Saint Anna breastfeeds the Virgin Mary (orthodox holy icon)

 

Byzantine fresco from the sanctuary of St. Stephen in Kastoria, Greece. Photo from the blog of Proskynitis (Pilgrim)

Orthodox Holy Church of Transfiguration of Lord, Baltimore, USA

On December 9th (or 22nd = the 9th by the old calendar) the Church commemorates the conception of the Most-holy Theotokos by the righteous Saint Anna.

In the land of Galilee, in the city of Nazareth, there lived the righteous couple Joachim and Anna, who were descendants of kings and high priests. This couple so pleased God with their pious life, that He chose them to become the parents of the Holy Virgin, the fore-chosen Mother of God. But just as the Lord Himself was to become incarnate from a Most-holy Mother, so the Mother of God was to be born of holy and pure parents. By the will of God Joachim and Anna remained childless until a very old age, so that in the conception and birth of their Daughter from barren and aged parents the power of God’s grace would be manifest, and a divine sign would be given to mankind.

For a long time the righteous Joachim and Anna sorrowed and wept over their childlessness, and were subjected to mockery and scorn from those around them, because the Jews of those times, who awaited the coming of the Messiah from the ancestry of David, looked upon barrenness as a sign of God’s punishment. The pious spouses, however, never lost hope in God’s mercy, and for their patience and unfailing faith in God their grief finally turned into joy, and their disgrace – into great honor and dignity.

Once, when Saint Anna in great sorrow prayed to God in her garden, the Lord sent an Angel who foretold her of the forthcoming conception and birth of a Maiden, which soon came to pass. The Church commemorates the conception of the Holy Virgin as being in accordance with God’s pledge, but at the same time springing from a physical union, thus pointing out that the Virgin Mary was born under natural human laws, and that in His incarnation the Lord Jesus Christ fully inherited from His Most-holy Mother the essence of mankind. The conception of the Holy Virgin Mary brought joy not only to Her parents, but to the entire world, because it was the first harbinger of God’s promise of mankind’s redemption through the coming of the Saviour down to earth.

The Conception by Righteous Anna of the Most Holy Mother of God (December 9)

Orthodox Church in America

[...] The Orthodox Church does not accept the teaching that the Mother of God was exempted from the consequences of ancestral sin (death, corruption, sin, etc.) at the moment of her conception by virtue of the future merits of Her Son. Only Christ was born perfectly holy and sinless, as Saint Ambrose of Milan teaches in Chapter Two of his Commentary on Luke. The Holy Virgin was like everyone else in Her mortality, and in being subject to temptation, although She committed no personal sins. She was not a deified creature removed from the rest of humanity. If this were the case, She would not have been truly human, and the nature that Christ took from Her would not have been truly human either. If Christ does not truly share our human nature, then the possibility of our salvation is in doubt.

The Conception of the Virgin Mary by Saint Anna took place at Jerusalem. The many icons depicting the Conception by Saint Anna show the Most Holy Theotokos trampling the serpent underfoot.

“In the icon Saints Joachim and Anna are usually depicted with hands folded in prayer; their eyes are also directed upward and they contemplate the Mother of God, Who stands in the air with outstretched hands; under Her feet is an orb encircled by a serpent (symbolizing the devil), which strives to conquer all the universe by its power.”

There are also icons in which Saint Anna holds the Most Holy Virgin on her left arm as an infant. On Saint Anna’s face is a look of reverence. A large ancient icon, painted on canvas, is located in the village of Minkovetsa in the Dubensk district of Volhynia diocese. From ancient times this Feast was especially venerated by pregnant women in Russia. 

Icon from here

Troparion — Tone 4

Today the bonds of barrenness are broken, / God has heard Joachim and Anna. / He has clearly promised them that beyond hope, they would bear a divine child, / by whom the uncircumscribable One was born as a mortal Man, / Who commanded the angel to cry to her: / “Hail, O full of grace, / the Lord is with you!”

Kontakion — Tone 4

(Podoben: “You have appeared today...”)
Today the world keeps festival / at Anna’s conceiving, wrought by God; / for she bore her who inexpressibly conceived the Word of God.

See also

When the Orthodox Church celebrates pregnancy...  

