The Nativity of
the Holy Virgin Mary,
Born of Anna
On September 8, all Christian Churches invariably celebrate the “most blessed” Nativity of the Holy Virgin Mary. She was the child of devout parents: Joachim, who was descended from the line of the prophet and king David, and Anna, a daughter of the priestly line of Aaron.
The couple was known for their many virtues. They had no children and continually prayed and petitioned God to grant them a child, promising to dedicate the child to God. At that time, childlessness was regarded as a disgrace.
One day, when Joachim was offering a sacrifice to the Lord in the Temple, the high priest refused to accept it, claiming that one who was “cursed” by God was unworthy to present an offering. Saddened and distressed, Joachim left the Temple and, instead of returning home, withdrew into the wilderness, where he continually implored God to deliver him from the disgrace of childlessness. Anna, for her part, also patiently prayed for the Lord’s mercy.
Their prayers were heard. The Archangel Gabriel appeared to Joachim and Anna and announced that they would have a daughter whom they were to name Mary, and that the nations would rejoice at her birth, because through her salvation would be granted to the whole world.
After keeping their God-given child with them for three years, her parents, in fulfillment of their vow, took her to the Temple in Jerusalem to dedicate her to the Lord.
The reverence and love Christians have for the “Immaculate Virgin” Mary arise first and foremost from the fact that God chose her to be a “Temple of Light” and, through her, sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world. The Holy Virgin became the divine gate through which the “Sun of Righteousness,” our Lord Jesus Christ, shone forth.
The Holy Mother of God, Mary, had already been foretold by various prophets. Thus, she was the “Virgin who shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be Emmanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).
This feast, therefore, is among the foremost feasts, because “through the Mother of God the entire human race was renewed, and the sorrow of Eve, the first mother, was transformed into joy.”
In the Armenian Church, the Feast of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God began to be celebrated regularly from the 13th century onward.
SCRIPTURE READINGS
~ Proverbs 31:29-31 ~
"Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all." Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her a share in the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the city gates.
~ Isaiah 61:9 ~
Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed.
~ Galatians 3:24-29 ~
Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.
~ Holy Gospel of St. Matthew 1:1-17 ~
An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.