VIRGIN MARY
In 54 BC. Joseph, father of Jesus Christ, was born.
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
September 21 – Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Christmas has 1 day of pre-celebration and 4 days of post-celebration.In Orthodoxy, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the twelve (Nativity of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary); in the Catholic Church it has the rank of “holiday” (festum).
Jerusalem, Russian, Georgian, Serbian Orthodox churches, as well as the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (within Ukraine), Old Believers and some others celebrate the Nativity of the Virgin Mary according to Julian calendar(old style) - September 8 (21). The Catholic Church, the Greek Church and a number of other local Orthodox churches celebrate it according to Gregorian calendar(new style) - September 8.
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 Anna's mother's second cousin. Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah had no children of their own, so they agreed to take Mary in with them.
Nativity of Our Lady
In Byzantine monuments of the 11th century, the plot is represented by the figure of Anna reclining on a throne. She was served by three girls; Here the maids bathed the baby Mary.
In the 14th century, the image of Joachim was introduced into the iconography of the Nativity. But he does not play a noticeable role in revealing the plot; the main figure is Anna, who is much larger than him.
In a free iconographic original of the 18th century, the iconography of the Nativity of the Mother of God was described as follows: “Anna is lying on her bed, the girls are standing in front of her, holding gifts, and there is a sunflower and candles, the girl is holding Anna under her shoulders, Joachim is looking from the upper chamber, the woman is washing the Holy Mother of God into the font to the waist, the girl pours water from a vessel into the font. There is a chamber to the side... and at the bottom of that chamber Joachim and Anna are sitting on the throne and holding the Most Holy Theotokos.” The condensed iconographic version of the 14th century turned into a detailed narrative.
Caress of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In monuments of the 15th-16th centuries and later they liked to add a “caressing” scene (Joachim and Anna caressed their little daughter).
In 20 BC. On the morning of July 21 at 6 o'clock, MARY, mother of Jesus, was born. Anna did not endure a difficult birth and died, as predicted by Simeon. 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.
According to the generally accepted tradition, which is adhered to by Orthodox and Catholics alike, the Virgin Mary was born in the house of Joachim and Anna, which was located in the northeastern part of Jerusalem. Now this is the territory of the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, near the Lion Gate. However, Orthodox and Catholics indicate the exact location differently, and these places are approximately 70 m apart from each other. The monastery of St. Anne was built on the Orthodox site, on the ground floor there is a church in honor of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, and under the monastery building itself there is a cave, which, according to legend, was part of the house of Joachim and Anna. Catholics indicate the location of the house in the immediate vicinity of Bethesda and built the Basilica of St. Anne there, in the crypt of which there are also ancient underground rooms.
Many 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.
On July 21, 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 with good mood, sensing that something extraordinary is about to happen today.
The Nativity of the Virgin Mary is a holiday of universal joy, as is sung about this in the festive troparion (tone 4):
“Your Birth, Virgin Mary,
joy announced to the whole Universe:
for from You has arisen the Sun of righteousness—Christ our God.
He lifted the curse and gave the blessing;
He destroyed death and gave us eternal life."
In the eastern iconography of the Nativity of the Mother of God, the moment of bringing the newborn Mary to the breast of mother Anna, lying on the bed, surrounded by midwives and household members, is most often depicted. The frescoes of Giotto di Bondone (Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, 1304-1306), remarkable in their purity and naivety, illustrate in detail the story of the Nativity of Mary.
Elizabeth and Zechariah took Mary into their home. They lived in the city of Tarichea on the shores of Lake Galilee, not far from the place where the Jordan River flows out of the lake. From Tarichea to Nazareth it was approximately 20 kilometers. As Maria grew older, she became more and more like her mother, but with some differences. Maria had wavy hair and Blue eyes with an eastern cut...
Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Suzdal
The inhabitants of ancient Suzdal revered this day (September 21, new style) as their “throne” holiday. In Suzdal, back in the 13th century, the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary was built. A long solemn service was going on in the cathedral, and the city residents renewed the fire in their houses, extinguished the old one and lit a new one.
Especially many churches in honor of the holiday associated with the birth of Mary appeared after 1380: it was on this day that the victory over the Tatars was won in the massacre on the Kulikovo Field.
Like other Mother of God feasts, the establishment dates back to a relatively late time. The official introduction of this holiday in Byzantine Empire supposedly attributed to Emperor Mauritius at the end. VI or early VII century.
The first mention of the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is found in the 5th century. in the East in the words of Saint Proclus, Archbishop of Constantinople (439-446), and in the West - in the sacramentary (breviary) of Pope Gelasius (492-496). But all these references are unreliable. The words are only attributed to Proclus, and the sacramentaries were written only in the 8th century. and naturally do not belong to Gelasius. In the months of the beginning of the 5th century. there is not a single Mother of God holiday. According to the author of an article in the English-language Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), the first mention of the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary is the hymns of Roman the Sweet Singer, written in the period from 536 to 556. The appearance of the holiday is most likely connected with the increased veneration of the Mother of God after the Council of Ephesus under the influence of the later apocrypha. The festival appears to have originated at the beginning of the sixth century, initially in the Greek church and very soon afterwards appeared in Rome and spread to their daughter churches.
Despite mentions of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Latin sources of the 7th century, the holiday was not widespread in the West and did not have a solemn service until the 12th-13th centuries. Only at the Council of Lyon (1245) did Pope Innocent IV make the octave of the holiday mandatory for the entire Western Church, and Pope Gregory XI (1370-1378) established a vigil (vigilia) with fasting and a special liturgical service for the holiday.
Folk traditions
U Eastern Slavs The day is dedicated to the harvest, fertility and family well-being. By this time they are completed field work: harvest, removal of grain to barns, harvesting flax. The foundation for family well-being is laid next year. On this day, they honored and thanked the Mother of God (Mother - Cheese-Earth) for the harvest. It is believed that it gives prosperity, patronizes agriculture, family and especially mothers. In some places, funerals are held for the dead, as on St. Demetrius Saturday.
Troparion of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
voice 4
Thy Nativity, O Virgin Mother of God,/ is a joy to proclaim to the whole universe:/ from Thee has risen the Sun of Truth, Christ our God,/ and, having destroyed the oath, given a blessing,// and, having abolished death, given us eternal life.
Kontakion of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
voice 4
Joachim and Anna were reproached by childlessness/ and Adam and Eve were freed from mortal aphids, O Most Pure One,/ in Thy holy Nativity./ Then Thy people also celebrate,/ having been freed from the guilt of sins,/ always called Thee // barrens give birth to the Mother of God and the Nourisher of our Life.
Glorification of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
We magnify You, Most Holy Virgin, and honor Your holy parents, and glorify Your birth all-gloriously.
Prayer on the Day of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
CANON FIRST OF THE NATIVITY OF THE HOLY VIRGIN
Song 1
Irmos: Come, people, let us sing a song to Christ God, who divided the sea, and taught the people, even as he learned from the work of Egypt, for he was glorified.
Come faithfully, rejoicing in the Divine Spirit, Who has come today from the barren days to save people, Let us honor the Ever-Virgin Youth with songs.
Rejoice, Pure One, Mother and servant of Christ God, even the First Intercessor of bliss, the human race, we all worthily glorify You with songs.
The Bridge of Life is born today, Through which men have found the cry of the fall from hell, and glorify Christ the Giver of Life with songs.
Song 3
Irmos: Establish us in You, Lord, by the tree of the mortifier of sin, and plant Your fear in the hearts of us who sing of You.
Having lived immaculately to God, begotten of Salvation of all, the parent of God's wisdom, the Creator of the Birth and our God.
The Lord exuded life to everyone, from the barren birth of the Virgin, he willed to dwell in Nyuzha, and after Christmas he remained incorruptible.
Anna's fruit, Mary, today, who gave birth to the life-giving grape, as the Mother of God we sing, the Representative of all and the Helper.