Saint Patapios of Thebes (Egypt), the Wonderworker (December 8) 

300 Martyrs Laypeople & 62 Priests of Africa, martyred by the Arians, & the Conception by Righteous Anna 

300 Martyrs Laypeople & 62 Priests of Africa, martyred by the Arians, & the Conception by Righteous Anna

 

300 Martyrs Laypeople & 62 Priests of Africa

 

 

Orthodox Church in America

 

Commemorated on December 8

The Holy Martyrs of Africa (62 Clergy and 300 Laypeople): They suffered in the time of the emperor Zeno (474-491). Guneric, the ruler of the Vandal kingdom in North Africa (map), came under the influence of heretical Arian bishops and began a fierce persecution against the Orthodox.
When believers had gathered at one of the churches and secretly celebrated the Divine Liturgy, barbarian soldiers burst into the church. Some of the worshippers fled, but 300 men voluntarily gave themselves over to torture and were beheaded. Of the clergy, two were burned, and sixty had their tongues cut out. By a miraculous Divine power they continued to preach and to oppose the Arian heresy.
They all endured horrible torments, but remained faithful to Christ and His holy Church. 

See also

Saint Patapios of Thebes (Egypt), the Wonderworker (December 8) [icon]
 

The Conception by Righteous Anna of the Most Holy Mother of God  

 

Commemorated on December 9

Troparion & Kontakion

Saint Anna, the mother of the Virgin Mary, was the youngest daughter of the priest Nathan from Bethlehem, descended from the tribe of Levi. She married Saint Joachim (September 9), who was a native of Galilee.
For a long time Saint Anna was childless, but after twenty years, through the fervent prayer of both spouses, an angel of the Lord announced to them that they would be the parents of a daughter, Who would bring blessings to the whole human race.

The Orthodox Church does not accept the teaching that the Mother of God was exempted from the consequences of ancestral sin (death, corruption, sin, etc.) at the moment of her conception by virtue of the future merits of Her Son. Only Christ was born perfectly holy and sinless, as Saint Ambrose of Milan teaches in Chapter Two of his Commentary on Luke. The Holy Virgin was like everyone else in Her mortality, and in being subject to temptation, although She committed no personal sins. She was not a deified creature removed from the rest of humanity. If this were the case, She would not have been truly human, and the nature that Christ took from Her would not have been truly human either. If Christ does not truly share our human nature, then the possibilty of our salvation is in doubt.
The Conception of the Virgin Mary by Saint Anna took place at Jerusalem. The many icons depicting the Conception by Saint Anna show the Most Holy Theotokos trampling the serpent underfoot.
“In the icon Saints Joachim and Anna are usually depicted with hands folded in prayer; their eyes are also directed upward and they contemplate the Mother of God, Who stands in the air with outstretched hands; under Her feet is an orb encircled by a serpent (symbolizing the devil), which strives to conquer all the universe by its power.”
There are also icons in which Saint Anna holds the Most Holy Virgin on her left arm as an infant. On Saint Anna’s face is a look of reverence. A large ancient icon, painted on canvas, is located in the village of Minkovetsa in the Dubensk district of Volhynia diocese. From ancient times this Feast was especially venerated by pregnant women in Russia. 

See also

When the Orthodox Church celebrates pregnancy...  
 

Remembering the 14,000 Holy Infants (Holy Innocents) slain by Herod in Bethlehem and… the many innocents killed by the herods of our days

 

Photo from here

 

OrthodoxWord

 

“Everything in this life passes away—only God remains, only He is worth struggling towards. We have a choice: to follow the way of this world, of the society that surrounds us, and thereby find ourselves outside of God; or to choose the way of life, to choose God Who calls us and for Whom our heart is searching.” — Fr. Seraphim Rose

Christ is Born, Glorify Him!

  In the festive atmosphere that embraced heaven and earth, just few days from the Nativity feast of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Church coats herself in much sorrow for the innocent babies slain by king Herod’s cruelty. Back than Jesus was saved from the wrath of Herod. Still today, He suffers the torment of death with each of the babies slain by modern tools of medicine, by the will of a society that had lost its balance and sense of life and raised to the rank of the law, the grivial sin of murdering babies.

  Truly the commandment of the Gospel “Thy shall not kill!” no longer holds true in a world that calls the good evil and the evil good.  

Life starts at conception

Most people do not know what happens during an abortion. Perhaps many women who committed abortion did not know that actually they killed a child. Why? Because they  are told that by the third month in the womb they bear only “a ball of cells” and not a true man.

  British Professor Stuart Campbell, a researcher at “Create Health Clinic” in London, managed to obtain, through a new type of ultrasound scan, three-dimensional images that allow viewing of fetal movements in real time. The study demonstrates for the first time that life begins with fertilization and not at birth. At the moment of conception, 46 chromosomes with 30,000 genes combine and determine all our physical characteristics: gender, facial and bodily features, eye color, hair and skin. Then, in just a few weeks, from one cell a tiny man is formed, having all the organs already present and able to work.

  What happens following the 3 months – in which some argue that the fetus is merely “a ball of cells”? 

The heart starts beating 18 days post conception, fetal blood passes through the umbilical cord, the placenta where the metabolic exchanges take place between the mother and the child: the child passes to the mother the remnants of carbon dioxide and the mother provides oxygen and nutrients. In about 3 weeks the hands start to  form and at 8 weeks, the fingers. The fetus can move the fingers and open his/her mouth.

At 40 days, the brain function is measured by EEG waves. This wonderful control center – the brain – sends messages to both mother and child.

At 2 months, the baby fingerprints are already imprinted in the skin.

At about 7 weeks, the first spontaneous movements are noticed, although the mother usually doesn’t feel the baby moving until about 16 weeks.

At 18 weeks, the fetus is active and energetic and makes numerous muscle flexes and can give sufficiently strong punches and kicks :)

At 26 weeks, the fetus can do a wide range of child specific gestures – to scratch, to smile, to hiccup and suck his/her fingers …

 

“Let children come to me …”

(the choice is made by God not by the pregnant women)

by Fr. Alexander Stanciu

Before enjoying the light of this life, God had ordained that the child will dwell and develop for 9 months in the safest shelter of the world: his mother’s womb. Today, however, man has transformed this possible safest shelter in the most dangerous place for that, although the child can do nothing to defend himself, his life can be taken even by the dearest person, his MOTHER .

 The conceived fetus becomes a human being at the time of fecundation, when God created immortal soul of man. The sin of abortion is a form of murdering baby Christ, Who in a certain way, is born with every baby. From the moment of conception, the child bears the image of God, and through Baptism will carry the image of Christ within. If this image is destroyed, in the women womb Christ is been crucified once more. Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain goes so far as saying that a mother who commits abortion, does not kill one human being, but in  so much she is killing as many survivors as would have resulted if  her child had lived.

 

Can abortion ever be recommended?

Lets follow these three examples:

1. The father is an alcoholic, the mother has tuberculosis. They have four children. The first one is blind. The second one died. The third child is deaf, and the fourth has tuberculosis. She becomes pregnant again. Given this extreme situation, would you take into account the recommendation of abortion?

2. A little black girl, aged 13, was raped by a white man, the little girl became pregnant. If you were her parents, would you recommend abortion?

3. A teenager girl is pregnant. She is not married. Her fiancé is not the father of the child. He is very upset and plans to leave her. In this case, would you consider abortion appropriate?

If you said “yes” to the 1st question: You have killed Beethoven.
If you said “yes” to the 2nd question: You have killed a great black singer of religious music, Ethel Wathers.
If you said “yes” to the 3rd question: You just decided to kill Jesus Christ.

“The Gestating Virgin Mother” - an icon by hagiographer Sophia Papazoglou, in the church of Saint Eleftherios on Acharnon Street in Athens, Greece  (from here)

 
You can see videos here (after the article)
 
See also

The Holy Innocents who slain by Herod at Bethlehem, the first martyrs for Christ!... (And what about the African Children?)  

When the Orthodox Church celebrates pregnancy...  
Orthodox Christians and Abortion
What does an abortion cost? A humanlife!  
The horror of abortion

What the Saints of the Orthodox Church say about abortion

About abortion

A Romanian mom's miracle pregnancy
Shooting pregnant women as targets

Pan-Hellenic Society of Friends of Large Families (from here the icon - here)

ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ για το θέμα:
 
Τα άγια Νήπια και οι σύγχρονοι Ηρώδες  
Παρακλητικός Κανόνας στα Άγια Νήπια της Βηθλεέμ (29 Δεκεμβρίου)
Έκτρωση (ενότητα)

When the Orthodox Church celebrates pregnancy...

“The Gestating Virgin Mother” - an icon by hagiographer Sophia Papazoglou, in the church of Saint Eleftherios on Acharnon Street in Athens, Greece  (from here)

As we all know, on the 25^th of March our Church celebrates the Feast of the Annunciation of the Theotokos - that is, of Her conversation with the Archangel Gabriel - who (without offering Her a lily, as the myth would have it), announced that She was the chosen vessel who was to bear the Godman Christ.

