The spouses, 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 the virtues, they immaculately kept all the commandments of the law of God. 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.

By their righteous life, Joachim and Annatak pleased God, that He made them worthy to be the parents of the Blessed Virgin, the predestined 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 Most Holy of All Saints, who pleased God more than anyone, and the Most Honorable Cherubim.

At that time, there were no people on earth more pleasing to God than Joachim and Anna, according to their immaculate life. Although at that time it was possible to find many living righteously and pleasing God, but these two surpassed everyone in their virtues and appeared before God the most worthy of the Mother of God being born from them. Such mercy would not have been bestowed on them by God, if they really did not surpass everyone in righteousness and holiness.

But just as the Lord Himself had to be incarnated 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 of simple matter, but of gold-woven, 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 intemperate parents, as from simple matter, but from chaste and saints, as if from golden-woven matter, the prototype of which was the Old Testament tabernacle, which God ordered Moses to make from scarlet and scarlet matter and from fine linen (Ex. 27:16).

This tabernacle represented the Virgin Mary, in Whom God had "to live 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 the linen, from which the tabernacle was made, represented the parents of the Mother of God, who descended and was born from chastity and abstinence, as if from scarlet and scarlet clothes, and their perfection in the fulfillment of 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, both the power of God's grace, and the honor of the Born and the dignity of the parents were revealed; for it is impossible for a barren and aged woman to give birth otherwise than by the power of the grace of God: here it is no longer nature that works, but God, who conquers the laws of nature and destroys the bonds of barrenness. To be born of infertile and aged parents is a great honor for the one who was born herself, because she is born not from intemperate parents, but from temperate and aged parents, 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 barrenness they gave birth to joy to the whole world, by which they became like the holy patriarch Abraham and his pious wife Sarah, who, according to the promise of God, gave birth to Isaac in old age (Gen. 21: 2). However, without a doubt, it can be said that the birth of the Virgin is higher than the birth of Isaac by Abraham and Sarah. As far as herself virgin born Mary 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 with zealous fasting and prayers, in spiritual sorrow and heartfelt sorrow, they begged God for this: and their sorrow turned into joy, and their dishonor was a harbinger of great honor, and the zealous petition of the leader to receive blessings, and prayer is the best intercessor.

Joachim and Anna mourned and wept for a long time that they had no children. Once, on a big feast, Joachim brought gifts to the Lord God in the Jerusalem temple; along with Joachim, all the Israelites offered their gifts as a sacrifice to God. The high priest Issachar, who was at that time, did not want to accept the gifts of Joachim, because he was childless.

“You shouldn’t,” he said, “accept gifts from you, because you don’t have children, and therefore God’s blessings: you probably have some secret sins.”

Also, one Jew from the tribe of Reuben, along with others who brought his gifts, reproached Joachim, saying:

Why do you want to offer sacrifices to God before me? do you not know that you are not worthy to bring gifts with us, for you will leave no descendants in Israel?

These reproaches greatly saddened Joachim, and in great sorrow he left the temple of God disgraced and humiliated, and the holiday turned into sadness for him, and the festive joy was replaced by sorrow. Deeply grieving, he did not return home, but went into the wilderness to the shepherds who pastured his flocks, and there wept for his barrenness and for the reproach and reproaches made to him.

Remembering Abraham, his forefather, to whom God had given a son already at an advanced age, Joachim began earnestly praying to the Lord that He would grant him the same favor, hear his prayer, have mercy and take away from him the reproach from people, granting him in old age fruit to his marriage, as once to Abraham.

“May I,” he prayed, “be able to be called the father of a child, and not childless and outcast from God to endure reproaches from people!”

Joachim added fasting to this prayer and did not eat bread for forty days.

“I will not eat,” he said, “and I will not return to my house; Let my tears be my food, and this wilderness 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 them for barrenness, and that her husband had gone into the wilderness out of great sorrow, wept with inconsolable tears.

“Now,” she said, “I am the most unfortunate of all: rejected by God, reviled by people and left by my husband!” what to cry about now: about your widowhood, or about childlessness, about your orphanhood, or about not being 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 her whose sorrow is as deep as the sea?

Once sad Anna went to 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 small chicks on the tree. This spectacle caused her even greater grief, and she began to cry with tears:

- Woe to me childless! It must be that I am the most sinful among all the daughters of Israel, that alone before all the women I am so humiliated. Everyone carries the fruit of their womb on their hands, everyone consoles themselves with their children: I alone am a stranger to this joy. Woe is me! The gifts of all are accepted in the temple of God, and they are respected for childbearing: I alone am rejected from the temple of my Lord. Woe is me! Who will I be like? nor to the birds of the air, nor to the beasts of the earth: for they too, O Lord God, bring forth their fruit to Thee, but I alone am barren. even with the earth I cannot compare myself: for it vegetates and grows seeds and, bearing fruit, blesses You, Heavenly Father: I alone am barren on earth. Alas for me, Lord, Lord! I am alone, sinful, deprived of offspring. You who once gave Sarah the son of Isaac in extreme old age (Gen.21:1-8), You who opened the womb of Anna, the mother of Your prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 1:20), now look at me and hear my prayers. Lord Sabaoth! You know the reproach of childlessness: stop the sadness of my heart and open my womb and make me barren, making me fruitful, so that we would bring you as a gift, blessing, singing and glorifying your mercy.

