My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVERS SHALL BE.
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ON DECEMBER 9th OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH COMMEMORATES THE CONCEPTION BY RIGHTEOUS ANNA OF THE VIRGIN MARY
Our Lord and God, wishing to prepare a Living Temple and Sacred Abode for Himself, sent an Angel to the righteous Joachim and Anna with word that the barren and childless Anna would conceive the Maiden. He had fore-chosen to be His Mother according to the flesh. Soon after marital union Anna indeed found herself to be with child, and in time bore the Holy Virgin Mary, according to the Divine promise. Only Our Lord and God Jesus Christ was conceived ineffably and without seed, by the Theotokos and through the operation of the Holy Spirit. At His Incarnation, the Lord received the fullness of His human nature (that same nature which He Himself created in the beginning) from the Maiden who knew not wedlock. Saint Anna became pregnant after she and her husband came together, and she carried the Queen of Heaven within for a full nine months.
The present feast was celebrated with a special splendor at the Most Honorable Temple of Our Lady the Theotokos at Evorania, near the Great Church of Holy Wisdom (Agia Sophia) in Constantinople.
In the Orthodox Church, the place of Our All-Holy Lady, the Theotokos, and Ever-Virgin Mary, is especially sublime. According to Saint John of Damaskos, she holds second place after the Holy Trinity...The person of the Theotokos is presented in the Gospels as the Model and example of a faithful woman, called to salvation in the faith and grace of God. She holds an exceptional position within the Church. She is the beautiful, modest, humble Maiden who totally accepted the Divine Logos/Word with complete faith. In contrast to the first Eve, Mary is obedient to the divine will--to the divine calling in its most perfect form" (+Elder Moses of Mt. Athos).
On December 9th we celebrate not only the gladsome tidings of the conception of the Most Holy Theotokos, which carried by the Angel of the righteous progenitors of the Pure Mother of God but also the memory of the sacred parents. By the messages of the Angel, God, Who has created everything from nothing, stirred the womb of the elderly Anna to bear fruit. The one who spent the whole of her child-bearing years in childlessness has the Lord God, on this day, turned into a child-bearing mother. He granted to the righteous people the fruit of their prayer because it pleased Him to bestow on the prudent parents, a daughter who was foreordained before all ages and chosen from all generations as the one from whom He wished to become Incarnate.
The Orthodox Church accepts the validity of the information supplied in the first five chapters of the Protoevangelium of James, concerning the conception by the righteous foremother of Christ, Anna. Many Holy Fathers quote the Protoevangelion regarding this event; included in this list is Saint John of Damascus, Saint Germanos, Saint Leo the Wise, and Saint Gregory Palamas, to mention a few.
The Blessed and Ever-glorious Virgin Mary sprang from the royal stock and family of David. Her father's name was Joachim, and her mother's name was Anna. Her father's family, of the Tribe of Judah, was from Nazareth of Galilee, but her mother's family was from Bethlehem of Judea. Her mother, Anna, was the daughter of Matthan the priest, of the Tribe of Levi.
Their lives were simple and righteous before the Lord, and irreproachable and pious before men. Joachim was the shepherd of his own sheep He feared the Lord in integrity and singleness of heart. Apart from his herds, he had no other occupation. Joachim was an exceedingly rich man and was wont to bring double offerings of what the law required, saying, "The superabundance of my substance shall be for the benefit of all the people, but the offering I make for myself is so that I might find mercy and forgiveness from the Lord for my sins."
At the age of twenty, Joachim took to wife Anna. They lived many years together, some say fifty, but had neither a son nor a daughter. This fact saddened the righteous ones because they could not hope that nay progeny of theirs might live to see the Messiah. Nevertheless, they vowed that, should the Lord grant them offspring, they would dedicate their child to the service of Lord God. On account of this, this pious husband and wife were wont to go up to Jerusalem, to the temple of the Lord, at each of the yearly festivals.
While Joachim tarried in the mountains, on a certain day, when he was alone, the Archangel Gabriel stood by him. Joachim was frightened at his appearance, but the Angel endeavored to restrain his fear, saying, "Fear not, Joachim, nor be disturbed by my appearance. I am the Angel of the Lord and have been sent by Him to tell thee that thy prayers have been heard and that thy charitable deeds have gone up into His Presence. God has seen thy shame and has heard the reproach of the unfruitfulness which has been unjustly brought against thee; for God is the avenger of sin, not of nature...
