The Orthodox Jews of Jerusalem were irreconcilable in their hostility to the teachings of Christ. Does this mean that Jesus was not a Jew? Is it ethical to question the Virgin Mary?
Jesus Christ often called himself the Son of Man. The nationality of the parents, according to the theologians, will shed light on the Savior's belonging to a particular ethnic group.
By following the Bible, all of humanity descended from Adam. Later, people themselves divided themselves into races, nationalities. And Christ during his lifetime, taking into account the Gospels of the Apostles, did not comment on his nationality in any way.
Birth of Christ
The country of Judea, the Son of God, in those ancient times was the province of Rome. Emperor Augustus ordered to hold He wanted to find out how many inhabitants in each of the cities of Judea.
Mary and Joseph, the parents of Christ, lived in the city of Nazareth. But they had to return to the homeland of their ancestors, to Bethlehem, to add their names to the lists. Once in Bethlehem, the couple could not find shelter - so many people came to the census. They decided to stay outside the city, in a cave that served as a refuge for shepherds during bad weather.
At night, Mary gave birth to a son. Having wrapped the baby in swaddling clothes, she put him to bed where the cattle feed is put - in the nursery.
The shepherds were the first to know about the birth of the Messiah. They were herding flocks in the vicinity of Bethlehem when an angel appeared to them. He broadcast that the savior of mankind was born. This is a joy for all people, and the sign for identifying a baby will be that he is lying in a manger.
The shepherds immediately went to Bethlehem and came across a cave, in which they saw the future Savior. They told Mary and Joseph about the angel's words. On the 8th day, the couple gave the child a name - Jesus, which means "savior" or "God saves."
Was Jesus Christ a Jew? Was the paternal or maternal nationality determined at that time?
Star of bethlehem
On the very night when Christ was born, a bright, unusual star appeared in the sky. The Magi, who studied the movements of heavenly bodies, went after her. They knew that the appearance of such a star speaks of the birth of the Messiah.
The Magi began their journey from an eastern country (Babylonia or Persia). The star, moving across the sky, showed the wise men the way.
Meanwhile, the numerous people who came to Bethlehem for the census dispersed. And Jesus' parents returned to the city. Above the place where the baby was, the star stopped, and the Magi entered the house to present the gifts to the future Messiah.
They offered gold as a tribute to the future king. They gave incense, like God (incense was then used in worship). And myrrh (the fragrant oil with which they rubbed the dead), as to a mortal man.
King Herod
The local king, subordinate to Rome, knew about the great prophecy - a bright star in the sky marks the birth of a new king of the Jews. He summoned the Magi, priests, soothsayers to him. Herod wanted to know where the baby Messiah was.
With deceitful speeches, cunning, he tried to find out the whereabouts of Christ. Unable to get an answer, King Herod decided to exterminate all the babies in the area. 14 thousand children under the age of 2 were killed in and around Bethlehem.
However, ancient historians, including, do not mention this bloody event. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the number of children killed was much smaller.
It is believed that after such a villainy, the anger of God punished the king. He died a painful death, eaten alive by worms in his luxurious palace. After his terrible death, power passed to the three sons of Herod. The lands were also divided. The regions of Perea and Galileo went to Herod the Younger. Christ spent about 30 years in these lands.
Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee, beheaded to please his wife Herodias. The sons of Herod the Great did not receive the royal title. Judea was ruled by a Roman governor. Herod Antipas and other local rulers obeyed him.
Mother of the Savior
The parents of the Virgin Mary were childless for a long time. At that time it was considered a sin, such a union was a sign of the wrath of God.
Joachim and Anna lived in the city of Nazareth. They prayed and believed that they would definitely have a child. Decades later, an angel appeared to them and proclaimed that the couple would soon become parents.
According to legend, Virgin Mary Happy parents swore that this child would belong to God. Until the age of 14, Maria was brought up, mother Jesus Christ, in temple. From a young age she saw angels. According to legend, the archangel Gabriel took care of and guarded the future Mother of God.
Mary's parents had died by the time the Virgin had to leave the temple. The priests could not keep her. But they were also sorry to let the orphan go. Then the priests betrothed her to the carpenter Joseph. He was more of the Virgo's guardian than her husband. Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, remained a virgin.
What was the nationality of the Virgin? Her parents were natives of Galilee. This means that the Virgin Mary was not a Jew, but a Galilean. On a confessional basis, she belonged to the law of Moses. Her life in the temple also points to Moses' upbringing in the faith. So who was Jesus Christ? The nationality of the mother, who lived in pagan Galilee, remains unknown. The mixed population of the region was dominated by the Scythians. It is possible that Christ inherited his appearance from his mother.
Savior's father
Theologians have been controversial since ancient times about whether Joseph should be considered the biological father of Christ? He had a fatherly attitude to Mary, knew that she was innocent. Therefore, the news of her pregnancy shocked the carpenter Joseph. The Law of Moses severely punished women for adultery. Joseph had to stone his young wife.
He prayed for a long time and decided to let Mary go, not to keep her near him. But an angel appeared to Joseph, announcing an ancient prophecy. The carpenter realized what a great responsibility he had for the safety of the mother and child.
Joseph is Jewish by nationality. Can he be considered a biological father if Mary had an immaculate conception? Who is the Father of Jesus Christ?
There is a version that the Roman soldier Pantira became the Messiah. In addition, there is a possibility that Christ was of Aramaic origin. This assumption is due to the fact that the Savior preached in the Aramaic language. However, at that time, this language was spoken throughout the Middle East.
The Jews of Jerusalem had no doubt that the real father of Jesus Christ existed somewhere. But all versions are too dubious to be true.
The face of Christ
The document of those times, describing the appearance of Christ, is called "The Message of Leptula." This is a report to the Roman Senate written by the proconsul of Palestine, Leptulus. He claims that Christ was of average height with a noble face and a good figure. He has expressive blue-green eyes. Hair, the color of ripe walnut, parted in the middle. The lines of the mouth and nose are flawless. In conversation, he is serious and modest. Teaches softly, in a friendly manner. Terrible in anger. Sometimes he cries, but never laughs. The face is wrinkle-free, calm and strong.
At the Seventh Ecumenical Council (VIII century), the official image of Jesus Christ was approved. On the icons, the Savior should be painted in accordance with his human appearance. After the Council, painstaking work began. It consisted in the reconstruction of a verbal portrait, on the basis of which a recognizable image of Jesus Christ was created.
Anthropologists assure that not Semitic, but Greco-Syrian thin, straight nose and deep-set, large eyes are used in icon painting.