When Anna cried out like this with weeping and sobbing, an angel of the Lord appeared to her and said:

Anna, Anna! your prayer was heard, your sighs passed through the clouds, your tears appeared before God, and you will conceive and give birth to a blessed Daughter; through her all the tribes of the earth will be blessed and salvation will be given 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. May he serve Him and glorify holy name God's day and night throughout your life.

After this, filled with inexpressible joy, Saint Anna quickly went to Jerusalem, so that there with prayer she would give thanks to God for His merciful visit.

At the same time, an angel appeared to Joachim in the wilderness 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 your daughter, whose birth will be a joy to the whole world. And here is a sign for you that I am proclaiming the truth to you: go to Jerusalem to the temple of God and there, at the golden gate, you will find your wife Anna, to whom I proclaimed the same thing.

Joachim, surprised by such an angelic gospel, glorifying God and thanking Him with his heart and mouth for his great mercy, with joy and joy hastily set off for the Jerusalem temple. There, as the angel had announced to 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 announcing the birth of her daughter. Then Joachim and Anna glorified God, who had done them such a great mercy, and, bowing to Him in the holy temple, they returned to their home.

And Saint Anna conceived on the ninth day of the month of December, and on the eighth of September she gave birth to a daughter, the Most Pure and Most Blessed Virgin Mary, the beginning and intercessor of our salvation, at whose birth both heaven and earth rejoiced. Joachim, on the occasion of Her birth, offered God great gifts, sacrifices and burnt offerings, 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 plentiful meal in his house, and everyone glorified God with joy.

The growing Virgin Mary of Her parent was cherished like the apple of an 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 brought her up with such careful diligence, which befitted the one who was supposed to be the Mother of our Savior. They loved her not only as a daughter, expected for such a long time, but also revered her as their mistress, remembering the angelic words spoken about her, and foreseeing in spirit what should happen to her.

She, full of Divine grace, mysteriously enriched her parents with the same grace. Just as the sun illuminates the heavenly stars with its rays, giving them particles of its light, so the God-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 maiden Mary was three years old, her parents brought Her with glory into the temple of the Lord, accompanying her with lit lamps, and consecrated Her to the service of God, as they had promised. Several years after the introduction of Mary into the temple, Saint Joachim died at the age of eighty years from birth. Saint Anna, left a widow, left Nazareth and came to Jerusalem, where she remained near her Most Holy Daughter, praying unceasingly in the temple of God. Having lived in Jerusalem for two years, she reposed in the Lord, having 79 years from birth 2.

Oh, how blessed are you, holy parents, Joachim and Anna, for the sake of your Blessed Daughter!

Blessed are you especially for the sake of Her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all peoples and tribes of the earth have received blessing! Rightly did the Holy Church call 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 some part of your endless joy will be given to us too. Amen.

Troparion, tone 1:

Even in the lawful grace of the righteous, who gave birth to the God-given child for us, Joachim and Anna: the same day they celebrate lightly, merrily celebrating, divine church honor your memory, glorifying God, who raised up the horn of salvation for us in the house of David.

Kontakion, tone 2:

Now Anna rejoices, having resolved her barrenness, and nourishes the Most Pure One, calling all the praises, who gave from her womb a single Mother and an unskillful man.

For believing Orthodox people, personality Holy Mother of God causes a special reverent attitude and love. This is not accidental, because according to the Orthodox worldview, the Mother of God is the main intercessor and intercessor for people before her Son and God Jesus Christ.

The very birth of the Blessed Virgin was amazing miracle. The Virgin's parents Joachim and Anna were barren. All their lives they prayed to God to give them a child. However, the pious reading received the requested one only in old age, when it was difficult to imagine the birth of a child according to natural physiological laws (the parents of the Virgin were more than seventy years old at the time of the birth of the Virgin Mary). Such an amazing event was only an omen of who the born child was destined to become.

The Most Holy Theotokos became the Mother of the second Person of the Holy Trinity - Jesus Christ. At the same time, for Orthodox people there is no doubt that the Mother of God is a virgin before Christmas, at Christmas and. This is another great miracle that is taking place.