"...Anna, thy wife, will bring forth a daughter to thee, and thou shalt call her Mary. According to they vow, she shall be devoted to the Lord from her infancy, and she shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from her mother's womb. Mary shall not eat or drink anything unclean, nor shall her conversation of life be among the crowds of the people, but in the Temple of the Lord, that it may not be possible to say, or so much as to suspect, any evil concerning her."
The account of the Nativity of Mary portrays the Archangel Gabriel as knowledgeable of the Great Destiny of Mary when he utters the following sentence: "So in the process of her years, as she shall be in a miraculous manner born of one that was barren, so she shall, while yet a virgin, in an incomparable manner, bring forth the Son of the Most High, the Savior of all nations."
"And this shall be a sign to thee of the things which I announce; When thou shalt come to the Golden Gate in Jerusalem, thou shalt meet there thy wife Anna who, lately, has been anxious from the delay of thy return, and will rejoice to see thee." Having thus spoken, the Angel departed from Joachim.
The Angel Appears to Anna
While the holy Anna was in the garden, behold, the same Angel of the Lord then appeared to her, saying, "Anna, Anna, the Lord has heard thy prayer, and thou shalt conceive and bring forth; and thy seed shall be spoken of in all the world." And Anna said, "As the Lord my God liveth, if I beget either male or female, I will bring it as a gift to the Lord my God; and I shall minister unto Him all the days of its life" (1 Samuel 1:11).
At Vespers (Esperinos) of this feast, we chant: "Wise Anna prayed faithfully, and God hearkened. And she heard the Angel's confirmation of her many entreaties."
The Angel said, "I am the Angel who has presented thy prayers and alms before God; and now I have been sent to thee to announce to thee that thou shalt bring forth a daughter, who shall be called Mary, and who shall be blessed above all women. She shall be full of the favor of the Lord, even from her birth. She shall remain in her father's house until she is weaned, and thereafter she shall be delivered to the service of the Lord. She shall serve God, day and night, in fasting and prayers. She shall abstain from every unclean thing and shall not depart from the temple until she shall reach the years of discretion."
Gabriel then said, "Arise, therefore, and go up to Jerusalem, and when thou shalt come to the gate which, because it is plated with gold, is called 'Golden,' there, for a sign, thou shalt meet thy husband, for whose safety thou hast been anxious. When, therefore, thou shalt find these things accomplished, believe that all the rest which I have told thee shall also undoubtedly be accomplished."
Therefore, as the Angel had commanded, both Joachim and Anna had set out from their respective places and went up to the Beautiful Gate of the Temple. Anna hastened with her maidens and, praying to the Lord, stood a long time in the gate waiting for Joachim. When she was wearied with long waiting, she lifted up her eyes and saw Joachim afar off, coming with his flocks. She ran to him and hung on his neck, giving thanks to God, saying, "Now I know that the Lord has blessed me exceedingly; for behold, I was a widow, and now I am not so; I, the childless one, shall conceive." Then, rejoicing at seeing each other, and secure in the certainty of the promised offspring, they gave thanks due to the Lord Who exalts the humble. And Joachim rested that day.
On the following day, Joachim brought his offerings into the Temple. After they had worshipped the Lord, they returned home, and Anna conceived by Joachim's seed, and they awaited the Divine promise in certainty and in gladness. When it was heard that Anna had conceived, there was great joy among all their neighbors and acquaintances, so that the whole land of Israel congratulated them.
The Heterodox Misconception of "Immaculate Conception" and "Original Sin"
Saint Ambrose (339-397 A.D.), bishop of Milan, comments that "of all those born of women, there is not a single one who is perfectly holy, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ..." The Orthodox Church teaches that the Virgin Mary was conceived by Joachim's seed and the period of gestation was nine months. None of the ancient Holy Fathers say that God in miraculous fashion purified the Virgin Mary while yet in Anna's womb. Only Jesus Christ is completely pure of every sin, while all men, being born of Adam, have borne a flesh subject to the law of sin. Many have correctly indicated that the Virgin Mary, just as all men, endured a battle with sinfulness, but was victorious over temptations and was saved by her Divine Son. (Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church)
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DIVINE SERVICE ON WEDNESDAY:
Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m.
Officiating Priest: Father Alexios Torrence
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George