In early Christian icon painting, they knew how to accurately convey the individual, ethnic features of the portrait. The earliest depiction of Christ was found on an icon dated to the beginning of the 6th century. It is kept at Sinai, in the monastery of St. Catherine. The face of the icon is similar to the canonized face of the Savior. Apparently, the early Christians ranked Christ as a European type.
Nationality of Christ
There are still people who claim that Jesus Christ is a Jew, and a huge number of works have been published on the topic of the Savior's non-Jewish origins.
At the beginning of the 1st century AD, as the Hebraic scholars found out, Palestine split into 3 regions, which differed in their confessional and ethnic characteristics.
- Judea, headed by the city of Jerusalem, was inhabited by Orthodox Jews. They obeyed the law of Moses.
- Samaria was closer to the Mediterranean Sea. Jews and Samaritans were longtime enemies. Even mixed marriages between them were forbidden. In Samaria, there were no more than 15% of the Jews of the total population.
- Galilee consisted of a mixed population, some of whom remained faithful to Judaism.
Some theologians claim that Jesus Christ was a typical Jew. His nationality is beyond doubt, since he did not deny the entire system of Judaism. And only he did not agree with some of the postulates of the Mosaic Law. Then why did Christ react so calmly to the fact that the Jews of Jerusalem called him a Samaritan? This word was an insult to a true Jew.
God or man?
So who's right? Those who claim that Jesus Christ is God? But then what nationality can you demand from God? He's out of ethnicity. If God is the basis of everything, including people, there is no need to talk about nationality at all.
And if Jesus Christ is a man? Who is his biological father? Why did he receive the Greek name Christ, which means "anointed one"?
Jesus never claimed to be God. But he is not a man in the usual sense of the word. Its dual nature was to find a human body and a divine essence within this body. Therefore, as a man, Christ could feel hunger, pain, anger. And as a vessel of God - to work miracles, filling the space around you with love. Christ said that he does not heal from himself, but only with the help of a divine gift.
Jesus worshiped and prayed to the Father. He completely surrendered himself to His will in the last years of his life and called on the people to believe in the One God in heaven.
As the Son of Man, he was crucified in the name of the salvation of people. As the Son of God, he was resurrected and incarnated in the trinity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Miracles of Jesus Christ
About 40 miracles are described in the Gospels. The first took place in the city of Cana, where Christ and his mother and the apostles were invited to a wedding. He turned water into wine.
Christ performed the second miracle by curing a patient whose illness lasted 38 years. The Jews of Jerusalem were angry with the Savior - he broke the Sabbath rule. It was on this day that Christ worked himself (healed the patient) and made another work (the patient himself carried his bed).
The Savior raised the dead girl, Lazarus and the widow's son back to life. Healed the possessed man and tamed the storm in the Lake of Galilee. Christ filled the people with five loaves of bread after the sermon - there were about 5 thousand of them, not counting the children and women. He walked on water, healed ten lepers and the blind men of Jericho.
The miracles of Jesus Christ prove his divine nature. He had power over demons, disease, death. But he never performed miracles for his glory or for collecting offerings. Even during interrogation by Herod, Christ did not show a sign as evidence of his power. He did not try to defend himself, but asked only for sincere faith.
Resurrection of Jesus Christ
It was the resurrection of the Savior that became the basis for a new faith - Christianity. The facts about him are reliable: they appeared at a time when eyewitnesses of the events were still alive. All recorded episodes have slight discrepancies, but do not contradict each other as a whole.
The empty tomb of Christ testifies that the body was taken away (enemies, friends) or Jesus rose from the dead.
If the body was taken by the enemies, they would not fail to mock the disciples, thus stopping the newly born faith. Friends, however, had little faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, they were disappointed and depressed by his tragic death.
The honorary Roman citizen and Jewish historian Flavius Josephus mentions in his book the spread of Christianity. He confirms that on the third day Christ appeared to his living disciples.
Even modern scholars do not deny that Jesus appeared to some of his followers after death. But they attribute this to hallucinations or other phenomena, without questioning the authenticity of the evidence.
The appearance of Christ after death, an empty tomb, the rapid development of a new faith are proof of his resurrection. There is not a single known fact that denies this information.
Appointment by God
From the very first Ecumenical Councils, the Church unites the human and divine nature of the Savior. He is one of the 3 hypostases of the One God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This form of Christianity was recorded and announced the official version at the Council of Nicaea (in 325), Constantinople (in 381), Ephesus (in 431) and Chalcedon (in 451).
However, the controversy about the Savior did not stop. Some Christians asserted that Jesus Christ is God; others asserted that he is only the Son of God and is completely subordinate to his will. The basic idea of the Trinity of God is often compared to paganism. Therefore, disputes about the essence of Christ, as well as about his nationality, do not subside to this day.
The cross of Jesus Christ is a symbol of martyrdom in the name of atonement for human sins. Does a discussion about the Savior's nationality make sense if faith in him is able to unite different ethnic groups? All people on the planet are children of God. The human nature of Christ stands above national characteristics and classifications.
Mother of God, Mother of God, Mother of God, Virgin Mary
- in the church tradition of naming the Blessed Virgin Mary who gave birth to Jesus Christ.
The name "Mother of God" is known among all Orthodox Slavs. The constant epithet of the Mother of God among the Orthodox Slavs is the Most Holy, Most Pure, sometimes replacing her name.
The folk cult of the Theotokos differs from the church by a greater down-to-earthness. 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, 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 in the next world.
Except for Jesus Christ, there is not a single saint in Christian iconography who would be 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 greatness that their imagination was capable of.
The Mother of God on Russian icons is always in sorrow, but this sorrow is different: sometimes mournful, sometimes light, but always full of spiritual clarity, wisdom and great spiritual strength, the Mother of God can solemnly "show" the Infant to the world, can tenderly press the Son to Herself or easily support Him - She is always full of reverence, worships her Divine Infant and humbly resigns herself to the inevitability of sacrifice. Lyricism, enlightenment and detachment - these are the main features characteristic of the image of the Virgin on Russian icons.
Here is only a small part of the iconography dedicated to the Mother of God - the Theotokos.
Kazan is the most revered icons in Russia, the image of the intercessor of the whole people.
Vladimirskaya - The image of the intercessor mother in all troubles and sorrows.
Quick-hearted- pray that the Lord will hear people's prayers.
Iverskaya - they pray for protection from enemies and underdogs.
Soothe my sorrows- pray for consolation in sad moments of life.
Merciful - pray for the gift of a Divine miracle, healing.