The Most Holy Theotokos was the one who raised the baby Christ. She understood that the child born of her is the promised Messiah and Savior of the world (this is exactly what the Archangel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary on the day before the conception of Christ). The Mother of God knew about the miracles performed by Christ. The gospel narrative conveys the story of the first miracle of the Lord. Christ at the marriage in Cana of Galilee turned wine into water. This amazing event took place after the request of the Mother of God to Christ. The Mother of God noticed that the marriage ran out of wine. This narrative gives a clear indication of the boldness of the Mother of God towards her Son and God. Orthodox people believe that nothing is impossible for the Mother of God. It is she who is ready to fulfill the righteous requests of those who pray and ask God for great mercy to the human race.

The Most Holy Theotokos felt maternal grief with all her heart, seeing her Son dying on the cross. The Mother of God understood that only in such a cruel way could humanity earn salvation and gain the possibility of reconciliation with God.

The Most Holy Theotokos is called the Queen of Heaven and Earth. Unlike archangels, angels and saints, to whom believers turn with a request for prayers before God, Christians beg for salvation from the Virgin. The appeal "Most Holy Theotokos, save us" has already firmly entered the liturgical Christian life.

The Mother of God is the main patroness of every person. She, like a loving mother, is sick about each of her children. All this became the reason for the fact that for Orthodox Christians the Mother of God is so loved and close. The people show their love for the Virgin Mary not only in the offering of prayers, but also in the construction of majestic architectural structures. There are many temples and monasteries consecrated in honor of the Mother of God. Various church holidays dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The Mother of God herself throughout the post-Christian history did not leave her children, showing her numerous miraculous icons, which are still revered as Christian shrines and bring great relief in various hardships to many people.

Please tell us about the properties of the Mother of God. How can the words "Light" and "silence" be attributed to Her? Where can you read about it? Thanks.

Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) answers:

The Orthodox Church glorifies the Mother of God above all created rational beings - angels and people. Her veneration begins with the apostles. For them, She was not only the Mother of their beloved Teacher, but also the Helper and Patron of all Christians. Church tradition has preserved the testimony of Her by Her contemporary, Hieromartyr Dionysius the Areopagite, a disciple of St. apostle Paul. He, being the first bishop of Athens, specially came to Jerusalem to see the Most Holy Theotokos. In a letter to the Apostle Paul, he tells about his visit to the Mother of God: “It seemed incredible to me, I confess before God, oh, our excellent leader and leader! so that other than Himself supreme god was someone full of Divine power and wondrous grace; none of the people can comprehend what I saw and comprehended through not only spiritual eyes, but also bodily ones. I saw with my eyes the most holy Mother of Christ Jesus, our Lord, who was given to me to see the grace of God, indulgence Supreme Apostle(John) and the inscrutable goodness and mercy of the most merciful Virgin. Again and again I confess before the omnipotence of God, before the Grace of the Savior and before the glorious honor of the Virgin, His Mother, that when he was introduced before the face of the godlike, the most holy Virgin John, the head of the Evangelists and Prophets, who, living in the flesh, shines like the sun in heaven, then such a great and immeasurable Divine radiance shone over me, not only from the outside, but even more enlightened inside, and I was filled with such a wondrous and varied fragrance that neither my feeble body nor my spirit could bear such and such signs and the beginnings of eternal bliss and glory. My heart has failed, my spirit has failed in me because of her Divine glory and grace. I testify by God, who had a residence in the most honest womb of the Virgin, that if I had not kept in my memory and in the newly enlightened mind your Divine teaching and commandments, then I would recognize the Virgin as God, and honor her with the worship due to the one true God: because the mind cannot imagine a greater honor and glory for a person glorified by God than that bliss that I, unworthy, was honored to taste , having then become completely blessed and prosperous. I thank my supreme and most good God, the divine Virgin, the most graceful Apostle John, and also you, the supreme and triumphant head of the Church, who graciously showed me such a beneficence ”(February Menaion, August 15, narration about the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos).

St. Ambrose of Milan, on the basis of a tradition that had come down to him, wrote about the Mother of God: “She was a Virgin not only in body, but also in soul, humble in heart, prudent in words, prudent, not saying much, a lover of reading, industrious, chaste in speech. Her rule was not to offend anyone, to be well-disposed to everyone, to honor elders, not to envy equals, to avoid boasting, to be sane, to love virtue. When did She even offend her parents with her facial expression, when she was in disagreement with her relatives? When you were proud before a modest person, laughed at the weak, evaded the poor? She had nothing stern in her eyes, nothing imprudent in words, nothing indecent in her actions: her body movements were modest, her tread was quiet, her voice was even; so that Her bodily appearance was the expression of the soul, the personification of purity. She turned all Her days into fasting: she indulged in sleep only at the request of need, but even then, as Her body rested, She was awake in spirit, repeating what she had read in a dream, or thinking about bringing her proposed intentions to fruition, or delineating new ones. She left the house only to go to church, and then accompanied by relatives. However, although She appeared outside Her house accompanied by others, She herself was the best guardian for Herself; others guarded only her body, and she guarded her customs herself ”( About virgins).

