Orthodox believers are celebrating the Nativity of our Most Holy Lady, Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, today.
Orthodox believers are celebrating the Nativity of our Most Holy Lady, Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, today.
This is one of the twelve great feasts of the Orthodox Church, established in honour of the birth of the pure Virgin Mary. It is celebrated as a day of universal joy. On this bright day, at the threshold of the Old and New Testaments, the Virgin Mary was born, who became the mother of the Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ.
The Most Holy Virgin Mary was born in the small Galilean town of Nazareth. Her parents were the righteous Joachim and Anna. The couple was childless. Having reached advanced years, Joachim and Anna did not lose hope for God's mercy, firmly believing that all things are possible for God, and that He could grant Anna fertility even in her old age. Saints Joachim and Anna vowed to dedicate to God, for service in the temple, any child that the Lord would send them.
Childlessness was considered by the Jewish people as a punishment from God for sins, so Joachim and Anna endured unjust reproaches from their compatriots. On one of the feasts, the elder Joachim brought his sacrifice to the Jerusalem Temple as a gift to God, but the high priest did not accept it, calling Joachim unworthy due to his childlessness. In deep sorrow, Saint Joachim went into the desert and there prayed to the Lord with tears for the gift of a child. Saint Anna, having learned what had happened in the Jerusalem Temple, wept but did not murmur against the Lord, instead praying and invoking God's mercy upon her family.
The Lord fulfilled their petition when the holy couple had reached old age and had prepared themselves through a virtuous life for the high calling of being the parents of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, the future Mother of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Archangel Gabriel brought Joachim and Anna the joyful news: their prayers had been heard by God, and they would have a Most Blessed Daughter, Mary, through whom salvation would be granted to all mankind.
For their patience, great faith, and love for God and each other, the Lord granted them great joy – they had a daughter. And they named her Mary, which means "My Lady". Mary's birth brought joy not only to her parents but to all people, because she was destined by God to become the mother of Jesus Christ.
In gratitude to God for the child granted to them, the parents dedicated Mary to the service of God's temple at a very early age, where she remained until the age of 14.
With the Nativity of the Theotokos, the Nativity of the Savior also became possible, therefore the birthday of the Virgin Mary is considered the dawn of Christianity.
On this day, a solemn divine service is performed in churches, preceded by an all-night vigil.