Feodorovskaya - they pray in front of this icon in difficult childbirth.
Jerusalem - they pray for family well-being, health, and the conception of children.
Kozelshchanskaya - pray for the healing of orthopedic diseases,
Three-handed - pray for the healing of diseases of the hands and feet.
Look at humility- pray for healing from diseases, oh women's health and well-being.
Blessed sky- pray for the gift of God's Grace in everyday life, help in business.
Softening Evil Hearts- pray for the softening of the hearts of those who come to you with evil thoughts.
Affection - mothers pray for a happy marriage of their daughters, for happiness and prosperity.
Smolenskaya - pray for help in finding the right paths in life.
Barskaya - pray for good family relations, 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 the icons of the Mother of God
O Most Holy Virgin, Mother of the Lord Most High, Intercessor and protection of all those who come running to You! Look down from Thy holy heights on me a sinner who falls to Thy most pure image; hear my warm prayer and bring it before your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; pray to him, may he illuminate my gloomy soul with the light of his divine grace, may he save me from all need, sorrow and illness, may send me a quiet and peaceful life, bodily and mental health, may he pacify my suffering heart and heal its wounds, may he instruct me for good deeds, my mind must cleanse me from vain thoughts, teach me to fulfill His commandments, and save me from eternal torment and not deprive me of His Heavenly Kingdom. O Most Holy Theotokos! You, Joy of All Who Sorrow, hear the sorrowful me too; Thou art, called Satisfaction of Sorrow, quench my sorrow; Thou, Burning Kupino, save the world and all of us from the enemy's harmful fiery arrows; You, Seeking of the lost, do not allow me to perish in the abyss of my sins. On Bose all my hope and hope. Wake me in life as a temporary Intercessor and for eternal life before Thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, Intercessor. To you, Most Holy Mother of God, Blessed Mary, reverently honor until the end of my days. Amen.
PS. The popular veneration of the Mother of God is associated with the "Mother of God Feasts" - Annunciation - April 7th,
Dormition - 28th August, Christmas - 21st September, Intercession - 14th October, Entry into the Temple - 4th December.
The couple, 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 blamelessly kept all the commandments of the law of God. On each holiday, the pious spouses separated two parts from their property - one they gave for church needs, and the other they gave to the poor.
By their righteous life, Joachim and Annathak pleased God that He vouchsafed them to be the parents of the Most Holy Virgin, the pre-chosen 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, pleasing God more than anyone else, and the Most Honest cherubim.
At that time on earth there were no people more pleasing to God than Joachim and Anna, because of 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 so that the Mother of God was born from them. Such mercy would not have been bestowed upon them by God if they did not really surpass everyone in righteousness and holiness.
But as the Lord Himself had to incarnate from the Most Holy and Most Pure Mother, so it was fitting for the Mother of God to descend from holy and pure parents. Just as earthly kings have their porphyry, made not of simple matter, but of gold-woven material, so the Heavenly King wanted to have His Most Pure Mother, in whose flesh, as in royal purple, He had to be clothed, born not of ordinary incontinent parents, as it would be made of simple matter, but from the chaste and saints, as if from gold-woven fabric, the prototype of which was the Old Testament tabernacle, which God ordered Moses to make of crimson and scarlet matter and of fine linen (Ex. 27:16).
This tabernacle represented the Virgin Mary, in whom God had dwelt "from mankind" as it is written: "Behold, the tabernacle of God with men, and He will dwell with them" (Rev. 21: 3). The scarlet and scarlet matter and fine linen, of which the tabernacle was made, typified the parents of the Mother of God, who came and was born from chastity and abstinence, as if from a scarlet and scarlet garment, and their perfection in fulfilling 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 parents would be manifested; 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 acts, but God, conquering the laws of nature and destroying the bonds of infertility. To be born from infertile and aged parents is a great honor for the one who was born herself, because she is born not from incontinent parents, but from temperate and elderly, 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 sterility they gave birth to joy to the whole world, in 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 (Genesis 21: 2). However, without a doubt, we can say that the birth of the Virgin Mary is higher than the birth of Isaac by Abraham and Sarah. How much herself born virgo Mary is higher and more worthy of honor than Isaac, so much more and higher are the dignity of Joachim and Anna than Abraham and Sarah.
They did not immediately achieve this dignity, but only by diligent fasting and prayers, in spiritual sorrow and in heartbreak, they implored God for this: and their sorrow turned into joy, and their dishonor was a harbinger great honor, and earnest petition by the leader to receive benefits, and prayer - the best intercessor.
Joachim and Anna grieved for a long time and cried that they had no children. Once, on a great holiday, Joachim brought gifts to the Lord God in the Jerusalem temple; Together with Joachim, all the Israelites also sacrificed their gifts to God. The then high priest Issachar did not want to accept the gifts of Joachim, because he was childless.
“You shouldn't,” he said, “to accept gifts from you, because you have no children, and therefore the blessings of God: you probably have some secret sins.”
Likewise, one Jew from the tribe of Reuben, who brought his gifts along with others, rebuked Joachim, saying:
- Why do you want to make sacrifices to God before me? don't you know that you are not worthy to bring gifts with us, for you will not leave offspring in Israel?
These reproaches grieved Joachim very much, and in great sorrow he left the temple of God disgraced and humiliated, and the holiday for him turned into sorrow, and the holiday joy was replaced by sorrow. Deeply grieving, he did not return home, but went into the wilderness to the shepherds who tended his flocks, and there he wept over his barrenness and over the reproach and reproaches received against him.
Remembering Abraham, his forefather, to whom God had already given a son at an advanced age, Joachim began to fervently pray 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 the fruit of his marriage, as Abraham once did.
“May I,” he prayed, “be able to be called the father of a child, and not be childless and rejected by God to endure reproaches from people!
Joachim added fasting to this prayer and did not eat bread for forty days.
“I won’t eat,” he said, “and I won’t return to my house; let my tears be food for me, and this wilderness my home, until the Lord God of Israel hears and takes away from me the reproach.
Likewise, his wife, being at home and hearing that the high priest did not want to accept their gifts, reproaching them for infertility, and that her husband had gone into the wilderness because of the great sorrow, wept inconsolable tears.
“Now,” she said, “I’m the most unhappy of all: I’m rejected by God, reproached by people and abandoned by my husband! Why should we cry now: about her widowhood, or about her childishness, about her orphanhood, or about the fact that she did not deserve to be called a mother ?!
She wept so bitterly all those days.