According to the description preserved by the church historian Nicephorus Kallistos, the Mother of God “was of medium height, or, as others say, somewhat more than average; golden hair; eyes quick, with pupils as if the color of olives; the eyebrows are arched and moderately black, the nose is oblong, the lips are flowering, full of sweet speeches; the face is neither round nor pointed, but somewhat oblong; her hands and fingers are long... In conversation with others, she maintained decency, did not laugh, did not get indignant, and especially did not get angry; completely artless, simple. She did not think in the least about herself and, far from effeminacy, she was distinguished by complete humility. As for the clothes she wore, She was content with their natural color, which even now proves Her sacred head covering. In short, in all Her actions, a special grace was revealed.

The main features of the personality of the Mother of God, first of all, are:

1. Holiness. With her virtues and purity, She surpasses all the righteous and angels who have ever lived. The Virgin Mary is perfect image believer. "If honorable death of the saints(Ps. 116:6) and the memory of the righteous with praises(Prov. 10:7), how much more is the memory of the Most Holy of Holies, through Whom all sanctification is given to the saints” (St. Gregory Palamas). Its holiness is defined by the Church superlatives calling the Holy One.

2. Everlasting. Saint Demetrius of Rostov considers this property to be the main feature of Her personality: “From Her youth, She ascended to God the Holy Spirit with virginal purity, becoming a living Church and His animated temple.” Carnal people were tempted by this highest feature. Against them, St. John of Damascus: “Ever-virgin and after birth remains a virgin, having no communion with her husband until death. If it is written: and not knowing her, until for the sake of her firstborn son(Matthew 1:25), you must know that the firstborn is the one who born first even though he was the only one. For the word first-born means the one who was born first, but does not necessarily indicate the birth of others .... Yes, and how would the One who gave birth to God and from what followed then experienced a miracle allow union with her husband? No, even thinking like that, not what to do, is not characteristic of a sane mind.
But this blessed and blessed with supernatural gifts, those torments that she escaped at birth, endured during suffering (His Son), when maternal pity tormented her womb, and when thoughts torn apart (her soul) like a sword at the sight of the fact that He Whom she knew God through birth, she is put to death as a villain. This (precisely) means words; and to yourself soul will pass weapon(Luke II, 35), but this sadness is destroyed by the joy of the resurrection, proclaiming that He who died in the flesh is God. Later, the ever-virginity of the Virgin became a stumbling block for Protestants. Their denial of this highest virtue Her proves that they seek to adapt Christianity to the needs of a weak earthly man, instead of elevating him to heavenly heights. “In order to confirm this monstrous thought,” writes St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov), “ignorant and unfortunate detractors refer to the Gospel… Protestants can be answered with the words of the Savior, spoken by Him to the Sadducees: You are deceived, ignorant of the Scriptures, nor the power of God…. The Gospel mentions the brethren of the God-man; the detractors of the Ever-Virgin point to this circumstance as a confirmation of their opinion. But true legend Orthodox Church explains that the name of the brothers of the Lord was borne by the sons of the righteous Joseph, the betrothed of the Mother of God, from his first wife. They were called brothers of the Lord in exactly the same way that Joseph was called His father. The Mother of God herself called Joseph so. Finding the twelve-year-old Lord in the temple of Jerusalem, she said to Him: Child, what can you make nama tacos? this is your father, and I am sicker with claims to you. Modern Jews, who did not know the conception from the Holy Spirit and the birth from the Virgin, recognized the God-man as the son of Joseph, and the Mother of God, the disciples and neighbors of the Lord hid the great mystery from the hardened Jews, who did not stop blaspheming obvious signs. What blasphemous cry would they raise if the conception of the Spirit and the birth of the Virgin were revealed to them? This remained unknown to them, and, according to popular opinion, Joseph was considered and called the father, therefore, his sons were considered and called the brothers of the Lord. They were much older in years than the God-man, who, therefore, in relation to them could not be the firstborn.

3. Humility. This most important virtue was characteristic of Her, as the holy fathers say, from infancy. She herself says: my soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, that He looked upon the humility of His Servant(Luke 1:46-48).

4. Mother. She miraculously combines virginity and motherhood. Another feature of Her motherhood, unlike all the mothers of the world, is that She gave birth to the incarnated God. This is the basis of people's great hope for Her help and intercession. The Lord Who Commanded honor your father and your mother(Ex. 20:12), He himself remains faithful to her. Suffice it to recall the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee: And as there was a lack of wine, the Mother of Jesus said to Him: they have no wine. Jesus says to her: What is it to me and to you, Woman? My hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servants: whatever He tells you, do it. There were also six stone water-carriers, standing [according to the custom] of the cleansing of the Jews, containing two or three measures. Jesus tells them to fill the vessels with water. And filled them to the top(John 2:3-7). Although the time for the miracles of Jesus had not yet come, but at the request of the Mother, He performed a miracle.