Sedalen, voice 4
Song 4
Irmos: O Lord, I have heard the hearing of Your gaze, and glorified You, the only One who loves mankind.
We sing praises to You, Lord, who gave the faithful a saving Shelter to all, who gave birth to You.
You are the Bride of God, Christ show praise and power to all who sing Your sacrament faithfully.
Unartful Lady, with Your prayers we deliver from sins, we prudently please You all.
Song 5
Irmos: Having destroyed the hay-written darkness of fortune-telling, and having illuminated the hearts of the faithful with the arrival of truth, the Virgin of God, and instruct us with Thy light, Christ.
Let us sing to the people of all the Guilt that exists for us to be Guilty: Even though the prophets rejoiced in the image, the revealed salvation from Him is fruitful. From the dry vegetation of the priest's rod, Israel was shown prophecy: and now the lordship of those who vegetated gloriously shines, from the barrenness the all-glorious Birth.
Song 6
Irmos: Jonah cry out to the Lord from the whale: You bring me up from the depths of hell, I pray, so that as a Deliverer, in a voice of praise, I will devour the truth to You in spirit.
The parents cried out to the Lord in the sorrow of barrenness, the Mother of God of Godly Wisdom, and gave birth to this throughout the generations, for common salvation and praise.
I have received the heavenly Gift from God, worthy of the Mother of God of Godly Wisdom, parents, Samech of the Cherubim who exceeded the Bearer, the Word and the Creator of the Parent.
Kontakion, tone 4
Ikos
Song 7
Irmos: The bush in the mountain is unscorched, and the dew-bearing cave of the Chaldeans, manifestly the commandment of You, the Bride of God, the Divine One, the Immaterial in the material womb, you received the Fire unscorched. In the same way we sing from You, Who was born: blessed art thou, God, our father.
The lawmaker is forbidden to understand yours in material phenomena, and the great, Most Pure One, mystery, not to philosophize, the earthly zealous one is sometimes figuratively punished. I was also amazed at the miracles, saying: Blessed is God our father.
The Mountain and the Door of Heaven, and the mental Ladder of Thy Godly Face, the Divine One said: For the Stone was not cut off from Thee by the hands of men, and the Door through which the Lord, Who made miracles, God our Father, passed through.
Song 8
Irmos: In the cave of adolescence you sometimes represented Your Mother, Lord, but You took this image out of the fire, those who entered without burning. We sing now that You have appeared at the end of this day, and we exalt to all ages.
Even to the God of our reconciliation, the predestined Tabernacle, which now begins to be, having the power to give birth to the Word, has appeared to us in the depravity of the flesh. We eat Him, having received Him from those who do not exist, and we exalt Him to all ages.
The transformation of barrenness, the worldly good, resolve the barrenness, and the miracle of Christ is clearly demonstrated, having come to the earthly, we sing of Him, from those who do not exist in the hedgehog’s being. We received Him, and we exalt Him to all ages.
Song 9
Irmos: Even before the Sun, the Lamp of God who arose, who came to us carnally, from the side of the Maiden, indescribably embodied, Blessed All-Pure One, we magnify Thee Theotokos.
Who has poured out water from the stone of disobedient people, and with a submissive tongue bestows from barren loins Fruit for our joy, Thee, Most Pure Mother of God, Who we worthily magnify.
In vain is the ancient reclaimer of condemnation and the foremother of correction: from the same generation to God I take out the appropriation, to the Creator of the Bridge, we magnify Thee Theotokos.
Svetilen
CANON SECOND OF THE NATIVITY OF THE HOLY VIRGIN
Song 1
Irmos: To him who crushed the battle with his arm, and led Israel through the Red Sea, let us sing to him, as to our Savior God: for he was glorified.
Let all creation rejoice, and let David also rejoice: for from the tribe and from his seed came forth the Rod, the color of the Lord, the Creator of all things.
Holy of holies, in the holy sanctuary the Child is entrusted to be raised by the hand of angels: let us celebrate all things faithfully at Her Nativity.
Anna is barren, but she is not childless to God: from birth she was called the Pure Virgin Mother. It is the same nature to grow the Creator in the form of a slave.
Thee, the gentle Lamb, the Lamb of Christ, the Child from Thy womb who brought into our being, we all honor Thee, born of Anna, with songs.
Trinity: I glorify the Three Originless, I sing the Three Holy, the Three Co-Essential in the One Being I preach: One in the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit, God is glorified.
Theotokos: Who saw the Son, Who is not the Father of all, fed on milk; or where the Virgin Mother was seen; truly more than the mind of wallpaper, the Pure Mother of God.
Song 3
Irmos: My heart is established in the Lord, my horn is exalted in my God, my mouth is enlarged against my enemies, I rejoice in Your salvation.
Having been brought up in the Holy of Holies, the Most Pure Virgin Mary, the Most Pure Mother of God, appeared above all creatures, giving birth to the Creator in the flesh.
Blessed is Thy womb, chaste Anno, Who brought forth the fruit of virginity, Even the seedless Nourisher of the creature Who gave birth and the Savior of Jesus.
Blessed are you, Ever-Virgin, all creation, born today from Anna, from the root of the Rod of Jesse, the Most Pure Flower, who brought forth Christ.
Thee embroidered by all creation to the Mother of God, showing the Pure One, Thy Son, hedgehog from Anna magnifies Thy Nativity, and makes everyone happy today.
Trinitarian: We worship You, Father, the Beginningless Being, we sing of Your flightless Son, and we honor Your co-essential Spirit, as One and Three by the nature of God.
Theotokos: The Giver of Light and the Director of human life, who gave birth to the Pure Mother of God, you appeared as the Treasure of our life, and the Door of impregnable Light.
Sedalen, voice 4
The Virgin Mary and Mother of God truly, like a cloud of light has risen for us today, and from the righteous it will come to our glory. Adam is not condemned to anyone, and Eve is freed from her bonds, and for this reason we cry out loudly with boldness to the One Pure One: joy proclaims Your Nativity to the whole universe.
Song 4
Irmos: Prophet Habakkuk, with wise eyes you foresaw Your Coming, and thus you cried out: God will come from the south. Glory to Your power, glory to Your condescension.
Patriarch Jacob, having foreseen, O Savior, the greatness of Thy structure clearly, crying out in the Spirit, speaking secretly to Judas: Thou art my Son who has risen from the summer growth, proclaiming Thee from the Virgin God.
Now the Rod of Aaron, which has vegetated from the root of David, now the Pure Virgin comes into being: and heaven and earth, and the whole fatherland of languages, and Anna and Joachim, are mysteriously united.
Now let heaven rejoice, let the earth rejoice, and let Joachim and David rejoice. O, then, as Thy parent, who truly gave birth to God: O, as Thy forefather, preaching Thy majesty, Pure.
The universe rejoices in You today, God-wise Anno: You have blossomed as the Mother of the Savior, Who has vegetated from the roots of David, Who bears the Color of Christ for us, the Rod of Power.
Trinity: I glorify the Beginningless God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Consubstantial Uncreated Trinity, Whose Seraphim stand reverently, calling: Holy, Holy, Holy art thou God.
Theotokos: The Pre-Eternal Beginning receives the beginning from You, the Mother of God, through carnal time, and remains co-beginning, and the Word of the Father is incarnate, and co-essential with the Spirit, preserving Divine dignity.
Song 5
Irmos: Lord our God, give us peace, Lord our God, gain us, Lord, do we know no other than You, we call Your name.
Your Most Pure Nativity, Immaculate Virgin, unspeakable, and conception unspeakable and Your birth, Bride Unbrided: God has clothed himself entirely in me.
Today let the angels rejoice, let those who are from Adam rejoice with songs: for the Rod was born, the Flower of the growth of the One Christ, our Savior.
Today Eve’s condemnation is resolved, barrenness is also resolved, and Adam’s ancient oaths about Your Nativity: By You we will be delivered from aphids.
Glory to You who glorified the barren day: for the ever-blooming Rod was born from the promise, from the Worthless Christ, the Flower of our life.
Trinitarian: Glory to Thee, Holy Father, Unbegotten God: glory to Thee, Timeless Son, Only Begotten: glory to Thee, Divine and Co-Throne Soul, coming from the Father and abiding in the Son.
Theotokos: Thy womb bore the Sun: Thy purity abideth, as before unharmed, Virgin: Christ for the Sun, like the Bridegroom from the palace, appeared from Thee.
Song 6
Irmos: Like the waters of the sea, O Lover of mankind, I am overwhelmed by the waves of life, and like Jonah, I cry to Thee: lift up my belly from aphids, O good-hearted Lord.
I am the Holy of Holies, Thy chaste parents, O Pure One, having placed Thee in the temple of the Lord to be brought up honestly, and to prepare to be His Mother.
Barren and mothers, rejoice, dare and play childless: the Mother of God is childless, for the Mother of God vegetates, even if she delivers Eve from illnesses, and the vows of Adam.
I hear David singing to You: the Virgins will be brought after You, the Kings will be brought to the temple. And with him I sing of You and I, Daughter of the Tsar.
We sing Your holy Nativity, we honor Your immaculate conception, the Bride of God and the Virgin: we glorify with us the angels and the saints of the soul.
Trinitarian: In You the Trinity Mystery is sung, and the Pure One is glorified: For the Father is pleased, and the Word dwells in You, and the Divine Spirit autumns upon You.
Theotokos: You were the Golden Censer, Fire dwelt in Your womb, the Word from the Holy Spirit, and I saw You in human form, the Pure Mother of God.
Kontakion, tone 4
Joachim and Anna were reproached by childlessness, and Adam and Eve were freed from mortal aphids, O Most Pure One, in Thy holy Nativity. Then Thy people also celebrate, having been freed from the guilt of sins, always calling upon Thy: barrenness gives birth to the Mother of God and the Nourisher of our life.
Ikos
Prayer and sighing, barrenness and childlessness, but Joachim and Anna are auspicious, and in the ears of the Lord, in the vegetative state, the fruit is life-giving to the world. She makes a prayer on the mountain: she bears reproach in the garden: but with joy she gives birth to the barren fruits of the Mother of God, and the Nourisher of our life.
Song 7
Irmos: The Chaldean cave, burning with fire, watered by the Spirit, God's presence, the youths poyahu: blessed art thou, God of our fathers.
We celebrate, O Pure One, and faithfully worship Your holy Nativity, singing to Your Son, through Him we have now been delivered from the ancient condemnation of Adam.
Now Anna rejoices and cries out in boasting: I have given birth to the Mother of God without fruits, even for the sake of the condemnation of Eve was resolved, and even in sorrow the illness.
Adam is free, and Eve rejoices, and they cry out in spirit to You, Mother of God: By You we have been delivered from the original curse, appearing to Christ.
O womb that contains God's Village! O womb, which bore the Width of heaven, the Holy Throne, the mental Icon of the Holy.
Trinity: Let us glorify the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, in the Unity of the Divinity, the Most Holy Trinity, Undivided, Uncreated, and Co-eternal, and Consubstantial.
Theotokos: Thou didst give birth to the One God, the Most Glorious Virgin, Thou didst renew the nature of Mary with Thy Nativity, Thou didst resolve the first-born vows of Eve, O Pure Mother of God.
Song 8
Irmos: Cover with Your sublime waters, set the sea as a limit with sand, and support everything, The sun sings of You, the moon glorifies You, All creation brings song to You, as the Creator of all forever.
You created the glorious barren womb, opened Anna's unbearable womb, and gave her fruit, You are the Holy God, You are the Son of the Virgin, You took flesh from this, the Ever-blooming Virgin and the Mother of God.
Closing the abyss and opening it, bringing up water to the clouds and giving rain, You have given, Lord, from the barren root of the vegetated Saint Anna, the most pure Fruit, and give birth to the Mother of God.
To the worker of our thoughts and the Planter of our souls, You showed the barren land to be fruitful, You made the anciently dry, well-born, kind, fruitful rein of St. Anna, the Most Pure Fruit to grow the Mother of God.
Come, all of us, we will see, as from a small palace, the City of God, now being born, has its exit from the door of the womb, but does not enter into communication: One God is the Creator of this strange path.
Trinity: About the Trinity Inherent, the Unity Co-originating! Many Angels sing and tremble, Heaven and earth, and the abysses are terrified, men bless, the fire works, everyone listens to You, Holy Trinity, with the same fear in creation.
Theotokos: O newest hearing: God, Son of the Woman! O seedless Christmas! Unmarried Mother and Born of God! O terrible vision! O conception of the strange Virgin! O unspeakable Christmas! Truly more than the whole mind, and vision.
Song 9
Irmos: Virginity is foreign to mothers, and childbearing is strange to virgins: on You, Mother of God, both are settled. Thus we continually magnify all the tribes of the earth.
Worthy, Mother of God, You inherited Your purity of Christmas, through the promise: sometimes more barren, God-forgiving, You gave away the Fruit: with this we constantly magnify You all the tribes of the earth.
Having fulfilled the crying prophecy, it says: I will erect the fallen tabernacle of sacred David, transformed in You, Pure, Who for the sake of all men dust was created into the body of God.
We bow to Thy swaddling cloths, Theotokos, we glorify the One who gave the Fruit before the barren, and the one who opened the womb of the non-bearing one most gloriously. He does everything he wants, God is Autonomous.
As a gift to You, Mother of God, we faithfully bestow hymns from Anna, who was born: Mother, Mother, and the One and Only Virgin Mary, we glorify You, sing and glorify.
Trinity: It is alien to the lawless to glorify the Originless Trinity, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the uncreated Omnipotence, by Which the whole world is contained, by the mania of Her Power.
Theotokos: Thou didst contain in Thy womb, O Virgin Mother, the only One of the Trinity, Christ the King, Whom all creation sings, and the highest orders tremble: Pray unto Him, O All-Pure One, that our souls may be saved.
Svetilen
From the barren day of Anna, the Flower of the Mother of God came forth, all the incense of the Divine filling the ends of the world, and filling all creation with joy: Even as we sing, we worthily praise, for I am the Exalted One of the earthly beings.
Akathist to the Nativity of the Mother of God
Kontakion 1
The chosen one from all generations Mother of God, heaven and earth to the Queen, who sanctified the human race by coming to us at Thy all-honorable Nativity, we offer reverent singing to Thy servants, Mother of God. But you, who have come to our consolation and salvation, free us from all troubles, let us call to You:
Ikos 1
Archangel Gabriel was sent quickly to righteous Anna, when she, in the sorrow of her barrenness, cried out to the Lord from the depths of her heart, seeing in her garden a bird’s nest, having little chicks, and brought great joy to her, saying: Your prayer was heard, your tears fell before God, and behold, you gave birth to the most blessed Daughter, About Her all the tribes of the earth will be blessed, and Her name will be called Mary. Marveling at this joyful promise, we cry out to the Most Blessed:
Rejoice, sprung from the noblest royal root by Joachim; Rejoice, born from the most sacred episcopal family of Anna.
Rejoice, thou who freed our ancestors from mortal aphids; Rejoice, you who have resolved the reproach of Your parents from childlessness.
Rejoice, you who see the Holy Gate to the East, who opened the barren gate with your Nativity; Rejoice, virgin door closed, awaiting the entrance of the Holy Hierarch.
Rejoice, Thy mother's tears have been transformed into joy; Rejoice, for you have taken away reproaches from people.
Rejoice, great consolation to those who gave birth to You; Rejoice, joy to the whole world.
Rejoice, proclamation to fallen Adam; Rejoice, deliverance of the tears of Eve.