According to the ancient Tradition of our Church, as soon as the Theotokos responded with Her assent (according to the famous phrase in Luke 1:38, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord; may it be to me according to Your word”), the Saviour of the world was conceived in Her holy womb as an embryo.  The Theotokos offered from Her own flesh to God, so that the second Person of the Holy Trinity would be born as a man, for the salvation of mankind.     

This is why at the beginning of the Salutation hymns to the Theotokos it says that the Archangel “along with the incorporeal voice, he did see You becoming incarnate, o Lord” – that is, Gabriel actually witnessed God taking on a material body, and was not just hearing the incorporeal God’s voice…

Between the 25^th of March and the 25^th of December – the Day of Christ’s Nativity – is a period of 9 months, which represents the gestation period of the Holy Mother.  The Feast of the Annunciation was placed on the 25^th of March, after the Day of the Nativity had been designated in the month of December.

Our Church accordingly designated the 9^th of December as the day of Saint Anna’s conception - that is, the day on which the Theotokos was conceived as an embryo in the womb of Her mother, Saint Anna.  Between the 9^th of December and the 8^th of September (the day of birth of the Theotokos) is likewise 9 months: the duration of Saint Anna’s pregnancy.

Finally, on the 23^rd of September our Church celebrates the conception of the Precious Forerunner – that is, the conception of Saint John the Baptist as an embryo in his mother Saint Elizabeth’s womb.  From the 23^rd of September until the 24^th of June (the day of birth of the Baptist) is likewise 9 months: the duration of Saint Elizabeth’s pregnancy.

We should note that the Church celebrates the birthdays of only these three persons: of Christ, of the Theotokos and of Saint John the Baptist. All the other Saints are celebrated only on the day of their terrestrial death - that is, on the day of their definite entry into the foretaste of the heavenly kingdom (because the heavenly kingdom will be manifested with the Second Coming of the Lord). (They are also celebrated on other days, which are related to their deaths - for example the translation of their holy relics.)

These three periods of nine months are indicative of the immense worth and significance that the Orthodox Church ascribes - even from Her ancient times - to full-term pregnancy and to embryos, and by extension to maternity.

We might also add that, according to Luke’s Gospel, when the Theotokos was carrying Christ in Her womb and Saint Elizabeth was carrying the Baptist in her womb and the two women (who were related) met - as soon as the Theotokos greeted Elizabeth from a distance, the Baptist embryo leapt inside his mother’s womb and Saint Elizabeth was immediately inspired by the Holy Spirit into recognizing that Mary, the Virgin Mother, was carrying the Messiah inside Her womb (Luke 1:39-56).  This excerpt is of huge significance and is recited as the Gospel reading during the Minor Canon for the Supplication to the Theotokos. (Representative icon of the event, below)

Maasai Women, Kenya (From here) 

An embryo is not just a mass of cells; it is a normal, developing person according to our Holy Church and it has an immortal soul.

This is why abortion is murder and a horrendous sin.

I would ask you, dear brethren, to browse through our section on abortion, and specifically the posts and the related links:  

Mother of God (Virgin Mary), Orthodox Church and African peoples 

Bikira Maria, Mama wa Mungu

What does an abortion cost? A human life!

The horror of abortion

What the Saints of the Orthodox Church say about abortion

About abortion

A Romanian mom's miracle pregnancy
Shooting pregnant women as targets

Some child-advocacy ministries of Orthodox Church in Kenya, Uganda & Sierra Leone...

Pan-Hellenic Society of Friends of Large Families (from here the icon - here)
The action of the Orthodox Church in the shantytown of Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya

African Women (tag)

I thank you in advance for your concern. May all you expectant mothers have a smooth delivery of your babies; as for the men, the families – and society itself – may they all take on their related responsibility. 

But even if they do not, our Church is always available to help out; while a visit to our parish Confessor is also a good first move (if you don’t know what to do, then go to church on Sunday and ask the sacristan to call the Priest so that you can talk to him).

May our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, my brethren, and with the entire world.

PS:  Below is an icon of the 14.000 Infants (the Holy Innocents) who were slaughtered by Herod; albeit indirectly, it too is related to our subject.  I thank you. 

Father Antonios Mutyaba, Uganda (click here)

Translation from Greek by A. N.