“The veneration of the Mother of God,” writes E.N. Poselyanin, “is one of the most gratifying aspects of Christianity and will fade away only when the thirst for maternal love, maternal affection and care is etched out in the human soul. We need an all-forgiving heart, loving us not because we are good or pleasant, but because we exist, that it has contained us once and for all and can no longer refuse us, like a river cannot but flow and a star can't help but shine."

5. Queen of Heaven. The Mother of God as the Mother of the King of Glory in the Kingdom of Heaven is the Queen. Prophecies about this are already contained in the sacred books of the Old Testament. The Holy Prophet David in a psalm depicts the glory of the King and Queen: The Queen appears at Your right hand, in the robes of gilded robes, she is dotted. Hear, Dshi, and see, and incline Your ear, and forget Your people, and Your father's house. All glory to the daughter of the Tsareva inside: robes (decorations) with golden robes and dotted. The virgins will be brought to the King in the wake of Her, her sincere ones will be brought to You; they will be brought in joy and joy, they will be introduced into the temple of the Tsar(Ps. 45:10-16). The Holy Church applies this prophecy to the Mother of God.

In the 10th century, when a threat loomed over the capital of the Christian empire, there was the appearance of the Mother of God. An all-night vigil was held in the Blachernae Church. Blessed Andrew. at 4 o'clock in the morning I saw a majestic Woman walking from the royal doors with a host of saints, John the Baptist and John the Theologian supported Her by the arms, and the saints in white robes partly walked in front, partly behind Her, singing spiritual hymns. Andrew asked his disciple Epiphanius: Do you see the Lady and Queen of the world? I see, he replied.

The doctrine of the Mother of God as the Queen of Heaven was expressed in iconography. One of these images is the Sovereign icon.

“How can the words “Light” and “silence” be attributed to Her? The Blessed Virgin is not only the Mother of Light ( Let us exalt the Mother of God and Mother of Light in songs), but Herself is often referred to as the Luminous. Like a shining star. Mistress, She is all in the radiance of Light - God, like a red-hot coal in a great fire. All bright and fiery. Just as it is easy to think that He, God, is Light and Holiness, so She is eternal Light and eternal Holiness.(St. Right. John of Kronstadt).

Word silence with good reason can be applied to the Mother of God. It pacifies, gives people the desired silence. Therefore, we ask Her about this: we unceasingly pray to Thee, good Mother, to preserve peace and silence for all of us, and deliver us from unrest and confusion, from sedition and internecine strife, and from all kinds of deadly ulcers, and all in piety abiding, in a quiet and silent life, complacently sing the praise of God : Alleluia(Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos in honor of Her icon, called Jerusalem).

For Orthodox person sons love for the Mother of God is the precious side of his spiritual life. Rejoice, our Joy, deliver us from all need and sorrow.

The compilers of the canonical gospels left almost no details of the life of the Virgin Mary. In the New Testament there is a story about the Annunciation, about the meeting of the Virgin and Elizabeth - the mother of John the Baptist, a short story about the Nativity of Christ and the Presentation of Christ, one replica of the Virgin at the marriage in Cana of Galilee. The Gospel of John reports that the Mother of God stood in front of the cross of Christ. And that's it. But there are much more holidays associated with the events of the earthly life of the Virgin. How do we know about these events?

Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth the Righteous. Church of St. George, Kurbinovo, Macedonia. 1191

The life of the Virgin is described in detail in the texts of church tradition. The most important of these can be considered the "Protevangelium of James" - an apocryphal text written no later than 150 years.

The word apocrypha should not confuse the reader - in this case it means that the text simply did not become part of the New Testament, but from ancient times was revered in the Church as an authoritative source.

The author of the story about the Theotokos begins his story by describing the sufferings of Joachim and Anna, who had no children for a long time. An angel appeared to the elderly spouses and predicted the birth of a child. The story of the childhood years of the Mother of God is very detailed. The reader can even learn about when and how she took her first steps: “From day to day the child grew stronger, and when she was six months old, she put her mother on the ground to try if she could stand, and after walking seven steps, she returned to her mother. The mother took her in her arms and said: As the Lord my God lives, you will not walk on this earth until I bring you into the temple of the Lord. And they arranged a special place in the daughter’s bedroom, and it was forbidden to bring anything unclean there, and called (Anna) the blameless daughters of the Jews to look after her.

At the age of three, the girl is dedicated to God, giving her up for education in a Jewish temple, and Joachim and Anna are afraid of returning their daughter home, and therefore they come up with a trick: “Call the blameless daughters of the Jews, and let them take the lamps and stand with the lit (lamps) so that the child does not turn back and that she loves the temple of the Lord in her heart.”

Caress of Mary. Fragment-mark of the icon of the Nativity of the Theotokos with marks from the life of Joachim, Anna and the Mother of God, 17th century (1642?)

Until the age of 12, the Mother of God remains at the temple. At the age of 12, a guardian is chosen for her, who must protect the girl's chastity. The choice falls on Joseph, in whose hands a staff blossoms.

