are shown respect for their childbearing: I alone am rejected from the temple of my Lord. Woe is me! Who will I be like? neither to the birds of the air, nor to the beasts of the earth: for they too bring You, O Lord God, their fruit, but I alone am barren. I cannot even compare myself with the earth: for it vegetates and grows seeds and, bearing fruit, blesses You, the Heavenly Father: I alone am barren on earth. Woe is me, Lord, Lord! I am alone, sinful, without offspring. You, Who once gave Sarah the son Isaac in her old age (Gen. 21:1-8), You, Who opened the womb of Anna, the mother of Your prophet Samuel (1 Sam. 1:20), look now upon me and hear my prayers. Lord Hosts! You know the reproach of childlessness: stop the sadness of my heart and open my womb and make me barren and fruitful, so that we bring what I have born to You as a gift, blessing, singing and glorifying Your mercy in agreement.
When Anna cried and sobbed, an angel of the Lord appeared to her and said:
- Anna, Anna! your prayer has been heard, your sighs have passed through the clouds, your tears have appeared before God, and you will conceive and give birth to the most blessed Daughter; through Her all the tribes of the earth will receive blessings and salvation will be granted to the whole world; her name will be Maria.
Hearing the angelic words, Anna bowed to God and said:
“The Lord God lives, if a child is born to me, I will give him to serve God.” Let him serve Him and glorify the holy name of God day and night throughout his life.
After this, filled with indescribable joy, Saint Anna quickly went to Jerusalem, there to give thanks to God with prayer for His merciful visit.
At the same time, an Angel appeared to Joachim in the desert and said:
- Joachim, Joachim! God has heard your prayer and is pleased to grant you His grace: your wife Anna will conceive and give birth to you a daughter, whose birth will be a joy for the whole world. And here is a sign for you that I am preaching the truth to you: go to Jerusalem to the temple of God and there, at the golden gates, you will find your wife Anna, to whom I announced the same thing.
Joachim, surprised by such angelic news, praising God and thanking Him with his heart and lips for his great mercy, hastily went to the Jerusalem temple with joy and joy. There, as the angel had told him, he found Anna at the golden gate, praying to God, and told her about the angel’s gospel. She also told him that she had seen and heard an angel who announced the birth of her daughter. Then Joachim and Anna glorified God, who had shown them such great mercy, and, having worshiped Him in the holy temple, they returned to their home.
And Saint Anna conceived on the ninth day of December, and on the eighth of September her daughter was born, the Most Pure and Most Blessed Virgin Mary, the beginning and intercessor of our salvation, at whose birth both heaven and earth rejoiced. On the occasion of Her birth, Joachim brought great gifts, sacrifices and burnt offerings to God, and received the blessing of the high priest, priests, Levites and all the people for being worthy of God’s blessing. Then he arranged a rich meal in his house, and everyone glorified God with joy.
Her parents took care of the growing Virgin Mary like the apple of their eye, knowing, by a special revelation of God, that She would be the light of the whole world and the renewal of human nature. Therefore, they raised Her with such careful prudence as befitted the One who was to be the Mother of our Savior. They loved Her not only as a daughter, long awaited, but also revered Her as their mistress, remembering the angelic words spoken about Her, and foreseeing in spirit what would happen to Her.
She, filled with Divine grace, mysteriously enriched her parents with the same grace. Just as the sun illuminates the stars of heaven with its rays, giving them particles of its light, so God’s chosen Mary, like the sun, illuminated Joachim and Anna with the rays of the grace given to her, so that they too were filled with the Spirit of God and firmly believed in the fulfillment of the angelic words.
When the youth Mary was three years old, her parents led Her with glory into the temple of the Lord, accompanying her with lighted lamps, and dedicated Her to the service of God, as they had promised. Several years after the introduction of Mary into the temple, Saint Joachim died, eighty years old. Saint Anna, remaining a widow, left Nazareth and came to Jerusalem, where she remained near her Most Holy Daughter, praying incessantly in the temple of God. Having lived in Jerusalem for two years, she rested in the Lord, being 79 years old.
Oh, how blessed are you, holy parents, Joachim and Anna, for the sake of your Most Blessed Daughter!
You are especially blessed for the sake of Her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all the nations and tribes of the earth received blessings! It is right that the Holy Church called you Fathers of God, 3 for we know that God was born from your Most Holy Daughter. Now standing close to Him in heaven, pray that at least some part of your endless joy will be given to us. Amen.