Anna's slave, named Judith, tried to comfort her, but could not: for who can comfort the one whose sorrow is as deep as the sea?
One day Anna sadly 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 little chicks on the tree. This sight caused her even greater grief, and she began to cry with a cry:
- Woe to me childless! I must be the most sinful of all the daughters of Israel to be so humiliated before all women. All bear the fruit of their womb in their hands - all are comforted by their children: I alone am alien to this joy. Woe is me! The gifts of all are accepted in the temple of God, and they are respected for the childbirth: I alone am rejected from the temple of my Lord. Woe is me! Who will I become like? neither to the birds of the air, nor to the beasts of the earth: for they too, O Lord God, bring you their fruit, but I alone am barren. I cannot even compare myself with the earth: for it vegetates and grows seeds and, bearing fruit, blesses You, Heavenly Father: I alone am sterile on earth. Alas for me, Lord, Lord! I am alone, sinful, devoid of offspring. You, who once gave Sarah in deep old age the son of Isaac (Genesis 21: 1-8), you who opened the womb of Anna, the mother of your prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 1:20), look now at me and hear my prayers. Lord of hosts! You know the reproach of childlessness: stop the sorrow of my heart and open my womb and make me barren, making fruitful, so that we may bring to You as a gift, blessing, singing and praising Your mercy in accordance.
When Anna cried out in this way with weeping and sobbing, an angel of the Lord appeared to her and said:
- Anna, Anna! your prayer has been heard, your sighing has passed through the clouds, your tears have appeared before God, and you will conceive and give birth to a blessed daughter; Through Her, all the tribes of the earth will receive blessing and salvation will be granted to the whole world; her name will be Mary.
Hearing the angelic words, Anna bowed to God and said:
- As the Lord God lives, if a child is born to me, I will give him to serve God. May he serve Him and glorify the holy name of God day and night throughout his life.
After this, filled with inexpressible joy, Saint Anna quickly went to Jerusalem, in order there with prayer to give thanks to God for His gracious 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 give you His grace: your wife Anna will conceive and give you a daughter, whose birth will be a joy for the whole world. And here is a sign for you that I am preaching the truth to you: go to Jerusalem to the temple of God and there, at the golden gates, you will find your wife Anna, to whom I announced the same.
Joachim, amazed at such an angelic gospel, praising God and thanks to His heart and lips for great mercy, with joy and gaiety, hastily set off for the Jerusalem temple. There, as the angel announced to him, he found Anna praying to God at the golden gates, and told her about the angelic 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 great mercy and, having worshiped Him in the holy temple, returned to their home.
And Saint Anna conceived on the ninth day of December, and on the eighth of September a daughter was born to her, the most pure and most blessed Virgin Mary, the beginning and intercessor of our salvation, about whose birth both heaven and earth rejoiced. Joachim, on the occasion of Her birth, brought great gifts, sacrifices and burnt offerings to God, and received the blessing of the high priest, priests, Levites and all people for being worthy of the blessing of God. 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 the special revelation of God, that She would be the light of the whole world and the renewal of human nature. Therefore, they raised Her with such careful discretion, which befits the One who had to be the Mother of our Savior. They loved Her not only as a daughter, so long awaited, but also honored her as their mistress, remembering the angelic words spoken about Her, and foreseeing in spirit what should happen over Her.
She, filled with 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 God's 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 adolescent Mary was three years old, her parents brought Her with glory into the temple of the Lord, accompanying her with lighted lamps, and dedicated Her to serve God, as they had promised. Several years after the introduction of Mary into the temple, Saint Joachim died, eighty years from birth. Saint Anna, remaining a widow, left Nazareth and came to Jerusalem, where she stayed with her Most Holy Daughter, praying incessantly in the temple of God. Having lived in Jerusalem for two years, she reposed in the Lord, being 79 years old from her birth 2.
Oh, how blessed you are, holy parents, Joachim and Anna, for the sake of your Most Blessed Daughter!
Especially blessed are you for the sake of Her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all peoples and tribes of the earth have received blessings! The holy Church justly called you the Godfathers 3, for we know that God was born from your Most Holy Daughter. now standing close to him in heaven, pray, that we will receive at least some part of your endless joy. Amen.
Troparion, voice 1:
Even in the more legitimate grace of the righteous formerly, the child of God-given birth gave birth to us, Joachim and Anna: the same day, too, brightly the same, joyfully celebrating, the divine church honoring your memory, glorifying God, erected a horn of salvation for us in the house of David.
Kontakion, voice 2:
Anna rejoices now, the infertility has resolved the sauce, and nourishes the Most Pure, conveying all the praises, given from her womb by man to a single Mother and an indiscriminate
We know about the Blessed Virgin mainly thanks to the Holy Tradition. The main sources here are two apocrypha - the Proto Gospel of Jacob and “The Book of the Birth of His Beatitude Mary and the Childhood of the Savior”. These monuments were not included in the New Testament canon because of their late origin, but they reflect the view of the Mother of God that existed from the very first days of the Church.
Conception and Christmas Virgin mary
According to Tradition, the Most Holy Theotokos was born at the turn of the eras during the reign of Herod the Great in one of the suburbs of Jerusalem. Her parents - pious Jews Joachim and Anna - were wealthy, respected and noble people, but they did not have much wealth. Their family, descending from King David, had already lost its former influence by that time. By all standards, Joachim and Anna were happy spouses, they could be envied in a good way, if not for one circumstance - having lived fifty years in marriage, they were never able to give birth to a child.
Perhaps at the beginning family life the absence of children did not weigh them very much: while you are young, you don’t really think about such things. However, at the peak of maturity, when grandchildren began to appear among their peers, Joachim and Anna began to ask God more and more to send them a child. They were still able, they could still conceive, give birth and raise a long-awaited child. Every day the spouses expected a miracle, but it was in no hurry to be accomplished. Years passed, old age crept imperceptibly. The spouses even promised to give their first-born to the church service, but God did not seem to hear them. And one day, after another prayer, Joachim and Anna resigned themselves.
They did not curse Heaven, their hearts were not bitter for the whole the world and faith in the Lord did not get any cooler. They simply perceived their childlessness as the will of God. Since He is pleased to leave them without offspring, it means that it is necessary so, it means that He knows better than to endow each person with what to give and what to take away. Elderly people gratefully accepted their cross, asking now for only one thing - that their rest of life would be even more godly than before. They were still full of energy and decided to devote themselves entirely to those in need of support.
Virtuous spouses began to be respected even more, but there were also evil tongues. Rumors spread throughout the surrounding villages that Joachim and Anna were cursed by God, that it was impossible to communicate with them, and the good deeds they did bring grief to people. It got to the point that when Joachim once brought the intended sacrifice to the Jerusalem temple, the priest drove him out, declaring that he would not accept it from an unworthy person. This attitude of some people will seem strange, but it is quite logical and is explained not only by the evil morals of some Jews, but also by one feature of Old Testament religious thinking.
At the very beginning of human history, God gave our fallen forefathers Adam and Eve a promise that in due time a Deliverer and Savior would be born among their descendants. This prophecy was said in the form of an appeal to the devil-deceiver, whom the Lord cursed with literally the following words: I will put enmity between you and between the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it will hit you in the head, and you will sting it in the heel(Gen 3 :15).
Already the foremother Eve took the statements about the wife and her seed to herself and considered that it was she who would give birth to the future victor of evil. But it turned out differently - her eldest son Cain became not a savior, but the first killer who took the life of his brother Abel. The more distant descendants of Adam turned out to be not much better - they departed from God. And only a small part of people continued, as best they could, to honor the One God and keep the memory of the old days, when paradise was not yet closed to man.
For centuries, these generations faithful to the Lord have passed on God's promise about the seed of a woman, which will erase the head of the ancient serpent-Satan. Every pious girl understood that it was she who could become this wife, and every man in the depths of his soul hoped to be involved in this miracle. Therefore, among the chosen people, marriage and procreation were considered a matter of honor, and the presence of children was regarded as a blessing of God. And vice versa - if the spouses did not have offspring, then they were subjected to all kinds of vilification, for it was believed that such couples were deprived of the grace of the Almighty for some terrible sins.
Joachim and Anna bore the cross of childlessness throughout their married life. They could not even imagine that it was from their union that the very wife, whose seed is mentioned in the Eden promise, would come about. Once an angel appeared to them in turn and announced the good news - they would become parents. And just as many years ago the elderly couple humbly accepted the lot of their childlessness, the old people accepted the joy that fell to their lot with the same humility. Joachim and Anna did not argue with the angel, did not piously deny, referring to their venerable age and the impossibility of having children. On the same night, the husband and wife were together, and after a while the elderly woman realized that she was pregnant.
At the appointed time, the already middle-aged woman became the mother of a healthy baby, who was named Maria. Rumors spread through the surrounding villages again, but this time people marveled at what was happening. There was a miracle - this had not happened in Israel for several centuries. The old people were happy and thanked God for the gift sent down to them. Finally, their dream came true, and they could quietly end their earthly days. The couple remembered their promise to dedicate the Daughter to God. They initially planned to keep their word two years after Her birth, but realized that it was better to wait a little longer - the Girl was not yet ready to leave her parental home. Another year passed, and three-year-old Mary, accompanied by young virgins with lighted torches, was brought to the Jerusalem temple.
During the initiation ceremony, a miracle happened: as soon as Mary was placed at the stairs leading to the upper part of the temple courtyard, she herself, without anyone's help, overcame fifteen huge steps, along which many adults had difficulty climbing. Seeing what was happening and seeing the future fate of the Girl, the high priest accepted Her, blessed and accomplished something unseen before - he led Mary into the interior of the Temple - where only priests could be. Whether the Virgin was really introduced into the Holy of Holies - the Proto-Gospel does not directly speak about this, but since ancient times the Church believes that the Mother of God was part of this most sacred branch of the Temple.
At that moment, all those present realized that the daughter of Joachim and Anna was worthy to enter the sanctuary, and She had to do something very important. Her place was right here - in God's house, where She could receive the necessary education and knowledge. And the parents of the Virgin, having lived for several more years, died peacefully with the knowledge that they had fulfilled their vow and were able to give God the most precious thing they had. Now the fate of their Daughter was completely in the hands of the Almighty.
Mary's childhood and the Annunciation
In the temple school for girls, the best representatives of Jewish society were brought up, who later became the wives of priests, scribes and noble young people. They were taught everything that was needed to run a household. Also, great attention was paid to giving the pupils a spiritual education, to teach them to be well versed in sacred texts and rituals. In fact, the school Maria went to was a theological seminary for girls.
The Mother of God studied until she was twelve years old. During all this time, she mastered many "female" professions, but best of all she was given sewing. The skill of the Most Pure One was so high that She was entrusted with the most responsible work - the creation of curtains and veils for the sanctuary. She did not lag behind in studying the Scriptures, which she knew almost by heart. Mary was the best student in the Temple school, and over time she would become a desirable bride for many worthy young men. In a different situation, She could have taken a prominent position in society, if not for one "but" - even in early childhood, the Girl gave God a vow of celibacy.
The priests knew about this. When their pupil entered adulthood, and She could no longer live at the Temple, they faced a problem. No one thought to break the vow made by Mary, and there could be no question of marrying Mary by force. However, She could not live independently in the world - the law forbade unmarried girls to live among people alone. Since, apart from long-dead parents, Mary had no close relatives, they decided to betrothed Her to one of the old widowers so that he, formally considered Her husband, would be the guardian of his wife's purity and chastity. After long discussions and prayers, the priests decided to choose the future betrothed of Mary by drawing lots - so that only the will of God could be manifested in this way.
Among the candidates was Joseph, a construction master from the provincial Galilean town of Nazareth. When the men gathered in the Temple, the high priest took the staffs from them and placed them on the altar. After a long prayer, he began to return the wands to the owners one by one, with the expectation that the Lord would somehow explicitly indicate the chosen one. But there was no sign, and only when it was Joseph's turn, as Tradition says, a miracle happened - the wide end of the stick separated from it and turned into a dove, which sat on Joseph's head. Everyone understood that he was the chosen one of God.
The artisan was not happy with such a turn, and began to refuse the mission offered to him. The argument was simple - the old man was afraid of ridicule from his already grown children and acquaintances, because the age difference between him and Maria was huge. In addition, the adoption of one more member into the family would force anew to divide the modest property, and this would create confusion among the relatives ... But the priests convinced Joseph not to oppose the will of God. In the end, the old man agreed.
And what about Mary? How did she react to what was happening? Both Tradition and the holy fathers say that She humbled herself. But this was not the humility of the “doomed sacrifice,” but a deliberate act - Mary, who knew the Holy Scriptures better than all her fellow disciples, understood that the Lord was expecting something from Her. And therefore She accepted everything that happened to Her as the Lord's will, as Her destiny. And this acceptance was a step of the Virgin towards God, who prepared her a new test.
Soon after the betrothal, Joseph left the Virgin at home and went to a construction site. He was to be away for several months. Mary, meanwhile, was weaving the curtain commissioned by the priests for the Temple's sanctuary. Doing what she loved, the Virgo most often either prayed or reflected on what she had heard or read. So, once, even in childhood, She learned that the time would come, and a certain wife would give birth to a Child who would destroy the devil and crush all his might. Impressed by this story and other prophecies about the mother of the Messiah, Mary dreamed of being at least a servant in this woman's house. And then I realized that it was just a dream. After all, the Jews had a firm conviction that the Savior would be born in the royal chambers, surrounded by the best midwives and nannies. But does She - a simple poor provincial woman - get into the palace? Mary could only dream ... According to Tradition, it was during such reflections that the angel of God Gabriel appeared to her.
His appearance is described in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke. The Messenger of Heaven announced to Her the news that She would give birth to a Son. And not an ordinary child, but precisely the very one - the long-awaited Savior, whose arrival all the Jews were expecting. His words embarrassed Mary, and the Girl replied that She was a virgin, and therefore she could not have a child. The angel replied: The Holy Spirit will come upon You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You; therefore, the Holy One who is born will be called the Son of God(OK 1 : 35). At the same time, Gabriel added that in Israel there is another woman with an unusual pregnancy - Elizabeth, the wife of the high priest Zechariah, who conceived at an old age and is now expecting a son. And if God was able to make Elizabeth's old womb capable of receiving the seed, then He will bless Mary's virgin womb, which will bear without any male participation.
The appearance of an angel was a kind of borderline for the young Mother of God. The fact is that God expected from Her precisely free and voluntary participation in the work of the Incarnation. And if so, then Mary could have refused the mission offered to her. This option, in the opinion of most of the holy fathers, was quite possible. And then the Lord again would have to wait for the birth of a new worthy girl in order for her to give Him her human nature. But Maria agreed. After making sure of the truth of the angel's words and believing God, she humbly answered Gabriel: "I am the Servant of the Lord, let it be as you say."
After some time, Joseph returned home. Noticing Mary's pregnancy, he fell into despair: just think - as soon as he was absent for a long time, the Youth fell into sin! He began to question his Spouse, but She only told him about the angel's appearance. Having heard this answer many times, Joseph pulled himself together and calmed Mary. He realized that something unusual had happened, but still thought that the Girl was seduced, and She became a victim of deception. Not considering Her guilty, but not being able to survive the possible shame from people, the old man decided to secretly let Her out of the house, giving Her a divorce. He seemed to relieve himself of all responsibility for Her and at the same time saved Her from the beating with stones, which was supposed to be done on unfaithful wives.
However, these plans of Joseph were prevented by Gabriel: at night he appeared to an elderly man and forbade him to let Mary go. The Angel told about the fate of the future Child and reassured the worried husband. After this conversation, Joseph finally believed in the virginity of conception and left Mary with him.
However, the family was waiting for a new test - soon one of the scribes came to visit them. He knew that Mary was a Virgin and that Joseph was only formally considered her husband. Seeing the pregnant Girl, the guest decided to tell the high priests about everything. The spouses' formal fault was that Mary became pregnant without the knowledge and blessing of the clergy. The elders also thought that Joseph was simply covering up for his Wife. An investigation has begun.
Joseph and the Mother of God told everything that happened to them, but the Temple did not believe them. After long questioning, spending a lot of energy and nerves, the priests ultimately decided to ask God Himself whether the Girl is pure. The essence of the ceremony was that after performing certain prayers, the person being tested was given a special mixture to drink. If he remained healthy and without any external changes, this meant his innocence. Joseph and Mary were also given the mixture to drink, but God left them whole, showing that they were clean before Him. The priests were forced to curtail the investigation and bless the spouses.
Mother of christ
The events of the Savior's earthly life are described in sufficient detail in the New Testament, and they are well known to every believer. The Gospel story mentions Mary as if in passing, making Her a participant in only a few episodes. This silence of the evangelists is quite understandable - the center of the good news and of all Christian faith was, is and will be Christ, and only Christ. But without knowing the further fate of the Mother of God, the honor that is still bestowed on Her by the Church is still incomprehensible.
After the events of Christmas and a rather long stay in Egypt, the holy family returned to their city of Nazareth. The secret of the immaculate birth of Christ was known only to the spouses themselves and a few more priests, who soon died. For the rest of the people, including the older children of Joseph, Jesus was his own son. No one doubted this, since the imaginary husband of the Mother of God had such an impeccable reputation that no other options were even expected.
The birth of the Divine Infant had little effect on the family life of Mary's House - the Betrothed still continued to walk around the neighborhood, building and repairing dwellings; all the same, the Mother of God carried on Herself the burden of women's chores around the house. Has the attitude of husband's relatives changed - they accepted Jesus with coolness, not wanting to recognize an additional heir. At first, only the youngest of Joseph's children, Jacob, treated Him well. He fell in love with Mary as a second mother and as an older sister, and immediately recognized the Christ Child as a brother, sharing with him his share of the inheritance. Jacob began to help Mary when she was widowed, and the Savior was still too young to earn money on his own.
Having reached adulthood, Jesus took his stepfather's tool and began to get food for Himself and the Mother. More than ten years passed in this way, until one day He came out to preach, which was one of the main goals of His earthly life. Mary knew from the very beginning that it was for this that the Lord came to earth, and as a mother did not hinder Him. Moreover, almost immediately after entering the public ministry of Her Son, the Most Pure One joined the number of female disciples who followed Christ along with the apostles.
Jesus' companions took upon themselves all the burdens of creating elementary living conditions for the Teacher and the disciples - they bought and prepared food, washed and repaired clothes, tried in every possible way to support their sons, brothers and husbands. The Most Holy One shared all the difficulties of preaching with Christ until the moment when He was arrested, condemned to death and crucified on Calvary. Like other women, She did not leave the suffering Son for a minute during the hours of the torment of the cross and at the moment of death. According to Tradition, she was also among the myrrh-bearers, who were the first to receive the joyful news of Christ's Bright Resurrection. She was also present when the Lord finally left the earth and ascended into heavenly glory.
Did the Mother of God know that she gave the flesh to the Creator of the universe Himself? The Church says unequivocally: Yes! But this knowledge developed in Her gradually, originating at first as a kind of spiritual intuition and only with time developing into a firm conviction in the divine dignity of Her Son. She, as the Evangelist Luke writes, put in her pure heart all the words and events associated with the Savior and carefully connected these parts into a single mosaic, which became fully apparent on the day of Resurrection. After the victory of Jesus of Nazareth over sin and death, none of the disciples had a shadow of doubt that Mary was the Mother of the Lord and Savior of the world.
Tradition tells that She lived the remaining years of Her earthly life with the Apostle John Zebedee, the beloved disciple of Jesus, whom He, shortly before his death on the cross, instructed to take care of Her as a mother. Most of the time, Mary and John lived in Jerusalem. The second native city for them was Ephesus, where the apostle stayed for a long time.
Despite her already middle age, the Most Pure One did not sit idle - She continued to preach, console, instruct, support and help everyone who came to Her. For the apostolic community, She became a living memory of the Teacher, the conscience of the Church, Mother and Prayer Book. All people who converted to Christianity tried to receive her blessing, and Mary did not reject anyone. Her heart was hot, love was immeasurable, prayer was fiery.
The Most Holy Theotokos peacefully departed into Eternity in the third quarter of the first century. At the end of Her earthly journey, She was very longing for the Son, prayed a lot and asked to take Her to Her. During one of these prayers, the Archangel Gabriel appeared before the Virgin, as in the distant years of his youth and said that She could rejoice, for the Lord in three days will fulfill Her request.
The Most Holy Virgin was waiting for this news. She was ready for the transition into eternity, and she used the allotted three days to say goodbye to all the people dear to her heart. It immediately became clear that some She would not be able to see - for example, the apostles, who dispersed to the distant provinces of the Roman Empire to preach. Three days were too few to gather them all, and the Mother of God prayed to the Son. She didn't ask for anything - She just asked - humbly and meekly, as she always did. And the Lord answered his mother's prayers with a miracle - to all the regions where the apostles were, He sent angels who carried them to Jerusalem to the house of the Most Pure.
And then came the day of death. Maria lay peacefully on her bed, beaming with quiet joy. The closest people gathered around her. Suddenly, the unspeakable light of Divine glory shone in the upper room. Those to whom this vision was revealed were horrified. They saw how Christ himself, surrounded by heavenly forces, approached His Mother. Her soul was separated from the body and was taken into the arms of the Savior, who took Her with Him. And on the bed there was a body glowing with grace. It seemed as if the Mother of God had not died, but was sleeping in a peaceful midday doze. A happy smile froze on Her face - at last, after long years of waiting, She went to her Son. According to Tradition, by this time the Virgin Mary was 72 years old.
The Mother of God was buried in the tomb, where her parents and husband Joseph were buried before. The body of the Ever-Virgin was carried in a solemn procession through Jerusalem. The Jewish priests found out about this and decided to disperse the procession. But a miracle happened - Christians who saw off the Mother of God in last way, surrounded by a cloud, and the soldiers sent by the elders could not do them any harm. Then the Jewish priest Athos tried to overturn the bed, but his hands were cut off by an invisible force. After repentance, he received healing and confessed himself a Christian. After the burial, the apostles closed the entrance to the cave with a stone and left.
The apostle Thomas did not participate in the procession - the Lord specifically did not allow him to come on time. He arrived in Jerusalem on the third day after the funeral. Saddened that he would never see the Virgin Mary again, he began to ask the apostles to give him the opportunity to say goodbye to the body. They agreed, but when they opened the coffin, they were horrified: there was no body in the cave - only burial shroud lay in the niche. The apostles were confused. They returned home, perplexed and praying to God to show them where to look for the disappeared body. On the same day in the evening at supper the Theotokos herself appeared to the apostles surrounded by angels and greeted them with the words: “Rejoice! For I am with you all the days. "
Mother of God and always Virgo
An integral part of the traditional Christian doctrine are two concepts: Mother of God and Ever Virginity. What do these concepts mean and why are they so important?
The first term that appeared in the Christian lexicon in the middle of the 2nd century and dates back to the Alexandrian theological school, says that Mary - a simple human Girl, a descendant of Adam and Eve - gave birth not only to the Human Jesus, but also to the True God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. At the same time, it is important to clearly understand that the Divine nature has no beginning, it is eternal, and God cannot have a mother. However, without ceasing to be God, the Son of God deigned to take human nature from Mary and become a Man.
Mary gave birth to a Man, but since His Person is divine, the Church considers the expression “to give birth to God according to the flesh” to be correct and justified. The concept of the Mother of God is very closely related to the doctrine of the divinity of Christ, and therefore the Church has always insisted that denying Mary the name of the Mother of God is the same as denying Christ his divinity.
There are much more questions with the second term, and it is also very important. Ever virginity - “everlasting virginity” - means that Mary, as she was a Virgin before the conception of the Son, so she was at the time of Christmas, and also remained a Virgin after childbirth. In other words, there were no physiological and psychological changes and destructions associated with the birth of children in Her girlish body. The purity of the Mother of God has two characteristics that make Mary the most perfect person after Christ.
One of the main problems of fallen human nature is the dominance of the flesh over personality. The Fall damaged the hierarchy that God established in Adam and Eve. After the Eden catastrophe, the spirit, soul and mind became prisoners of the physiological principle. In the field of motherhood, this has led to the fact that the love of the mother is very often based on the biological maternal instinct, on a sense of duty and on a sense of ownership. For most mothers, the child is a part of herself, flesh of flesh. At the subconscious level, a child is most often perceived precisely as a woman's own part, as a kind of thing, and rarely what parent finds the strength to overcome this instinct, go out on new level love for the child. In the birth of the Son of God, the Mother of God sacrifices herself in an absolute sense, demanding nothing in return. He leaves Her to serve people, He leaves Her in death. She knows from the very beginning that He is the Son of God. The Mother of God is an absolute and unattainable example of sacrificial motherly love. All mothers pray to Her for this very reason. She is asked to teach sacrificial love for children.
In the Mother of God, the overcoming of the law of the fallen nature took place, and She gives birth to the Son completely freely. The Divine Infant for Mary is not a consequence of marriage, as for all other women, but Someone is completely Different. This otherness is most adequately conveyed by the church term "bridegroom". The relationship of the Theotokos and Christ fits best with the ideal of pure relationships between the bride and groom - just as strangers and people who did not know each other are imbued with mutual unconditional and disinterested love, so the Mother of God completely freely chooses for herself the path of serving God. She gives Him Her untouched nature sanctified by the Holy Spirit and becomes the chosen vessel, the repository of the incapable King of the universe. By the way, it is from here that the poetic phrase "The Unmarried Bride" originates. Mary's love for the Son (and therefore for all people) is higher than any human love, since it is not overshadowed by any distortions of the fallen nature.
The eternal virginity of the Mother of God also speaks of the fact that She became the first on whom the divine plan to restore all mankind to its former greatness and glory was fulfilled. In Eternity, which will come after the second coming of Christ, the whole world will be transformed, become different, and man himself will be deprived of the sad consequences of the Fall. But this will take place only after the general resurrection of the dead, and the Mother of God, already during Her earthly life, was honored to be involved in this paradise state. She showed people that highest ideal - both spiritual and physical - to which everyone who calls himself a Christian is called. By her personal example, humility, love and selfless service to God, Blessed Mary showed us the path that all people are called to follow. The path that runs through selflessness and self-forgetfulness, through achievement and effort, through work and constant work on oneself. But if you nevertheless decide to follow it, and ask the Theotokos for help and support, then at the end of this road the imperishable light of the Heavenly abodes will shine - the very ones where all of us are called to come.
On the screen saver Hans Holbein the Elder. Dormition of the Theotokos (detail). 1491-1492
From the Gospel, we know a 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 brought to us the testimonies of the Mother of God of the first Christians, which were passed from mouth to mouth. Here are some of them.
Annunciation-Nativity-Christ-Presentation-XII-century-monastery-St. Catherine-Sinai Do you know how old Joseph, the husband of Mary, was?
Modern Western cinema loves to represent Joseph the Betrothed as a man aged 30-40 years. Orthodox tradition speaks of something else: “Of the descendants of David, which was very much revered among the Jews, twelve burned elders were also chosen; and their rods were laid in the sanctuary. Joseph was among them. And his rod froze over the night; and even on it, according to the testimony of Blessed Jerome (340-419), a dove was seen flying from above. Hence the knowledge that the Most Pure Virgin was handed over to Joseph for safekeeping. Elder Joseph at that time was, some think, about eighty years old ”(Metropolitan Benjamin (Fedchenkov)).
She had nothing stern in her eyes, nothing imprudent in her words.
Do you know what the Blessed Virgin was busy with at the moment of the Annunciation?
“The angel found the Most Pure Virgin not outside her home and upper room, not on the city streets among the people and worldly conversations, not bustling about at home in everyday cares, but practicing silence, prayer and reading books, as the iconic image of the Annunciation clearly shows, representing the Virgin Mary with the book laid before Her and opened, as proof of Her unceasing exercise in the reading of divine books and divine thought. At the very time when the heavenly evangelist appeared to the Virgin, She, as the wise fathers of the Church believe, had in her mind the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Behold, the Virgin will conceive in her womb” (Isaiah 7:14), and she wondered how and when there will be that strange and unusual conception and birth for a virgin'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 the mind, constantly moving, free, incorporeal, serving God, having received immortality for its nature: the Creator alone knows the form and definition of this essence. It is called incorporeal and immaterial in comparison with us. For everything in comparison with God, who is only one incomparable, turns out to be both gross and material, because only the Divine in the strict sense is immaterial and incorporeal "(St. John of Damascus).
Do you know why the Virgin Mary is called "The Most Honorable Cherubim and the Most Glorious without Comparison Seraphim"?
“Because She received in Her womb the God-man, the Son and the Word of God, Who took from Her human nature and united with Her Divine nature in His hypostasis” (Elder Ephraim of Philotheus).
Temple icon of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. XVII 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 Most Holy Theotokos looked like?
A description of the external appearance of the Most Holy Theotokos was given by the church historian Nikifor Callistus:
“The Blessed Virgin was of average or slightly taller than average height, golden hair, quick eyes, olive-colored eyebrows, arched and blackish eyebrows, an oblong nose, blooming lips, a slightly oblong face, not round and not sharp, and long arms and fingers. She had nothing stern in her look, nothing imprudent in her words, St. Ambrose testifies. In conversations with others, She remained calm, did not laugh, did not resent and did not get angry. Her movements are modest, her steps are quiet, her voice is even, so appearance personifies the purity of Her soul. "
Is there somewhere an icon of the Mother of God, painted with Her during her earthly life?
The Most Holy Theotokos, just like the Savior, manifested her miraculous image in the city of Lydda during her 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. On her return to Jerusalem, the apostles implored her to consecrate this temple with their visit and blessing. She gave her consent 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 on one of the inner pillars an image of the Mother of God painted by someone unknown. 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 before him, She rejoiced and bestowed miraculous power on the icon.
Did 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, wept and burned incense. The high priests set up guards and ordered them to strictly monitor so that none of the Christians would dare to come to this place. If the Mother of Jesus violates the prohibition, She was ordered to be killed immediately. The guards vigilantly stood 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 the oath reported that no one came to the coffin and the guards were removed.
At the moment of the Annunciation, Mary read and meditated on the words of the prophet Isaiah
Do you know how many years the Blessed Virgin Mary lived on earth?
Church authorities - the Monk Andrew of Crete, Saint Simeon Metaphrast, Saint Demetrius of Rostov, the Most Reverend Porfiry of the Assumption, 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 Assumption of the Mother of God was 72 years old.
Do you know why the parents of the Blessed Virgin have endured reproach for many years?
The parents of the Virgin Mary have long been vilified because of their sterility. It was believed that this testified to the punishment of God for sins. A similar circumstance brought 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, since he did not create offspring for the Israelite people. Anna was also humiliated for her sterility by those around her. Since it was known that a Savior would be born from the seed of David, each family hoped that this would happen precisely through its descendants. And therefore, not having the ability to reproduce 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 preservation, it became necessary to make a new curtain for the Jerusalem temple. Part of the work on this commission from the high priest was performed 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 a part of the veil, which she had already made by that time.
At the time of the Assumption of the Mother of God, she was 72 years old
Did you know that Joseph, according to the law, had to judge Mary because she did not get pregnant from him?
The angel, in fact, announced to Mary a pregnancy for which there were no legal grounds... And according to the law, it was 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, Mary was in for a shame for life. But She just trusted God: “Behold, the Servant of the Lord; let it be 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 dissolve the engagement, without questioning his bride about anything and not trying to punish Mary in any way: "But Joseph, Her husband, being righteous and not wanting to expose Her, wanted to secretly let Her go."(Matthew 1: 19). But, however, the birth of a child out of wedlock and so would put Her out of society, Her further fate would be terrible. And again it took the appearance of an angel, but this time for Joseph, so that he accepted Her with the Child in his womb and called 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 accept Mary, your wife, for what is born in her is of the Holy Spirit "(Matthew 1:20). We don't often have to speculate 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.