Four more years pass, and the Mother of God meets the Archangel Gabriel, who predicts to her the imminent birth of Christ. Apocrypha, unlike the canonical Gospels, describes the period of waiting for the Virgin very dramatically. In the sixth month of pregnancy, Joseph returns to the house from carpentry work (the text does not explain the reasons for such a long absence of the righteous man) and suspects his pupil of the loss of chastity. The Virgin Mary reassures Joseph, and a serious problem arises before the righteous: “If I hide her sin, I will become a violator of the Law, and if I tell the children of Israel about it, I will betray innocent blood to death.” Joseph wants to secretly let her go so as not to shame and judge the Jews, but an angel appears and convinces her not to do this.

The text then describes the hard-hearted reaction of the Jews, who believed Joseph and Mary only after they had drunk water mixed with mud and did not get sick (“God’s judgment” in one form or another was common until the late Middle Ages. Most often, the probationer was asked to enter into the fire or take something out of the fire).

The Apocrypha ends with a story about the Nativity of Christ. The text basically follows the canonical gospels, adding only one miracle. The midwife who delivered the baby told her friend about the miracle of ever-virginity, and she wanted to see it for herself. After such a test, the woman's hand began to be taken away, and she was healed only after she took the Divine Infant in her arms.

The last few lines tell of the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt and the murder of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist.

Another text from which the reader can learn about the life of the Virgin, or rather about her Assumption, dates back to about the 5th century. For a long time, Christians did not celebrate the Assumption, it entered into church calendar no earlier than the 5th century. The legend of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos is an apocrypha with an abundance of miracles and facts that are simply impossible to verify, and therefore the Church, reverently revering the Mother of God, does not insist on the reliability of everything stated in these texts. Different apocrypha may not coincide with each other in detail, and the absence of reliable evidence is replaced in them by a clear hagiographic scheme.

The Mother of God spent the last years of her earthly life in Jerusalem. She often went to Golgotha ​​to pray. On one of those days, the archangel Gabriel appeared to her and predicted that in three days she would go to Christ.

The Life of the Mother of God (case kiot), 13th century, Egypt. Monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai (This is the only icon in Sinai that is revered by the monks as miraculous, although it does not have special service or a particular day of celebration. Now it is located in the altar of the main basilica, on the steps of the ancient throne to the left of the High Place. The placement of this image in the altar is a long tradition, which gave the icon its special monastic name "Bematarissa" (Altar)).

Apocrypha tells that before her Assumption, the Mother of God wanted to say goodbye to the apostles, and they were miraculously transferred to her house. The author of the text attributed to John the Theologian and called in science: “The Legend of the Dormition of the Mother of God”, vividly describes the short-term resurrection of the already dead disciples of Christ: “And those who had already died - Andrew, the brother of Peter, and Philip, Luke, and Simon the Zealot, and Thaddeus - were excited by the Holy Spirit from the tombs. The Holy Spirit said to them: do not think that now the resurrection is coming, but for this you have risen from your graves in order to go to a greeting in honor and glorification of the Mother of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, because the day of the exodus, taking her to heaven, has approached. .

Since this text speaks of the apostles Peter and Paul as living, it can be assumed that the Dormition of the Mother of God occurred no later than 68 years (the latest date for the crucifixion of these apostles).

The text tells about the numerous miracles that occurred at the time of the Dormition. The Latin version contains a story about the Apostle Thomas, who was a few days late for the burial of the Virgin and then did not find her body in the tomb. Foma tries to draw the attention of the disciples to this miracle, but they do not believe him for a long time: “Then blessed Peter said to him: in the past, if you did not want to believe us that our Teacher and Lord had risen, then how can you believe us that there was a holy body here? But Thomas insisted even more, saying: He is not here. Then, as if angry, they proceeded to the tomb, which was new cut in the rock (i.e., to the tomb), and rolled away the stone, but they did not find the body there and did not know what to say, defeated by the speeches of Thomas. Then blessed Thomas told them how he used to chant in India; then, no one knows how, he was transferred to the Mount of Olives, saw that the most holy body of the blessed Mary was ascending into heaven, and asked her to give him a blessing. She heard his prayer and threw off her belt to him, with which she was girded.

That is actually all the information about the earthly life of the Virgin, which can be found in ancient and medieval sources. On the one hand, there are very few of them, on the other hand, this does not prevent us from honoring and loving her.

The feminine principle, the image of a woman-mother, the giver of life, is revered in all world religions. Yes, in Ancient Greece thus became, in Asia they prayed to the goddess Cybele, in Egypt the supreme feminine personified. The Christian religion is no exception. The image of the Blessed Virgin Mary contains both the divine miracle of the birth of life and the earthly path of an ordinary woman, whose fate turned out to be far from cloudless.