Rejoice, Most Pure One, who made the whole world glad with Your Nativity.
Kontakion 2
Seeing the righteous Anna of the great archangel and hearing his words, worshiped God and said: As the Lord God lives, if I give birth to a Child, I will give Him to serve Him, so that serving and praising His name will be Holy day and night throughout the years of His life. Filled with unspeakable joy, flow to Jerusalem with diligence, and there in the church he will sing to God in gratitude: Alleluia.
Ikos 2
The righteous Joachim had a pure mind before God, but was rejected from people in the temple for the sake of childlessness, and in this sorrow he went into the desert, and there he prayed with tears, saying: I will not put food in my mouth, nor will I return to my house, but my tears May the wilderness be my food and the desert my home until the Lord God of Israel visits me. And behold, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and brought good news that a Daughter would be born to him, and at her Nativity there would be joy for the whole world. Filled with this joy, he went to Jerusalem, and there together with Anna glorified God, saying the Promised One:
Rejoice, cherished by all since ancient times; Rejoice, prophet foretold by all.
Rejoice, chosen by God from the foundation of the world; Rejoice, promised to sinners from the fall of our first parents.
Rejoice, ineffable Council of Eternal care; Rejoice, O blessed image of Divine Foreknowledge.
Rejoice, animated Switch, in whom the Word was written with the finger of God; Rejoice, ever-animal Source, from the Worth the gospel of Christ flowed abundantly.
Rejoice, God-woven Porphyro, in Nyuzha you have clothed yourself with the Eternal Word; Rejoice, fragrant Myrrh, in Negozha, indwell the grace of the Most Holy Spirit.
Rejoice, more shining than any gold, the Chamber of the Wisdom of God, not made by hands; Rejoice, brightest morning of every sunny morning, Dwelling Place of Christ.
Rejoice, Most Pure One, who made the whole world glad with Your Nativity.
Kontakion 3
The power of the Most High autumn then to the conception of the righteous Anna, who had matured in her days, and that barren one is false, like a fertile field to show, may it vegetate from her for the joy of the whole world, perishing in sorrow, Sweet Village, the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, to all who want to reap salvation, and sing praises from the depths of the soul: Alleluia.
Ikos 3
Having, O Most Pure One, Thy parents an immaculate life, having conceived Thee in a good old age, not by carnal indulgence, but by striving in chastity and abstinence, so that at Thy Nativity may not the will of nature be revealed, but the power of God’s grace, conquering the order of nature, and may all know, as prayer, coupled with the sighing of barrenness, vegetated You, the fruit is life-giving to the world. For this reason, in honor of Your immaculate conception, I sing to You:
Rejoice, joy for barren mothers; Rejoice, consolation to childless parents.
Rejoice, thou who has grown dry from the root of Jesse; Rejoice, and from him you brought forth the Flower of Christ.
Rejoice, you who began to overcome the rules of nature even at your conception; Rejoice, you who foreshadowed the preservation of Your virginity at Christmas.
Rejoice, for from here the winds of salvation have blown, the herald; Rejoice, for from here Grace begins to bear fruit.
Rejoice, for through You the barrenness of our nature is overcome; Rejoice, for by You the ancestral oath is resolved.
Rejoice, worldwide joy proclaimed; Rejoice, Beginning of our salvation.
Rejoice, Most Pure One, who made the whole world glad with Your Nativity.
Kontakion 4
Thy righteous parents, O Most Pure One, were overcome by a storm of sorrows and many sorrows, as if they were barren in their old age, as if they were unworthy to have an inheritance in the Kingdom of God. All creation has suffered with them from time immemorial about the barrenness of our nature, having submitted to vanity: for Adam groans, as if the earth was cursed for his sake; Eve also weeps, as if her sorrow and illness have increased; and the whole human race groans with them, having shared in corruption. When, O Mother of God, by Your birth the ancient barrenness and corruption were resolved, all creation cried out to God in gratitude for You: Alleluia.
Ikos 4
The Lord God heard the groans of the righteous Joachim and Anna and gave them, according to the promise of the archangel, the Most Pure and Most Blessed Daughter, the Virgin Mary, the Beginning and Intercessor of our salvation, at her birth heaven and earth rejoiced, the angels and archangels rejoiced, and the people, having glorified God, hurried to their feet:
Hail Mary, great miracle of all creation; Rejoice, Daughter of David, Mother of the Lord.
Rejoice, One blessed among women; Rejoice, most glorified angel in heaven.
Rejoice, never-ending Dawn, who has shone forth the light of the world; Rejoice, unquenchable Lampado, enlightening the night of sorrows.
Rejoice, for the vision of Your image by an angel is sweet; Rejoice, for Your appearance to the world brought joy to man.
Rejoice, new Paradise, planted on earth; Rejoice, bright Devil, adorned with the Heavenly King.
Rejoice, Chamber of the Holy Spirit; Rejoice, Tabernacle of God with men.
Rejoice, Most Pure One, who made the whole world glad with Your Nativity.
Kontakion 5
The God-bearing star, which rose from Nazareth and enlightened the whole world, we behold Thee, O Most Holy Virgin: small is the city that Thou didst sanctify with Thy Nativity, and we despise it among people, for the sake of all the verbs: can anything good come from Nazareth? Moreover, God chose the weak and humiliated, let the strong one be put to shame, and reveal from Nazareth Thee to the whole world, the Unfading Flower, the ever-blooming of virginity, the Most Holy Virgin of all saints, who in all of Her life knew not a single sin, and let us all sing with gratitude to God about You: Alleluia.
Ikos 5
When Your parents saw Your wonderful birth, O Most Pure One, they brought great gifts to God, and they were blessed from the priest and from all the people, as if they had received the blessing of God, and created a great institution in their home, rejoicing in spirit and glorifying God. Remembering the angelic promise, I revered Thee as My Lady, and bowed down and hastened to Thee:
Rejoice, thou who was called the Bride of the Holy Spirit before all ages; rejoice, in last times The Mother of God who appears to the Son is the Virgin.
Rejoice, Daughter chosen from all generations to God the Father; Rejoice, wondrously illuminated by the dawns of the Life-Giving Trinity.
Rejoice, thou who surpassest all the heavenly powers without reasoning; Rejoice, you who drive away all demonic armies without shame.
Rejoice, all-powerful Intercessor of the entire human race; Rejoice, all-merciful Intercessor to all repentant sinners.
Rejoice, honest women of praise; Rejoice, Glory to the pure virgins.
Rejoice, you who brought good to the whole world from the little Nazareth; Rejoice, having covered everyone with Your love even to the last of the earth.
Rejoice, Most Pure One, who made the whole world glad with Your Nativity.
Kontakion 6
The preacher of Your coming into the world, Mother of God, was the righteous Elizabeth. From now on, when I saw You coming to her house, I went out to meet You and cried out with a great voice: Blessed are You among women and blessed is the Fruit of Your womb. And where do I get this, so that the Mother of my Lord may come to me? Sitsa and we, Thy glorious Nativity, as Thy first visit to our land, celebrate, we greet Thee with this greeting: from where do we receive this, that the Mother of our Lord may come to us. Blessed are You among women, and blessed is the Fruit of Your Womb; to Him let us all sing with gratitude: Alleluia.
Ikos 6
The joy of Your Nativity, O Most Pure One, has risen, not just to Your righteous parents, but also to all those near and far, and even to the end of the universe, as God rests on the reasonable Thrones, the Holy Throne has already been prepared for Himself on earth and a new Dawn has appeared, foretelling the Sun of the Truth of Christ coming soon. For this sake, let us sing to You, Pure, Sitsa:
Rejoice, Most Bright Dawn, Great Herald of the Sun of Christ; Rejoice, everlasting ray, never-evening light to the Mother.
Rejoice, you who cleanse people from passions with the fire of Your prayers; Rejoice, the dew of Your grace cools the flame of Gehenna to the weak.
Rejoice, cloud of Divine Light, destroying all darkness; Rejoice, fragrant Censer, offering up the prayers of the faithful to Your Son.
Rejoice, Heavenly Icon, brought from the highest to the earthly; Rejoice, fiery Throne, prepared for the Heavenly King on earth.
Rejoice, you who erected the fallen Tabernacle of David; Rejoice, thou who hast revealed the most exalted heavenly Jerusalem on earth.
Rejoice, Thou who hast prepared the most venerable purple robe from Thy blood for the Lamb of God; Rejoice, Thou who hast wrought the richly woven purple of the Word of God from Thy flesh.
Rejoice, Most Pure One, who made the whole world glad with Your Nativity.
Kontakion 7
Although the long-suffering Lord revealed the abyss of His love for mankind to the human race that fell in ancient times in paradise, and gave our first ancestor the promise that the seed of the woman would erase the head of the serpent, in the last time fulfill His first promise on You, Most Pure One, choosing You, the One from all generations, to be Your Mother. May Thy Nativity erase the head of the ancient serpent, so for our sake let us sing in gratitude to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 7
Thy new terrible and wonderful sacrament, Mother of God, and a new source of life appeared instead of sensual Eve: so, by obeying the serpent, the beginning of God’s disgust towards man and gave birth to sorrow to women. Your Son, O Virgin, condemned Eve’s womb to give birth to fruits in illness, to dwell in Your womb, painlessly, the keys of virginity unharmed in your Nativity. For this reason, for Your sake, the fallen female nature rejoices, having received the freedom of Christ instead of the ancient oath: Following You, wives begin to defeat their enemies, holding on to virginity and crying out to You like this:
Rejoice, adorned with Divine glory; Rejoice, exalted by the purity of virginity.
Rejoice, you who have revived fallen human nature; Rejoice, you who freed women from ancient sorrow.
Rejoice, Thou who astounded Gabriel with the beauty of Thy virginity; Rejoice, whose radiant purity has immeasurably surpassed the angelic councils.
Rejoice, impenetrable door, opening the enclosed Eden; Rejoice, sealed in the Book, containing the unknown secrets of God.
Rejoice, Fragrant Tree of Virginity; rejoice, Everlasting Color cleanliness.
Rejoice, you who planted heavenly virginity on earth; Rejoice, you who opened the doors of heaven to the fallen.
Rejoice, Most Pure One, who made the whole world glad with Your Nativity.
Kontakion 8
Your strange Nativity, from barrenness, seeing no pleasures, but shining from chastity and abstinence, let us withdraw from the vanity of the world, and all unchastity of soul and body, transferring our minds and hearts to heaven. For this reason you came into the world as the Mother of Chastity, so that you would raise the lower to the higher heights, and may you teach everyone to sing to God with pure lips and an undefiled heart: Alleluia.
Ikos 8
You are all good, My neighbor, and there is no vice in You. Arise, come, My Dove, show Your face to Me and make Your voice heard, for Your voice is sweet and Your image is beautiful. You are the only one of Your mother, the chosen one who gave birth to You, as Your Son and Lord, the Most Pure One, said, acknowledging Your barren birth and Your coming into the world. Listening to this Divine voice, we dare to sing to You like this:
Rejoice, Queen, who appeared at the right hand of the King Christ; Rejoice, Lady, clothed and adorned in the gilded robe of virginity.
Rejoice, the Heavenly King desired kindness; Rejoice, for whom you were called neighbor and good among wives.
Rejoice, Rising from the desert like a cloud of smoke, myrrh and frankincense; Rejoice, the Myrrh poured out, the fragrance from the Heavenly Myrrh-Bearer wearing away.
Rejoice, prisoner in Vertograd, no one can escape into this place; Rejoice, sealed treasure, from its depth no one else can drink.
Rejoice, shining like morning to those who sit in darkness; Rejoice, rising like the moon, chosen like the sun.
Rejoice, Source of living water, ever flowing from the Throne of God; Rejoice, Tree of Life, ever-blooming in the middle of Paradise.
Rejoice, Most Pure One, who made the whole world glad with Your Nativity.
Kontakion 9
Every angelic nature rejoiced with joy, glorifying God, when, after Thy Nativity, the Most Pure One, the great saint, the priests and the chosen people, came to the house of Thy parents, sending up prayers of gratitude. When you bless Thee, lift up your voice, saying: God our father, bless this child and give Her a name, that she may be glorified throughout all generations. And I will call Your name Mary, great and gracious, delightful to people, but filled with fear by the demon, and cry out with joy: Alleluia.
Ikos 9
The prophets of many things, like voiceless fish, are perplexed as to how to sing of Your purity, equal to the angels from the swaddling clothes of infancy, O Most Pure One, who was given to You by the Lord, may the Lord present You, His Mother, as having no filth or vice, or anything of the sort, but may you be holy and blameless. For this reason, Your mother has carefully kept You in immaculate purity, so that the hand of the wicked will not touch the Inspired Icon of God: for sanctify Your bed, and alienate yourself from all filth, and call upon the pure virgin to keep Your peace. And whenever your breasts nourish You, you pray, and with your mother’s milk you are especially nourished with God’s Word. Marveling at such immaculate purity of Yours, we cry out to You:
Rejoice, having known not a single sin since Your infancy; Rejoice, O Most Holy One from Thy Nativity of all saints.
Rejoice, thou milked with prayer more than milk; Rejoice, full of the Word of God more than bread.
Rejoice, heavenly growth planted on earth; Rejoice, heavenly vegetation, raised from Your parents.
Rejoice, pure Dove, for whose purity the whole world is not worthy; Rejoice, undefiled Lamb, whose integrity is revealed to you worthy of the Mother of Christ.
Rejoice, thou who through the mania of the Almighty has risen from barren fruit; Rejoice, having received a Christmas worthy of Your purity.
Rejoice, for from the east of the sun to the west there is praise Your name; Rejoice, for from all generations you are blessed among women.
Rejoice, Most Pure One, who made the whole world glad with Your Nativity.
Kontakion 10
To save the world from the charms of the enemy, the Lover of mankind, the Lord, chose Thee from the earthly race, from the small city and from the barren womb into His Mother, predestined from eternity, and preached by the prophets of old, to be the Mediator of our salvation, so that those who are sad and in trouble may receive quick consolation and the solution to worldly barrenness, but let all those wandering in the darkness of sin reveal the Sun of Christ’s righteousness, singing to Him: Alleluia.
Ikos 10
Thou art the wall and refuge of all mankind, O Virgin Mother of God, for those who celebrate Thy Nativity: For Thou art from the small palace of the City of God that exists, and Thou didst begin to be, and from the womb of the non-bearing womb Thou hast accomplished the exodus, and prepared the entrance of the Great Saint: God alone has traversed a strange path through Thee, unburnt Thee save. For this reason, we boldly call You, the One pure and most blessed, who is:
Rejoice, most blessed in heaven; Rejoice, most glorified on earth.
Rejoice, angels of joy and amusement; Rejoice, O consolation and consolation to the earthly.
Rejoice, God-voiced and gentle turtledove; Rejoice, meek and quiet Yunice.
Rejoice, Holy Spirit of the All-Holy Temple; Rejoice, most pure blueprint of heavenly disgrace.
Rejoice, dew of Aermon, who descended upon the mountains of Sinai; Rejoice, alavaster of the valuable World, who has fragrant the earth.
Rejoice, City of God, from the palace of little vegetation; Rejoice, Nazareth hail from the dry roots of growth.
Rejoice, Most Pure One, who made the whole world glad with Your Nativity.
Kontakion 11
The song of thanksgiving is sung in spirit by the divine Joachim the wonderful and the divine Anna, who saw on earth the Mother of the Creator, who gave birth to the daughter Mary, and with them we, the Lady, equal in number to the sand of the sea, bring songs to Thee, praising Thy Nativity, glorious from barren wombs, singing with gratitude To God: Alleluia.