Troparion, tone 1:
Who in legal grace was righteous and gave birth to a God-given child to us, Joachim and Anna: the same day, joyfully celebrating, the divine church honors your memory, glorifying God, who raised the horn of salvation for us in the house of David.
Kontakion, voice 2:
Now Anna rejoices, having resolved her infertility, and nourishes the Most Pure One, calling all to sing praises, who from her womb bestowed upon man one Mother and the unartful
ANNA
IN 80 BC was born Joachim, Maria's father.Anna born in 74 BC in a large family, becoming the fourteenth child. Anna's mother was then 45 years old. Anna's parents were middle-income people at that time. They lived in the city of Nazareth, were engaged in cattle breeding and had a small herd. In addition, Anna's father kept a small inn. There were three rooms in the courtyard where visiting merchants stayed.
Nazareth was located very well, just on the way from Egypt to India, and caravans constantly visited this town.
Very often Simeon, a famous fortuneteller, stayed at their house. This is the same 113-year-old elder Simeon who waited for the newborn Jesus to appear in the temple. It was he who said then: “Praise the Lord that I waited for this!” At that time, Simeon was still young. He practiced medicine, treated with herbs and could predict the future. He did this with the help of thirteen stones and a lamb shoulder. Simeon threw them up, and then carefully studied what kind of layout was obtained from the stones that fell to the ground. At that moment, the unknown future of man was revealed to him. Previously, people treated fortune tellers with great respect and faith. Simeon's prophecies always came true, and people often turned to him for help.
Little Anna was then 12 years old. Anna amazed everyone with her hard work and did her best to help her mother with the housework. At such a young age, she already knew how to work like an adult: milking a cow and running a household. At the same time, she was distinguished by her enormous love of life, irrepressible gaiety and, most importantly, a childish sense of pity for all living things. She felt sorry for everyone - the old people, the weak and sick wanderers and neighbors, animals, she could not calmly look at anyone’s suffering. Anna had a big and kind heart. Anna simply fell in love with the fortuneteller Simeon. He was so unusual and mysterious. He was doing something incomprehensible and mysterious - a real magician...
The room in which Simeon stayed was divided into two parts by a curtain. Anna, a terribly curious girl, hid in the second half of the room and from there carefully watched Simeon from the side, fascinated by his actions. She really wanted to understand what their mysterious guest was doing, and she wanted to learn it herself. Simeon also paid attention to the curious child. He liked Anna for her spontaneity, kindness and obvious, undisguised thirst for new knowledge. He slowly began to teach the girl the art of healing and revealed to her some of the secrets of medicine.
Simeon was not mistaken - Anna turned out to be a capable student and grasped everything right on the fly. Soon she herself could speak out a toothache, remove a purulent abscess from a patient’s body, or soothe a pain in the stomach.
Previously, home healing was practiced everywhere. Each family had a person who could provide assistance to sick household members or pets. Magic, healing and predictions of the future did not surprise or frighten anyone; they treated this calmly, with faith and understanding. No one divided medicine into official and folk.
One day Anna begged Simeon to tell him what would happen to her when she grew up, what future awaited her. Simeon, agreeing, spread out the stones and silently looked at the resulting layout for a long time. He sighed, looked at Anna and did not say anything.
The intrigued girl began to persistently tease him, persuading him to tell her the truth. Simeon refused for a long time, but then finally, succumbing to her persuasion, he said: “You will live a difficult and short life. And you will die when you give birth to a child, at the age of 54. You will have a girl, whom you will have to name Maria. This will be an extraordinary girl. Time will pass and she will have a son named Jesus. This man will be the Messiah, he will bring people a new faith that will save the world.”
After this prediction, Simeon began to look at the little girl with completely different eyes. From ancient prophecies, Simeon knew that someday a man would be born on the land of Judea, who in the future would turn the whole world upside down, cleanse it of filth and vice, and give people a new life. And now - wow - this prophecy comes true right before his eyes!
Simeon now prayed for only one thing - if only he could live to see this bright day and see the Savior of the world with his own eyes, if only he had enough strength to wait for this miracle!
After all, it turned out according to the prophecy that the Mother of God Mary would be born when Simeon would be almost a hundred years old! If only I could live to see this day!