Childhood and youth

The father of the Virgin was Joachim, a man of faith and righteousness. A mother named Anna, like her husband, always followed the letter of the Law of God. This family lived in complete harmony, only one thing overshadowed the existence of the spouses: the absence of children. For many years, Anna and Joachim prayed that the Lord would send them a child, but the prayers were in vain. The suffering of the childless couple was intensified by the ridicule of those around them, who did not miss a chance to slander over the grief of this righteous couple.

Anna and Joachim lived in marriage for almost 50 years and already despaired of having a child. But one day Anna, walking in the garden, saw an angel. He promised the surprised woman that she would soon become a mother, and her child would be known to the whole world. Anna hurried home to tell her husband about the vision. Imagine Anna's surprise when it turned out that Joachim also saw an angel announcing that the prayers for the child had been heard.

After some time, Anna really became pregnant. Then the couple made a vow that they would give the newborn to the service of the Lord. The daughter was born on time and received the name Maria (in Hebrew, this name is pronounced Miriam and is translated as “beautiful”, “strong”). The neighbors of Joachim and Anna began to gossip again, this time marveling at the miracle.

The couple raised their daughter and prepared to fulfill the promise. Three years later, they gave little Mary to be raised in the Jerusalem temple. Surprisingly, the girl easily overcame fifteen steps to the gates of the temple, which were sometimes difficult even for adults.

A few years later, the righteous Anna and Joachim died. Maria continued to live at the temple, studying with other girls in a special school. Here, young pupils were taught the basics of science, taught the Word of God, and also prepared for worldly life, housekeeping and raising children. Until the age of 12, Maria lived within the walls of this school. Best of all, the girl was given sewing. There is a legend that it was she who was entrusted with sewing a curtain and a coverlet for the temple sanctuary.

Given such an upbringing, an enviable bride should have grown out of Mary - hardworking, pious and educated. But such a fate did not attract the girl, and she took a vow of celibacy. This created certain difficulties: mature girls were not allowed to live at the temple, and the grown-up Mary had to leave God's house.

But it was impossible for her to live alone according to the laws of that time. The priests, who became attached to the pupil, found a way out: Mary was married off to the elderly widower Joseph, who, due to his age, had to keep the girl clean, allowing her not to break the word given to God.

At first, the elder was not happy about the young bride who fell on his head. In addition, the man was afraid of gossip behind his back and ridicule from relatives and neighbors - the age difference was so great. However, Joseph did not dare to contradict the will of the priests and took Mary into the house, calling him his wife.

Birth of Jesus Christ

After some time, Joseph, who worked as a carpenter, left the house for several months, going to the next construction site. Maria, remaining on the farm, looked after the order, wove and prayed a lot. According to legend, during a prayer, an angel appeared to the girl, who told about the imminent birth of her son.

The boy, according to the angel, was to become the savior of people, those whose arrival the Jews had long expected. Mary was embarrassed by this revelation, because she remained a virgin. To which she was answered, what will she suffer from higher power and not from the male seed. This day in the Christian tradition became the feast of the Annunciation - in memory of the good news that the Virgin Mary received.

And indeed, Maria soon realized that she was pregnant. The woman did not yet realize the role that her son was to play, but she understood that she had become a participant in a real miracle of the Immaculate Conception.

Joseph, who returned home some time later, immediately noticed the changes that had taken place in his wife. This good person he did not immediately believe Maria's story, deciding that the naive girl had simply become a victim of deception by some neighbor young man who had seduced her.

The old man did not blame his wife and even wanted to secretly let her leave the city so that she would not become a victim of justice: treason in those days was severely punished, an unfaithful woman could be stoned and whipped. Then an angel appeared to the carpenter, telling about the immaculate conception of Mary. This convinced Joseph of the innocence of his wife, and he allowed the girl to stay.

Shortly before the due date, Caesar Augustus announced a general census of the population. For this, people had to come to Bethlehem on their own. Joseph and Mary set out on their journey. Arriving at the place, they found that the city was simply crowded with crowds of people. It was not possible to find a place to stay for the night, and the couple decided to spend the night in a cave in which the shepherds hid their cattle from the rain.

Virgin Mary with baby Jesus

It was there that Mary gave birth to a son. The first cradle for the boy was a nursery for feeding animals. That same night, the star of Bethlehem shone over the cave, the light of which told people about the appearance of a miracle on earth. In addition, the light of the star of Bethlehem was seen by the magi, who immediately set off on their journey to personally bow to the newborn Son of God and offer gifts to him.

Seven days later, as required by the law of the time, the baby was circumcised and given a name. The son of the Virgin Mary was named. Then the boy was brought to the church to present to God and bring the traditional sacrifice. A certain elder Simeon, who also came to the temple that day, blessed the baby, realizing who was in front of him. To Mary, he allegorically hinted that both she and her son were destined for a difficult fate.

Gospel Events

While the Holy Virgin Mary with her husband and newborn baby was in Bethlehem, the cruel and ambitious King Herod learned about the birth of the Son of God. However, the soothsayers who told Herod about the miracle that had happened could not answer the question in whose family Jesus was born.