Ikos 11
The light-receiving candle, gloriously kindled in the night of the Old Law by Thy Nativity, we see Thee, Most Holy Virgin: for all, in the darkness of sin and the shadow of death for those who sit, Thou hast shone forth light, joy, grace and the resolution of the ancient oath, for Eve’s sake: from Thee has arisen the Sun Truth, Christ our God, enlighten those who are in darkness, crying out to You in praise:
Rejoice, O Dawn of the never-evening day, who opened the gates of the Kingdom of Christ; Rejoice, Most Serene Dennitsa, who proclaimed salvation to us.
Rejoice, Never-setting Star, bringing the Great Sun into this world; Rejoice, O Most Luminous One, dispelling the ancient darkness of sin.
Rejoice, Life-Giving Source, giving life to everyone; Rejoice, O Lamp, who shed light on us before the Sun.
Rejoice, you who enlightened us with the dawns of grace even in the present darkness; Rejoice, Mother of the Light of the Clever, who has illuminated the entire universe with grace.
Rejoice, Bride of the radiant Palace, who has covered all the heavenly regions with the radiance of Her robe; Rejoice, woman clothed with the Sun, appearing in the world to save those who are perishing.
Rejoice, having the moon under Your feet; Rejoice, thou crowned with twelve stars.
Rejoice, Most Pure One, who made the whole world glad with Your Nativity.
Kontakion 12
In the grace of the same-named Divine Anna, she rejoices and, boasting, cries out: I am unfruitful, I gave birth to the Mother of God, even for the sake of condemnation of Eve, even the illness was resolved in sorrow. And so, rejoicing, I gave the promise that I would bring my daughter, who was born to God, and may it be made a gift to Him from all the generations of the earth, and by man - for eternal consolation and joy, as I sing to them: Alleluia.
Ikos 12
We sing Your Most Pure Nativity, we honor the unspeakable conception, we glorify Your unspoken birth from barrenness, we worship Your very swaddling clothes, the Bride of the God-Called and the Virgin; together with us they glorify Your coming into the world of angels and archangels, and the souls of the saints of the Council: for common joy arose in heaven and on earth from the righteous Joachim and Anna by Your birth, the Mother of God, who glorifies him, crying out to You like this:
Rejoice, All-Immaculate, Holy Trinity common to all angels and people to the Lady; Rejoice, All-Blessed One, the Comforter common to all in heaven and on earth.
Rejoice, Beauty in the right hand of the Lord, adorning all those in heaven who bless You; Rejoice, O Almighty Consolation, who brings joy to all those on earth who call upon You.
Rejoice, Heaven of heavens, surpassing all angelic powers without comparison; Rejoice, Miracle of miracles, creating all men into the Body of God.
Rejoice, Queen of Queens, who has put a limit to sinful corruption throughout the entire universe; Rejoice, Holy of Holies of the entire Church of Christ, who laid the foundation for our salvation.
Rejoice, Divine Maiden, God's blessing of all times and centuries; Rejoice, God-chosen Youth, grace-filled reconciliation of all peoples and generations.
Rejoice, Pillar of Virginity, to all who desire virginity, the kindness of virginity that manifestly sends down; Rejoice, Door of salvation, to all who seek salvation, soon giving a helping hand.
Rejoice, Most Pure One, who made the whole world glad with Your Nativity.
Kontakion 13
Oh, All-Singing Mother, born from barrenness for the salvation of the world, our present one has accepted offerings for Your all-honorable Nativity, do not leave us during our life, deliver us from all adversity and captivity of the enemy, and from spiritual barrenness free all who cry out for You: Alleluia .
This kontakion is read three times, then the 1st ikos “Archangel Gabriel...” and the 1st kontakion “Chosen of all generations...”
Prayer
Oh, Most Holy and God-chosen Virgin, our Lady Theotokos, Queen of Heaven and Earth, given by God to the joy and consolation of the whole world from barren and childless parents! Having been born by God's providence, Thou didst resolve the barrenness of the one who gave birth to Thee, and now make my barren heart fruitful through Thy intercession at the Throne of the Almighty, and make me barren with evil deeds, rotten words and unclean thoughts. Oh, All-Blessed One, may I appear as a child of God, ever-bearing fruitfulness of virtues. Thou hast quenched with Thy most pure Nativity the weeping of our foremother Eve, and Thy righteous parents have delivered the reproach of childlessness, and now quench the weeping and sighing of my much-painful and sinful soul and deliver us all the reproach of our evil deeds, the passions of dishonor and from all enslavement of the enemy. Most of all, grant us, Most Holy Theotokos, the Virgin, on the all-bright day of Thy Nativity, with a pure heart we will understand and remember, with great joy and gratitude, the barren womb of the holy and righteous Anna carried You, and we, not just in words, but especially in our deeds, will glorify with tenderness of heart You, crying out: Glory to Your coming, Pure One. Glory to Your Christmas. Glory to Your virginity, Brideless Mother. Together with You, grant us to constantly glorify and magnify Your All-Holy Fruit, the Word incarnate, unburntly carried in Your womb, to Him glory befits, honor and worship, with His Beginning Father, and with His Most Holy and Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever and ever forever and ever. Amen.
Copyright © 2015 Unconditional love
Forgive my ignorance, but I have this question. In the promise, the Lord said that the Savior would appear into the world from the line of David. The Gospel gives a detailed genealogy of Joseph, the husband of the Blessed Virgin, who was indeed a descendant of David. But Joseph was only the stepfather of Christ. I heard a version that the Most Pure One herself also came from the tribe of Judah, because According to the law, all marriages had to be performed within their clan. But... Righteous Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, called in the Bible a relative of Mary, is also mentioned as the daughter of Aaron. So Jesus did not come from the tribe of Judah? Resolve my doubts. God bless you!
Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) answers:
According to church tradition, which is reported by Saint Demetrius of Rostov, the father of the Most Pure Virgin Mary, St. right Joachim traced his descent from David, but not through Solomon, but through his brother Nathan, who was also born from Bathsheba (2 Sam. 5:14; 1 Chron. 3:5; 14:4). Nathan is mentioned as the ancestor of Jesus Christ by St. Evangelist Luke: Mattafaev, Nafanov, Davidov(Luke 3:31). And since St. The evangelist Matthew names not Nathan, but Solomon, then researchers believe that in the Gospel of Luke the genealogy of the Savior is given according to the Mother. At the end of the genealogy Joseph is indicated, since the family is traced according to male line, and the mother could not be indicated as a link in the chain of inheritance.
Blessed Virgin Mary and St. right Elizabeth were cousins on her mother's side. Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary St. right Anna came from the tribe of Levi, the clan of Aaron. She was the daughter of the priest Matthan. His wife was Mary from the family of Judah. They had three daughters: Maria, Sovia and Anna. “Of these, Mary was the first to marry in Bethlehem and gave birth to Salome; then Sovia married, also in Bethlehem, and gave birth to Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist; the third, as we have already said, the mother of the Most Holy Theotokos, was given in marriage to Joachim in the country of Galilee, in the city of Nazareth” (St. Demetrius of Rostov. The Life of the Saints and Righteous Father of God Joachim and Anna, September 9).
The law did not prohibit marriages between representatives of different tribes. So King Saul, who came from the tribe of Benjamin, gave his daughter Michal to David (1 Samuel 18:27), who belonged to the tribe of the patriarch Judah. The restriction existed for the bride, who, in the absence of brothers, was the heiress. It was not allowed for land to pass from one tribe to another: This is what the Lord commands about the daughters of Zalpaad: they can be the wives of those who please their eyes, but they must be wives in the tribe of their father’s tribe, so that the inheritance of the children of Israel does not pass from tribe to tribe; for every one of the children of Israel must be bound to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers(Num. 36:6-7).
Theotokos, Mother of God, Mother of God, Virgin Mary
- V church tradition names of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who gave birth to Jesus Christ.
The name “Theotokos” is known among all Orthodox Slavs. The constant epithet of the Mother of God among the Orthodox Slavs is Most Holy, Most Pure, sometimes replacing her name.
The folk cult of the Mother of God differs from the church cult in its greater down-to-earth nature. The Mother of God acts as a protector from troubles, evil spirits, misfortunes and suffering. She is a heavenly intercessor, sympathetic, merciful and sympathetic. Therefore, they often turn to her in prayers, conspiracies, and spells.
The Mother of God is considered the patroness of women in labor. And, of course, the Mother of God is the intercessor of children in this and the next world.
With the exception of Jesus Christ, there is not a single saint in Christian iconography who has been so often depicted by artists of all times as the face of the Blessed Virgin. At all times, icon painters tried to convey to the face of the Mother of God all the beauty, tenderness, dignity and grandeur of which their imagination was capable.
The Mother of God in Russian icons is always in sadness, but this sadness can be different: sometimes sorrowful, sometimes bright, but always filled with spiritual clarity, wisdom and great spiritual strength. The Mother of God can solemnly “reveal” the Child to the world, she can gently, press her Son to Herself, or lightly support Him - She is always full of reverence, worships her Divine Child and meekly resigns herself to the inevitability of sacrifice. Lyricism, enlightenment and detachment are the main features characteristic of the depiction of the Virgin Mary on Russian icons.
Only a small part of the iconography dedicated to the Mother of God - the Mother of God - is presented here.
Kazan is the most revered icon in Rus', the image of the intercessor of the entire people.
Vladimirskaya - The image of the intercessor mother in all troubles and sorrows.
Quick to Hear- pray for the Lord to hear people’s prayers.
Iverskaya - pray for protection from enemies and ill-wishers.
Soothe my sorrows- pray for consolation in sad moments of life.
Merciful - they pray for the granting of a Divine miracle, healing.
Feodorovskaya - people pray in front of this icon during difficult childbirth.
Jerusalem - pray for family well-being, health, conceiving children.
Kozelshchanskaya - pray for the healing of orthopedic diseases,
Three-handed - pray for the healing of diseases of the hands and feet.
Look to humility- pray for healing from illnesses, oh women's health and well-being.
blessed sky- pray for the granting of God's Grace in everyday life, help with business.
Softening evil hearts
- pray to soften the hearts of those who come to you with evil thoughts.
Tenderness - mothers pray for the successful marriage of their daughters, for happiness and prosperity.
Smolenskaya - pray for help in finding the right paths in life.
Barskaya - pray for good relationships in the family, for children and health.
Unexpected joy- pray for the gift of spiritual insight.
Three joys - they pray for forgiveness for their sins.
Prayer to all icons of the Mother of God
O Most Holy Virgin, Mother of the Lord Most High, Intercessor and protection of all who resort to You! Look down from Thy holy height upon me, a sinner, falling before Thy most pure image; hear my warm prayer and bring it before your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; beg Him to illuminate my gloomy soul with the light of His Divine grace, to deliver me from all need, sorrow and illness, to grant me a quiet and peaceful life, physical and mental health, to pacify my suffering heart and heal its wounds, to guide me for good deeds, may he cleanse my mind from vain thoughts, and having taught me to fulfill His commandments, may he deliver me from eternal torment and may he not deprive me of His Heavenly Kingdom. O Most Holy Theotokos! You, O Joy of All Who Sorrow, hear me who mourns; You, called the Satisfaction of Sorrow, assuage my sorrow; You, Kupino the Burning, save the world and all of us from the harmful fiery arrows of the enemy; You, the Seeker of the Lost, do not allow me to perish in the abyss of my sins. According to Bose, all my hope and hope is in Tyabo. Be an Intercessor for me in temporary life and for eternal life before Your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, Intercessor. To you, Most Holy Mother of God, Most Blessed Mary, reverently honor you until the end of my days. Amen.
PS. The popular veneration of the Mother of God is associated with the “Feasts of the Mother of God” - Annunciation - April 7th,
Dormition - August 28, Christmas - September 21, Intercession - October 14, Entry into the Temple - December 4.
From the Gospel we know little about Mary, the Mother of God: in addition to the story of the Annunciation, the birth of Jesus Christ and His childhood, She appears on the pages of Scripture only in a few episodes. But church tradition has brought to us testimonies about the Mother of God of the first Christians, which were passed on from mouth to mouth. Here are some of them.
Annunciation-Nativity-Christ-Meeting.-XII-century-monastery-of-St.Catherine-Sinai Do you know how old Joseph, Mary's husband, was?
Modern Western cinema likes to present Joseph the Betrothed as a man aged 30-40 years. Orthodox tradition says something else: “From the descendants of David, which was highly revered among the Jews, twelve wifeless elders were chosen; and their rods were laid in the sanctuary. Among them was Joseph. And his rod froze overnight; and even on it, according to the testimony of Blessed Jerome (340-419), a dove was visible flying from above. Hence the knowledge that the Most Pure Virgin was being given to Joseph for safekeeping. Elder Joseph at that time was, others think, about eighty years old” (Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov)).
She had nothing stern in her eyes, nothing careless in her words.
Do you know what the Blessed Virgin was doing at the time of the Annunciation?
“The angel found the Most Pure Virgin not outside her home and her upper room, not on the city streets among the people and worldly conversations, not fussing around at home in the cares of life, but practicing in silence, prayer and reading books, as the icon image of the Annunciation clearly shows, representing the Virgin Mary with a book placed before Her and open, as proof of Her constant exercise in reading divine books and thinking about God. At the very time when the heavenly messenger appeared to the Virgin, She, as the godly fathers of the Church believe, had in her mind the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Behold, the Virgin shall conceive with child” (Is. 7:14), and pondered how and when there will be that strange and unusual conception and birth for a girl’s nature” (St. Demetrius of Rostov).
An angel came to preach the gospel to Mary. Do you know what and who an angel is?
“An angel is an entity endowed with intelligence, constantly moving, free, incorporeal, serving God, and by grace receiving immortality for its nature: only the Creator knows the form and definition of this entity. She is called incorporeal and immaterial in comparison with us. For everything in comparison with God, the only incomparable one, turns out to be both gross and material, because only the Divinity in the strict sense is immaterial and incorporeal” (Rev. John of Damascus).
Do you know why the Virgin Mary is called “The Most Honest Cherub and the Most Glorious Without Comparison Seraphim”?
“Because She received in Her womb the God-man, the Son and Word of God, Who took from Her human nature and united it with His Divine nature in His hypostasis” (Elder Ephraim of Philotheus).
Temple icon of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. 17th century Do you know why the Mother of God is depicted on the icon of the Annunciation with a lily flower?
The lily flower symbolizes purity. For her incomparable purity and chastity, She was chosen by God and awarded a great miracle - she remained a virgin at the conception of the Savior and after His birth.
Do you know what the Blessed Virgin Mary looked like?
A description of the external appearance of the Most Holy Theotokos was given by the church historian Nicephorus Callistus:
“The Blessed Virgin was of average or slightly above average height, golden hair, quick, olive-colored eyes, arched and blackish eyebrows, an oblong nose, flowering lips, a face not round and not sharp, but somewhat oblong, long arms and fingers. She had nothing stern in her gaze, nothing imprudent in her words, testifies Saint Ambrose. In conversations with others, She remained calm, did not laugh, was not indignant or angry. Her movements are modest, her step is quiet, her voice is even, so appearance personifies the purity of Her soul."
Is there somewhere an icon of the Mother of God painted from Her during her earthly life?
The Most Holy Theotokos, just like the Savior, revealed her miraculous image in the city of Lydda during his lifetime.
The apostles Peter and John preached in Samaria, where the converts built a temple in the city of Lydda to the glory of the Blessed Virgin. Upon returning to Jerusalem, the apostles begged her to consecrate this temple with her visit and blessing. She agreed to this and, sending them back, said: “Go and rejoice: I will be there with you!” When the apostles arrived in Lydda and entered the temple, they saw an image of the Mother of God painted by an unknown person on one of the inner pillars. Moreover, her face and details of clothing were made with amazing art and precision. Later the Blessed Virgin also arrived there. Seeing Her image and the multitude of those praying in front of it, She rejoiced and bestowed miraculous power on the icon.
Do you know that the Mother of God came to the tomb of Her Son?
The Jews, who hated Christians, did not want the Mother of God to come to the tomb of the Savior, who knelt there, cried and burned incense. The high priests posted guards and ordered them to strictly monitor so that none of the Christians dared to come to this place. If the Mother of Jesus violated the ban, She was ordered to be killed immediately. The guards vigilantly lay in wait for the Blessed Virgin, but the power of God hid Her from the soldiers on duty at Calvary. They never saw the Mother of God, although She continued to come there. In the end, the guards, under oath, reported that no one was coming to the coffin and the guards were removed.
At the moment of the Annunciation, Mary read and reflected on the words of the prophet Isaiah
Do you know how many years the Blessed Virgin Mary lived on earth?
Church authorities - St. Andrew of Crete, St. Simeon Metaphrastus, St. Demetrius of Rostov, Rev. Porfiry Uspensky, as well as prominent church historians Epiphanius and George Kedrin - claim that the Most Pure Virgin lived “to extreme old age.” According to calculations based on the participation in the burial of the Mother of God Dionysius the Areopagite (57), at the time of the Dormition the Mother of God was 72 years old.
Do you know why the parents of the Blessed Virgin endured reproach for many years?
The parents of the Virgin Mary were reviled for a long time because of their infertility. It was believed that this testified to God's punishment for sins. This circumstance caused not only grief to parents who could not have children, but also a lot of inconvenience on the part of the people: Joachim was prevented from making sacrifices in the temple, believing that he was displeasing to God because he did not create offspring for the Israeli people. Anna was also humiliated by those around her for her infertility. Since it was known that the Savior would be born from the seed of David, each family hoped that this would happen precisely through its descendants. Therefore, not having the ability to procreate meant losing this chance.
Do you know what craft the Mother of God owned?
According to Tradition, during her life at the temple, the Virgin Mary worked on yarn and sewed priestly vestments. When She was given to Joseph the Betrothed for safekeeping, the need arose to make a new curtain for the Jerusalem Temple. Part of the work on this order from the high priest was carried out by the Virgin Mary. After the Annunciation of the Archangel Gabriel, the Blessed Virgin went to her relative Elizabeth (Luke 1: 39-56). According to legend, on the way She went to Jerusalem to give away part of the curtain, which by that time she had already made.
At the time of the Dormition of the Mother of God she was 72 years old
Did you know that Joseph, by law, had to judge Mary because she did not become pregnant by him?
The angel, in fact, announced to Mary a pregnancy for which there was no legal basis. And according to the law, they were supposed to be stoned for this, because there were no such precedents for a virgin to conceive without a husband, and, accordingly, according to logic, such a pregnancy could only arise from adultery. In any case, Maria faced shame for the rest of her life. But She simply trusted God: “Behold, the Servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word"(Luke 1:38) . But Mary did not yet know how Joseph would react to such an event: he was engaged to a girl, and suddenly - pregnancy! At first, the elder just wanted to quietly break off the engagement, without asking his bride anything and without trying to punish Maria in any way: “Joseph, Her husband, being righteous and not wanting to make Her public, wanted to secretly let Her go.”(Matt. 1:19). But, however, the birth of a child out of wedlock would have placed Her outside of society, and Her further fate would have been terrible. And again it took the appearance of an angel, but this time to Joseph, so that he would accept Her with the Baby in her womb and call Mary his wife: "But when he thought this,–Behold, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said: Joseph, son of David! Do not be afraid to receive Mary your wife, for what is born in her is of the Holy Spirit.”(Matt. 1:20). It’s not often that we have to talk about Joseph’s courage and endurance. However, it is worth paying attention to the fact that in the eyes of the entire Israeli society, Joseph was the husband of Mary and was considered the father of Jesus, and only Joseph and Mary themselves knew what sacrifice the named father of Christ had to make.
I myself am a Protestant, but I respect Orthodox Church(I quite often attend services at the Sretensky Monastery); and regarding the interpretation of the New Testament in general I think that better interpretation There is no John Chrysostom (including Protestants). I can say a lot of good things about Orthodoxy and true Orthodox Christians, but many points in Orthodoxy remain incomprehensible to me. For example, I have the following question: On what basis did Orthodoxy and Catholicism develop the veneration of the Virgin Mary and other Saints? Where in the Bible is it written that the Virgin Mary was an Ever-Virgin?
Priest Afanasy Gumerov, resident of the Sretensky Monastery, answers:
The high veneration of the Most Holy Theotokos is based on the fact that She is the real Mother of the truly incarnate God. Therefore, the Archangel Gabriel, who appeared to her to notify Her of this great event, calls her “grace-filled.” This word is never applied to any person in the entire Bible. We can firmly and decisively say that Her veneration began during her lifetime. Are the words of Her closest relative St. Elizabeth does not express the same feelings with which we, Orthodox, reverently address the Mother of our Savior: “And where does it come from for me that the Mother of my Lord came to me? For when the voice of Your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy” (Luke 1:43-44). The Mother of the great Prophet and Baptist John, not on her own, but, filled with the Holy Spirit, turns to Her with the same words that are present in our prayers: “Blessed are You among women” (1:42). The Holy Gospel proclaims the future glory of the Most Holy Theotokos: “from now on all generations will call me blessed” (1:48). Our church services, prayer services, iconography - all this is the fulfillment of this gospel prophecy.
Through Her, the Lord showed great benefits: He became incarnate and redeemed us from eternal death. Our grateful souls are filled with feelings of love both for God and for His Mother, Who with Her the highest virtues served the cause of our salvation. As the Mother of our Heavenly Parent, She is also our Mother. We are all brothers and sisters not only in Christ, but also by virtue of the fact that we have our common Mother. Is it possible to say about anyone that he loves his mother too much, that he reveres her too much? Especially when we're talking about about the Mother of the Heavenly King.
About the Ever-Virginity of Mary. She is the only one in the New Testament whom the evangelist calls the Virgin, using this word as a title: “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a husband named Joseph, from the house of David; and the name of the Virgin is Mary” (Luke 1:26-27). Let us pay attention: from the Gospel text it is clear that the Virgin Mary, although already betrothed, wants to remain a virgin. To the words of Archangel Gabriel: “You will conceive in your womb and give birth to a Son” (1:31), She says: “How will this be when I don’t know my husband?” (1:34). She is Joseph's wife according to law. If she had intended to have children in this marriage, then the birth of the Son predicted by the archangel would not have been surprising. The answer given to Her by the heavenly messenger saved Her from the embarrassment caused by the greeting: “The Holy Spirit will come upon You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You; Therefore the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God" (1:35).
The New Testament recognizes marriage as honorable and the bed undefiled (Heb. 13:4), but virginity is placed higher: “He said to them: Not everyone can receive this word, but to those who have been given it, for there are eunuchs who were born like this from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who are castrated from people; and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:11-12); “But if they cannot abstain, let them marry” (1 Cor. 7:9); “These are they who have not defiled themselves with their wives, for they are virgins; these are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They are redeemed from among men, as the firstborn of God and the Lamb, and there is no guile in their mouth; they are blameless before the throne of God” (Rev. 14:4). Many of Christ’s disciples went through virginity. Can the first and most perfect Christian woman, adorned with all possible virtues, be inferior to them? All God-enlightened holy fathers (among them St. John Chrysostom) speak about the Ever-Virginity of the Most Holy Theotokos.