At the age of 13, Anna was married to 19-year-old Joachim. In those days, children grew up very quickly; at the age of 13, a girl was considered already of age and ready for marriage. They lived in the Holy Land, were well-born and rich, but they had no children. In the society around them, the absence of children in the family was tantamount to a curse, disfavour from Above, and therefore the priest stopped allowing Joachim into the temple. He left home into the desert and decided never to return. Anna was left alone in the house, grieving over her misfortune. On her wedding anniversary with Joachim, she wept bitterly in the garden: “Woe to me, to whom I have become like; I have not become like the birds of the air, because the birds of the air are fruitful before you, Lord! Woe to me, I have not become like the beasts of the earth, because they too have children! Even the waves will give birth to waves that play and splash, praising God. And I cannot compare with the earth, because the earth bears its fruits...” Anna’s cry was heard, the heavenly messenger - an Angel - assured Anna that she would soon have a girl, who would be called Mary.
Icon "Meeting of Joachim and Anna"
Images of Joachim and Anna are not uncommon in icon painting; they were always represented in the same way: Joachim - as an old man with a long beard, Anna - in a long himation with a covered head. Sometimes they were among the selected saints of the icon. There was also a special composition “Meeting of Joachim and Anna.” Joachim and Anna hugged each other when they met after the gospel and Joachim's return from the desert to his home.
Nativity of the Virgin Mary
Years passed. Anna had long forgotten about Simeon’s prophecy. Business, housekeeping, everyday life - life went on as usual. Joachim and Anna were considered a prosperous, middle-income married couple in Nazareth. They kept livestock - goats, cows, horses, bulls. And a large flock of sheep. In addition, Joachim owned a small creamery, which produced sour cream, cottage cheese, and butter. Despite his advanced age of 60, Joachim still worked hard, trying to keep up with the housework everywhere.
Suddenly the unexpected happened - his wife Anna became pregnant again. At 54 years old! Just some kind of miracle! And only now Anna remembered about Simeon! She told all her loved ones - her husband, relatives - about the prophecy made to her in childhood: that she would become pregnant at 54 years old and die in childbirth, and the resulting child should be named Mary, and this girl would then become the mother of Jesus - the Messiah, who would suffer a lot and will bring new faith to this world.
Anna's loved ones were simply confused. What kind of prophecy, where does it come from, what kind of Messiah, will Anna really die, how can this be, and who will then raise the child?
Joachim was already 60 years old, and he was unlikely to be able to raise the girl alone.
In those days, having many children was common. And none of the relatives could take little Maria into their home. And then Anna remembered her distant relative Elizabeth. Elizabeth's mother was a second cousin of Anna's mother. Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah had no children of their own, so they agreed to take Mary in with them.
Early in the morning, at 6:15 a.m., July 21, 20 BC. e. In the house of Joachim, a girl was born who was named Maria. Anna, unable to endure a difficult birth, died, as predicted by Simeon.
Saints Joachim and Anna
The icon painter was usually commissioned to depict the parents of the Mother of God by families who had no children or were expecting their first child.
The child was very sick, and it was not certain that the girl would survive without mother's milk. Therefore, Joachim entered his daughter into the family genealogical lists only when the danger of early death had passed, i.e. exactly two months later - September 21.
This date began to be considered Mary’s birthday. Nowadays, on this day, September 21, one of the twelve great church holidays is celebrated - the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
All babies born three days before July 21 and September 21 are often gifted children, and all of them are under the protection of the Virgin Mary.
July 21 is a special day. Nature itself rejoices and celebrates the birth of the Virgin Mary - the air is filled with the heady smells of summer and sun, an extraordinary lightness settles in the soul of all people, in the morning everyone wakes up in a good mood, anticipating that something extraordinary is about to happen today.
Dormition of Righteous Anna
July 25/August 7 - Dormition of Righteous Anna, mother of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Icon of the Dormition is right. Anna, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary
According to legend, Saint Anna acquired two estates in Jerusalem: the first at the Gethsemane Gate, and the second in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. In the second estate, she built a crypt for deceased family members, where she was buried along with Joachim. The most pure body of the Mother of God was buried in this family cemetery. A temple was erected at the burial site. There is a legend that St. Equal to the Apostles Helena built a basilica here. In 614, the temple was destroyed, but the tomb of the Mother of God was preserved. Much of the modern building dates back to Crusader times. This is an underground temple, with 50 steps leading to it, with chapels of Sts. Godfathers Joachim and Anna and Joseph the Betrothed, located on the sides of the stairs.
Funeral crypt of Joachim and Anna in the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary 
Tombs of St. Joachim and Anna in the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
In con. X century On Mount Athos, the monastery of St. Anna was built - the most ancient of all Athonite monasteries. Devastated for many years by sea robbers, it was in the 17th century. was restored by the Patriarch of Constantinople Dionysius, who acquired the foot of the holy righteous Anna from the Christians of Asia Minor. In 1680, a cathedral church was erected there in memory of the Dormition of St. Anna. From that time on, the monastery began to bear the name “St. Anna”. It is famous on Mount Athos for the high ascetic deeds of its monks.
Not far from the skete of St. Anna there is the so-called New Skete of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary or “Little Anna”. The proximity of these blessed places emphasizes the connection between the sacred events of the conception and birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Under the holy blessed king Justinian (527-565), a temple was built in her honor in Deutera, and Emperor Justinian II (685-695; 705-711) renovated her temple, because righteous Anna appeared to his pregnant wife ; at the same time, her body and maforium (veil) were transferred to Constantinople. The Dormition of St. Righteous Anna is celebrated on August 7 (July 25).
Currently, particles of the relics of St. Anne are located:
- in Athonite monasteries (left foot in the Great Skete of Righteous Anna, right foot in the Kutlumush monastery, left hand in the Stavronikita monastery);
- in various monasteries and churches in Greece (including the Monastery of St. John the Evangelist on Patmos, the Church of Panagia Gorgoepikoos in Thessaloniki);
- to the church of St. Nicholas in Pyzhi, Moscow;
- October 26, 2008, a particle of the relics of St. Anna was brought from Athos to the temple complex of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God in Dnepropetrovsk, where she was placed in an ark in the lower aisle of the cathedral church in the name of Joachim and Anna;
- July 10, 2011, a particle of the relics of St. Anna was transferred to the Valaam Monastery.
Troparion of Righteous Anna
Voice 4
You, the Pure Mother of God, God-wise Anno, bore the life that you gave birth to in your womb. Moreover, you have now reposed in heavenly acceptance, where those who rejoice are the dwelling place, rejoicing in glory, honoring you with the love of sins, asking for cleansing, ever-blessed.
Kontakion of Righteous Anna
Voice 2
We celebrate the memory of the ancestors of Christ, who faithfully ask for help, to free everyone from all sorrow, calling: Our God is with us, glorify these, as you have been pleased.
Glorification of the Dormition of Righteous Anna:
We magnify you, holy and righteous Anno the Pramate of Christ our God, and we all honorably glorify your dormition.
The miraculous icon and part of the relics of St. Righteous Anna in the monastery of St. Anna on Mount Athos.
On June 17, 2006, Valaam met the icon of the holy righteous Anna, the foremother of Christ, who has great grace from the Lord to heal from the disease of infertility. This is a list from the miraculous icon, which is located in the Skete of St. Anne on Mount Athos. There are now three such lists in the monastery, all are exact copies of the miraculous image of St. Anna, and were written directly to the monastery of St. Righteous Anna. Countless letters of gratitude have come and are coming to Mount Athos from parents who have gained the opportunity to have children thanks to the intercession of the holy righteous Anna.
Prayers for marital infertility
For help with marital infertility, turn with prayers to the righteous Godfathers Joachim and Anna, the prophet Zechariah and Elizabeth, the Monk Roman, the martyr Paraskeva, named Friday.
Meeting of St. Righteous Joachim and Anna. Fragment of an icon from the 17th century.
About the ever-glorifying righteous women of Christ, the holy godfathers Joachim and Anno, standing before the heavenly throne of the Great King and having great boldness towards Him, as from your most blessed Daughter, the Most Pure Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, who deigned to be incarnate!
To you, as a powerful intercessor and zealous prayer books for us, we, sinners and unworthy (names), resort to you. Pray for His goodness, that He may turn away His anger from us, righteously moved against us by our deeds, and may, despising our countless sins, turn us to the path of repentance, and may He establish us on the path of His commandments. Also, with your prayers, preserve our life in the world, and in all good things ask for good haste, all that we need from God for life and piety, freeing us from all misfortunes and troubles and sudden death through your intercession, and protecting us from all enemies, visible and invisible, for let us live a quiet and silent life in all piety and purity, and so in the world this temporary life has passed, we will achieve eternal peace, where, through your holy prayer, may we be made worthy of the Heavenly Kingdom of Christ our God, to Him, together with the Father and the Most Holy Spirit, belongs all glory , honor and worship forever and ever. Amen.
Personal petition of Righteous Anna for the gift of a child(from the Chetyi-Menya of St. Demetrius of Rostov):
Woe is me, Lord! Who will I be like? Neither to the birds of the air, nor to the beasts of the earth: for they too bring You, O Lord God, their fruit, but I alone am barren. Woe is me, Lord! I am alone, sinful, without offspring. You, who once gave Sarah the son Isaac in her old age. You, Who opened the womb of Anna, the mother of Your prophet Samuel, look now upon me and hear my prayers. Stop the sadness of my heart and open my womb, and make me, barren, fruitful, so that we bring what I have born to You as a gift, blessing, singing and glorifying Your mercy.
Kissing Zechariah and Elizabeth. End of XV - began. XVI century
On August 28, the Dormition Fast ends, because on this day Orthodox Christians celebrate the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is not for nothing that this holiday is called the Dormition, and not death. The Mother of God seemed to have fallen asleep, and Jesus Christ took to heaven not only Her spirit, but also her body. For more information about the history of the formation of the holiday, the last years of the earthly life of the Virgin Mary and why the Mother of God is considered the intercessor of the human race, read on.
How Mary became the Mother of all humanity
While still preparing for death on the cross, Christ took care of His Mother. Therefore, while on the cross, Jesus said to John the Theologian: “Behold Thy Mother.” He also addressed the Virgin: “Behold Your son.”
Thus, the Mother of God not only adopted the Apostle John, but also all of humanity. Therefore, she is considered the intercessor of the entire human race, a reliable prayer book for each of us. Just as it is difficult for mothers when their children are sick, so the Mother of God suffers when people sin.
You can read more about the veneration of the Virgin Mary and Her prayerful intercession in the article “Is there a basis in the Bible for venerating the Mother of God?” .
The last days of life and the news of righteous death
Before Her Dormition, the Mother of God lived in Ephesus in Asia Minor, on the territory of modern Turkey. In this city there was the house of John the Evangelist.
According to legend, the Virgin Mary was very upset by the separation from her Son, so she asked to take Her to Her. It is not known exactly how many years the Mother of God lived on earth after the Savior ascended to heaven. Some historians point to 10, others - to 22. But be that as it may, the Son fulfilled the Mother’s request.
Three days before the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, a heavenly messenger appeared to Her. It was Archangel Gabriel, who once brought her a branch of paradise and the good news of the birth of the Savior; this time the angel also held a flowering branch, but, according to legend, it shone with an unearthly light. This was a clear symbol of the fact that the Mother of God conquered earthly life, death and decay. In three days She will shine in the Kingdom of Heaven.
During this time, the Mother of God prepared for her dormition, wanting only to see the apostles before her death.
Veneration of the Virgin among the Apostles and early Christians
There is no indication in the Holy Scriptures of how the Mother of God communicated with the apostles, but tradition has preserved many stories for us. There is no doubt that the apostles loved the Virgin Mary very much and considered Her their Mother. John the Theologian really cared about Her as about her own Mother. And thanks to the Gospel of Luke, it is easy to see what kind of spiritual authority the Virgin became for this apostle.
Also, the first Christians secretly came to Mary. This gives reason to say that the veneration of the Mother of God began in the first centuries of Christianity. This is confirmed by the first icons of the Mother of God in the Roman catacombs (2nd century).
Before the Dormition, the Most Holy Theotokos had the opportunity to meet with the apostles, who at that time were preaching the Gospel in different parts of the world. Christ took care of this. By the Holy Spirit He gathered his disciples before the bed of the Virgin.
According to legend, only the Apostle Thomas was missing. By God's providence, this apostle was to be the first to learn about the ascension of the Mother of God into heaven. But more on that later.
According to legend, before his earthly death, Christ appeared to the Mother of God, to whom the Virgin prayed. She, having reached the heights of holiness, humbly asked the Son to bless all those present and take Her to heaven.
After this phenomenon, Maria fell asleep. The Virgin’s coffin was carried to Gethsemane, where She bequeathed to bury Herself near the graves of her parents and Joseph the Betrothed.
According to legend, along this path people received healing from faith and touching the Body of the Virgin Mary.
The high priests tried to prevent the procession: the Jewish priest Athos even dared to turn over the coffin. But he managed to do this only mentally, since at that moment an invisible force cut off his hands. This story found a response in the iconography of the Feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. The shocked Athos repented of his intentions, and the Apostle Peter healed Him.
How did the Church learn about the spiritual-physical ascension of Mary?
For three days the apostles did not leave the coffin of the Mother of God, glorifying God and His Mother.
On the third day, the late Apostle Thomas appeared. So that he could say goodbye to the Virgin, the disciples decided to open the coffin. But the bodies were no longer found there. This really was the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos and Her ascension into heaven. Catholics call this holiday that way Taking the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heavenly Glory .
Christ took Her to heaven in spiritual and bodily fullness (first the spirit, and then the body). But this does not mean at all that the Mother of God is simply in heaven, enjoying heavenly life. Of course, the Kingdom of Heaven is the Christian's ultimate goal. But the Mother of God did not abandon Her promise. According to legend, before her death she said to the apostles and the assembled Christians: Rejoice! I am with you all the days.
That is why for every Christian the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary is not a gloomy funeral holiday, but a bright day of the meeting of the Mother of God with Christ. And also the day when humanity no longer found a great prayer book on earth, but in heaven.
The meaning of the holiday is well conveyed by the troparion of the Assumption:
At Christmas you preserved your virginity, at the Dormition you did not abandon the world, O Theotokos, you reposed before the belly, Mother of the Being of the Belly. (presented herself to life, being the Mother of Life, i.e. Christ): and through Your prayers You deliver our souls from death.
The names of the monasteries and laurels testify to the extent to which Orthodox Christians revere the Dormition of the Mother of God. In Ukraine, for example, all three laurels - Pochaev, Kiev-Pechersk and Svyatogorsk - are called Assumption.
In addition, we invite you to watch a film by Metropolitan Hilarion about the history of this holiday:
Take it for yourself and tell your friends!
Read also on our website:
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The Virgin Mary (Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God) is a Jewish woman from Nazareth, according to the mother of Jesus Christ. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke describe Mary as a virgin, and Christians believe that she conceived a son as an immaculate Virgin by the Holy Spirit. The miraculous birth occurred when Mary was already betrothed to She married Joseph and accompanied him to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born.
Icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness of Seraphim of Sarov”He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
Mentions of the Virgin Mary in the Bible.
The Virgin Mary is mentioned several times in the New Testament. Most often the Immaculate Virgin Mary is mentioned in Gospel of Luke. She is mentioned by name 12 times. All references are related to the birth and childhood of Jesus.
Icon of the Mother of God "Tikhvin" Gospel of Matthew mentions her name six times, five of them in connection with the infancy of Jesus and only once (13:55) as the mother of the adult Jesus.
Gospel of Mark calls her by name once (6:3) and refers to her as the mother of Jesus without calling her by name in 3:31 and 3:32.
Gospel of John mentions her twice, but never by name. The Gospel says that the Virgin Mary accompanied Jesus when He began His miracles in Cana of Galilee. The second reference says that the Virgin Mary stood at the cross of Jesus.
IN Acts it is said that the Apostles, Mary and the brothers of Jesus gathered in the upper room after the Ascension of Jesus.
IN John's Revelation a woman clothed with the sun is described. Many believe that this is a description of the Virgin Mary.
Genealogy of the Mother of God.
There is little mention in the New Testament of the origins of the Virgin Mary. John 19:25 says that Mary had a sister.
Standing at the cross of Jesus were His Mother and His Mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
It is semantically unclear from this phrase sister of His Mother, Mary of Cleopas, Is this one person or two different women? . Jerome believes that this is one person. But the historian of the early second century, Hegesippus, believed that Mary of Cleopas was not the sister of the Virgin Mary, but her relative on the part of Joseph the Betrothed.
According to the author of the Gospel of Luke, Mary was a relative of Elizabeth, the wife of the priest Zechariah, and thus came from the line of Aaron from the tribe of Levi. Others believe that Mary, like Joseph, to whom she was betrothed, was from the house of David.
Biography of the Virgin Mary.
The Immaculate Virgin Mary was born in Nazareth in Galilee. After her betrothal to Joseph (betrothal is the first stage of a Jewish marriage), the angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced to her that she would become the mother of the promised Messiah. After the first expression of disbelief at the announcement, she replied: “I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word.” Joseph the Betrothed planned to calmly separate from her, but an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him “do not be afraid to accept Mary your wife, for what is born in Her is from the Holy Spirit.”
Betrothal of Mary to Joseph. I. Chernov 1804-1811 The angel, in confirmation of his words, also told Mary that her relative Elizabeth, previously barren, conceived by the grace of the Lord. Mary went to the house of her relative, where she saw with her own eyes Elizabeth’s pregnancy and completely believed in the words of the angel. Then the Virgin Mary made a speech of gratitude to the Lord, which is known as the Magnificat or doxology of the Virgin Mary.
After staying three months in Elizabeth's house, Mary returned to Nazareth. According to the Gospel of Luke, Joseph, Mary's husband, was ordered by the Roman Emperor Augustus to return to his hometown of Bethlehem to take the Roman census there. While in Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to Jesus in a manger, since there was no room for them in any inn. On the eighth day, Mary's baby was circumcised according to Jewish law, and named Jesus, which in Hebrew means "Yahweh is salvation."
After the days of purification had passed, Jesus was carried to Jerusalem to be presented before the Lord, as custom required. The Virgin Mary sacrificed two turtle doves and two pigeon chicks. Here Simeon and Anna prophesied about the future of the baby. After visiting Jerusalem, the Immaculate Virgin Mary and Joseph the Betrothed, together with the baby Jesus, returned to Galilee, to their city of Nazareth.
According to the Gospel of Matthew, an angel appeared to Joseph at night and warned that King Herod wanted to kill the baby. The Holy Family fled at night to Egypt and remained there for some time. After the death of Herod in 4 BC. BC, they returned to the land of Israel, to Nazareth in Galilee.
Virgin Mary in the life of Jesus
According to the New Testament, at the age of twelve, Jesus is separated from his parents upon returning from the Passover celebration in Jerusalem, but the presence of his mother is still traced in His earthly life.
Bible scholars debate much about why Jesus separated from his parents, and in particular from his Mother, since the fate of his earthly father is unknown. Joseph is last mentioned in the Bible when Jesus was 12 years old. Some point to conflict within the Holy Family. Several quotes from the Bible really prove this point. The Gospel of Mark describes the moment:
And His Mother and His brothers came and, standing outside the house, sent to Him to call Him.
The people were sitting around Him. And they said to Him: Behold, Your mother and Your brothers and Your sisters are outside the house asking You.
And he answered them: Who are my mother and my brothers?
And looking around at those sitting around Him, He said: Behold My mother and My brothers;
for whoever does the will of God is My brother, and sister, and mother. ()
Quote attributed by the Gospel of Mark to Christ: “ There is no prophet without honor, except in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own home ". Also proves the possibility of conflict.
If there was a conflict in the Holy Family, then the reason for it could be the family’s lack of faith in Christ as the son of God.
American biblical scholar Bart Ehrman believes that "there are clear indications in the Bible not only that Jesus' family rejected his message during his public ministry, but that He, in turn, rejected them publicly."
The Virgin Mary was present when, at her suggestion, Jesus performed his first miracle at the wedding at Cana, turning water into wine. The Virgin Mary was also at the cross on which Jesus was crucified. The moment described in the Gospel when Mary embraced the dead body of her son is a common universal motif in art, and is called “pieta” or “pity”.
After the Ascension of Jesus, we find one single mention of the Virgin Mary in Acts. After this there is no mention of Mary. Her death is not recorded in Scripture, but Catholic and Orthodox traditions believe that her body was taken to heaven. Belief in the bodily Ascension of the Virgin Mary is a dogma of the Catholic Church and many others.
Data about the Virgin Mary from apocryphal texts.
The following biographical information is taken from apocryphal literature.
According to the apocryphal Gospel of James, Mary was the daughter of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne. Before Mary's conception, Anna was barren and was far from young. When the girl was three years old, she was brought to the Jerusalem Temple.
According to apocryphal sources, at the time of her betrothal to Joseph, Mary was 12-14 years old, and Joseph was 90, but these data are unreliable. Hippolytus of Thebes claimed that Mary died 11 years after the Resurrection of Jesus and died in 41.
The earliest surviving biographies of the Virgin Mary are Life of the Virgin Mary created in the 7th century by Saint Maximus the Confessor, who considered the Virgin Mary a key figure in the early Christian Church.
In the 19th century, the so-called House of the Virgin Mary was found in a house near Ephesus in Turkey. It was found based on the visions of Anna Catherine Emmerich, an Augustinian blessed nun from Germany. The nun, 2 years before her death, during one of the many visions of the Mother of God, received a detailed description of the place where Mary lived before her Assumption.
According to legend, the Blessed Virgin Mary retired to Ephesus during the persecution of Christians along with John the Theologian. In 1950, the House of the Virgin was reconstructed and turned into a chapel.
Virgin Mary in Orthodoxy
The Orthodox tradition has accepted the doctrine of virginity. According to this doctrine, the Virgin Mary “conceived a virgin, gave birth to a virgin, remained a virgin.” Hymns to the Mother of God are an integral part of worship in the Eastern Church and their positioning within the liturgical sequence indicates the position of the Mother of God after Christ. In the Orthodox tradition, the order of listing the saints begins with the Mother of God, followed by angels, prophets, apostles, church fathers, martyrs, etc.
One of the most beloved Orthodox akathists is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Five of the twelve great church holidays in Orthodoxy are dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
- Nativity of the Virgin Mary
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a holiday dedicated to the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Nativity of the Virgin Mary is celebrated on September 21.
- Introduction to the Temple
Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the Temple- a holiday dedicated to one of the events in the life of the Virgin Mary. Her parents Jochim and Anna brought their daughter to the Temple at the age of three, as they had previously vowed to dedicate the child to God. The holiday is celebrated on December 4th.
- Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The holiday is celebrated exactly 9 months before the birth of Christ. The day is dedicated to the appearance of an angel who announced to the Virgin Mary that she would become the mother of God on Earth.
Orthodox holiday celebrated on the day of the death of the Virgin Mary. According to the apocrypha, the Virgin Mary died on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. There now is the Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to the apocrypha “The Tale of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God,” the apostles were carried on clouds from all over the world to the deathbed of the Mother of God. Only the Apostle Thomas was delayed for three days and did not find the Virgin Mary alive. He wanted to say goodbye to the Virgin Mary. At his request, the tomb of the Virgin Mary was opened, but the body was not there. Therefore, it is believed that the Virgin Mary ascended to heaven. The Dormition of the Virgin Mary is celebrated on August 28.
- Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrated on October 14. This Orthodox holiday is based on the legend of the appearance of the Mother of God to the holy fool Andrew. This happened in Constantinople, which was besieged by enemies. The people in the temple prayed to God for salvation from the barbarians. Saint Andrew the Fool saw the Mother of God praying for the salvation of the people of Constantinople. Then the Mother of God took the veil from her head and covered the people who were present in the temple with it, thereby protecting them from visible and invisible enemies. The cover of the Mother of God sparkled brighter than the rays of the sun. It is believed that the Mother of God saved Constantinople.
Veneration of the Mother of God in the Orthodox Church.
The prerequisites for the exaltation of the Virgin Mary by all peoples (tribes) are given in the Bible itself, where it is said on behalf of the Virgin Mary:
... My soul magnifies the Lord, and My spirit rejoices in God, My Savior, that He has looked upon the humility of His Servant, for from now on all generations will bless Me; that the Mighty One has done great things for Me, and holy is His name ().
In chapter 11 of the Gospel of Luke, the words of a woman from the people are quoted:
...blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts that nourished You!
Moreover, John the Theologian in the Gospel of John testifies that Jesus performed the first miracle at the request of his mother, therefore the Mother of God is revered as an intercessor for the human race. There are a huge number of icons of the Mother of God. Many of them are considered miraculous.
Humanity has been waiting for its Savior for a very long time. Even in the Old Testament, God promised that the Savior would come into this world through a woman, but without male seed. The Virgin Mary voluntarily agreed to this, although at that time it was very dangerous, including for life. The Virgin Mary had enough faith, spiritual strength and humility to take this step. The Mother of God knew from the very beginning that the earthly ministry of her Son would end quickly and tragically. As a mother, she endured the worst to save humanity.
Mariology - the doctrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Mariology is the theological study of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus. Christian Mariology seeks to connect the Holy Scriptures and the traditions and teachings of the Church about the Virgin Mary in the context of social history.
There are various Christian views on the role of the Virgin Mary in Christianity, from full veneration of Mary in the Roman Catholic Church to a minimized role of Mary in Protestant evangelical theology.
A significant number of publications in this area were written in the 20th century by theologians Raimondo Spiazzi (2500) and Gabriel Roccini (900). The centers of modern Mariology are the Pontifical Institute of Mariology and the Pontifical Academy of Mariology.