Then, without hesitation, the king ordered the destruction of all newborns that are only in Bethlehem. Joseph was warned of the impending disaster by an angel who again appeared to the elder in a dream. Then the carpenter with Mary and the baby took refuge in Egypt, and only when the danger had passed did he return with his family to his native Nazareth.

About the further biography of the Virgin in the Gospel is written sparingly. It is known that Mary accompanied Jesus Christ everywhere, supporting him and helping to carry the Word God's people. Also, the woman was present at the miracle that Jesus performed, turning water into wine.

Obviously, Mary had a hard time: the constant sermons that her son delivered did not always evoke a good response in people. Often, Jesus and those who accompanied him had to endure the ridicule and aggression of those who did not want to accept the postulates of religion.

On the day when Jesus Christ was crucified by the executioners, Mary felt the pain of her son and even fainted when the nails pierced his palms. And although the Mother of God knew from the very beginning that Jesus was destined to accept torment for the sins of people, the mother's heart could hardly withstand such suffering.

Death and ascension

Mary spent the rest of her life on Mount Athos, preaching among the pagans and carrying the Word of God. Now a large complex of monasteries and cathedrals has been built on that site, each of which contains evidence of miracles revealed by the Mother of God: numerous miraculous icons (some of them, according to legend, are not made by hands), the belt of the Virgin (kept in the Vatoped monastery), as well as the relics of people , canonized by the church as saints.

At the end of her life, Mary spent all her days in prayer, asking her son to take her to him. One day, an angel appeared to the woman again, announcing that her prayers had been heard, and after three days her wish would be granted. Mary, who happily accepted the news of her imminent death, devoted three days to saying goodbye to those who were dear to her.

On the appointed day, Mary, lying on her deathbed, dutifully awaited her fate. People close to her gathered around her. All of them witnessed a new miracle: Jesus Christ himself descended from heaven to take his mother with him. Mary's soul left her body and ascended into the Kingdom of God. The body that remained on the bed seemed to glow with grace.

Ascension of the Virgin Mary

According to the records of the historian Eusebius of Caesarea, Mary died in the year 48 after the birth of Christ, but there are other written testimonies that name both earlier and later dates. According to biblical tradition, the Mother of God lived for 72 years.

Some time later, the apostles discovered that the body of the Virgin Mary had disappeared from the burial cave. On the same day, the Mother of God appeared to them and announced that her body had been taken up to heaven after her soul, so that she could become a Holy Intercessor before God for people in need of help. Since then, the day of the Assumption of the Virgin is considered one of the main Christian holidays.

According to the traditions of Muslims (who revere Christ not as the Son of God, but as one of the prophets), Jesus (or Isa) performed the first miracle while still in the womb of the Virgin Mary. This happened on the day of childbirth, when the Mother of God was already completely exhausted from pain. Then Jesus pointed out to the woman the spring created by God, and date palm strewn with fruits. Water and dates strengthened Mary's strength and eased the suffering in childbirth.

On some icons, the Mother of God is depicted with lily flowers in her hands. This flower was not chosen by chance: the lily is considered a symbol of chastity, purity and purity.

The description of the appearance of the Virgin Mary is preserved in the works of the church historian Nicephorus Callistus. Judging by the notes of this person, the Mother of God was of medium height. The Virgin's hair shone with gold, while her eyes, lively and quick, were the color of olives. Nikifor also noted “juicy lips, arched eyebrows and long arms and fingers" of Mary.

After earthly death The Virgin remained a few places, which, according to legend, are considered the inheritance of the Virgin Mary. These are Mount Athos, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Iberia (now it is the territory of Georgia) and the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery. It is believed that prayers read in one of these destinies will certainly be heard by the Mother of God.

December 8 - the day of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary - is even declared a non-working day in some countries. From European countries This decision was made by Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Spain. On this day in Catholic churches and Orthodox churches services are held and prayers are read. This day is also considered a public holiday in Argentina and East Timor.

Despite the fact that Mount Athos is considered one of the earthly inheritances of the Virgin Mary, women are not allowed to enter the territory of the monastery complexes. This rule is even enshrined in law, and violators will face severe punishment (up to and including imprisonment). However, this ban was violated twice: during civil war in Greece (then women and children took refuge in the forests on the slopes of the mountain) and during the period of Turkish rule over these territories.

Memory (in the Orthodox tradition)

• March 25 - Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
• July 2 - Deposition of the Holy Robe of the Most Holy Theotokos in Blachernae
• August 15 - Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
• August 31 - The position of the belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Chalkopratia
• September 8 - Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
• September 9 - The memory of the holy righteous Joachim and Anna, the parents of the Virgin
• October 1 - Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos
• November 21 - Entry into the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos
• December 9 - Conception righteous Anna Holy Mary
• December 26 - Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary