The church celebrates the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos as a day of universal joy. On this day, solemn services are held in churches and all believers glorify the wonderful day when the Lord gave people hope for the Savior to come into the world.

In the Orthodox Church, from the Nativity of the Virgin, the annual circle of 12 great - twelfth holidays dedicated to the Savior begins.

Story

According to church tradition, the Virgin Mary was born in the Galilean city of Nazareth. Her parents were the righteous Joachim from the family of King David and Anna from the family of the high priest Aaron. They led a righteous life and dreamed of children, but, by a special providence of God, Saint Anna was barren for a long time, and this made them very sad.

Spouses had to endure contempt and ridicule, since at that time childlessness was considered a shame. For 50 years of their marriage, they fervently prayed to God to give them offspring, humbly trusting in his will.

On one of the holidays, when the Israelites brought gifts to God in the Jerusalem temple, the high priest, believing that the childless Joachim did not have God's blessing, refused to accept them from him.

This made the old man very sad. Not returning home, Saint Joachim went into the wilderness and spent forty days there in strict fasting and prayer, praying to the Lord for mercy. His righteous wife, having learned about her husband's deed, also began to mournfully ask God in fasting and prayer to give her a child, promising to bring a born child as a gift to God.

And the prayer of the holy spouses was heard - an angel appeared to both of them and announced that they would have a daughter who would be blessed by the whole human race.

And indeed they had a daughter, who was named Mary. They protected her in every possible way and brought her up in love for the Lord. She answered her parents with complete reciprocity, endowing them with her grace.

When the little girl reached the age of three, Anna and Joachim took her to the temple of God in order to fulfill the promise given once to the Lord to consecrate the child he had given to the service of the Creator.

The Holy Church rightly calls Joachim and Anna Fathers of God, because Jesus Christ was born from their daughter the Virgin Mary.

Celebration

The first mention of the celebration of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos is found in the East in the 5th century - in the words of Proclus, Archbishop of Constantinople (439-446), and in the West - in the sacramentary (breviary) of Pope Gelasius (492-496).

At the same time, Palestinian tradition tells that the temple in honor of the Nativity of the Virgin was built in Jerusalem by St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great.
The official approval of the holiday in Byzantium, according to the most common version, took place during the reign of Emperor Mauritius - at the turn of the 6th and 7th centuries.

Despite these early references, the holiday began to be widely celebrated in the West only in the 12th-13th centuries. Only at the Council of Lyons in 1245 did Pope Innocent IV make the octave of the feast obligatory for the entire Western Church, and Pope Gregory XI (1370-1378) established a vigil with fasting and a special liturgy for the feast.

Traditions and rituals

Church traditions and customs of the celebration of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos are closely intertwined with folk ones.

In Russia, the Nativity of the Mother of God was called Aspos Day, on which they met the "autumn mother", that is, autumn. It was the end of summer field work and the beginning of autumn preparations. The farmers thanked the Mother of God for the harvest and asked for her help for the next year.

On this day, the onion week began - the housewives removed this vegetable from the beds. In addition, by the Nativity of the Virgin, they tried to collect the entire crop, and the beekeepers began to prepare the bees for wintering - to clean the hives.

According to tradition, on the holiday people went to visit each other. There is no fasting on the Nativity of the Mother of God, that is, believers can eat any food, so on this day they tried to set the table richer. It was believed that the more dishes were on the table, the richer the next harvest would be.

On the same day, it was considered obligatory to visit the young people who had recently celebrated their wedding. It was believed that parents on this day were supposed to teach the young, instruct them on the right path, teach them to avoid mistakes.

Young people, in turn, had to tell about their life. The young wife made a pie with her own hands, which she served to the guests. The husband had to show the guests the household. If the economy was strong, the house was clean, life was established, gifts were presented to the young family.

© photo: Sputnik / Vladimir Vdovin

Reproduction of the icon "Our Lady"

They also did not forget to try the pie prepared by the young wife. If the cake was successful, the wife was presented with a beautiful handkerchief. If the cake was raw or burnt, the husband was given a whip, which he had to teach his wife, but he had to eat the cake alone.

Signs

Many folk signs were associated with this day. At Christmas, the Mother of God determined what kind of autumn and what kind of winter would be. If the weather is sunny on this day, then the autumn will be warm and clear, without heavy rains. If the sky is overcast, then the autumn cold will come with rain.

If it rains in the morning that day, it can last another 40 days, and the winter will be early and very cold. If on the morning of September 21 there is dew on the grass, in exactly a month there will be frost on the ground. If the sun dries the dew quickly, the winter will be little snowy, and if the dew dries before noon, an abundance of snow can be expected in winter.

The people said that if the birds rise to the sky on the Mother of God, then autumn is still far away, and if they cling to the ground and look for food, then the winter will be cold and hungry.

In the morning we looked up at the stars. If the stars are large and bright, then cold matinees should be expected soon, if the stars, on the contrary, are dim, the heat will last for a long time.

If it is windy on this day, the winter will be little snowy, with severe winds. If it is warm in the morning and colder in the afternoon, the frosts will strike very early, and in winter there will be very severe frosts. The most severe frosts in winter fell on Epiphany.

In ancient times, women tried to go to the river early in the morning and meet this day by the water. It was believed that if a woman washed herself with water on this day before sunrise, then she would be beautiful until her old age. And if a girl washed her face before sunrise, she should be betrothed this year.

In order for everything to be safe in the house, the women went to church in the morning and put candles to the Most Holy Theotokos, which were wrapped in paper flowers. Paper was put on the bottom of the candle, on which requests were written to the Blessed Virgin. We watched which side the paper would burn, because it was this request that would be fulfilled. If the paper burned completely, then all requests were heard.

On this day, special loaves were baked, on which the letters "P" and "B" were squeezed out, which meant "Nativity of the Virgin". Such bread rolls were necessarily distributed to all households so that they would join the great holiday.

These loaves were placed under the icons and kept until the birth of Jesus Christ. If someone in the house fell ill, they took a piece of such a loaf, crushed it and added it to the water, which they gave to the patient to drink. Sometimes the bread was simply given to eat, and the patient had to drink it with holy water. Water was also blessed on the Nativity of the Virgin.
The material was prepared on the basis of open sources.

The Mother of God is especially revered by the entire Christian world. It is her icons that have the miraculous power of healing, they turn to her in case of any life difficulties, they seek protection and comfort in her.

Most of the icons, one way or another connected with the Mother of God, are miraculous. They are especially revered in Orthodoxy, relying on the strength of the mother of Jesus, who cared for every person. Such is the icon depicting the sacrament of the birth of the future Mother of God from the pious and righteous Anna. The prophecies pointing to this great event are described in the Old Testament - they announced the birth of a woman who will give the world a Savior.

History of the icon

Anticipating the writing of the icon, the Orthodox world received many Signs indicating the appearance of the Mother of God. According to legend, the pious parents, Joachim and Anna, heard the news about the appearance of an unusual baby. A woman, praying to the Higher Forces for the appearance of a baby in their family, heard a voice that informed her of an imminent pregnancy. The same news was heard by her husband, who went to the desert for pious prayers and abstinence in strict fasting. The fulfilled prophecy is imprinted on the icon by the hand of the master.

Where is the miraculous image

The miraculous image of the Nativity of the Mother of God can be found in almost all temples, churches and cathedrals throughout Russia and abroad. Icons are often painted after the church sets a date for the celebration of a particular event, but the writing of the miracle of the birth of the Virgin Mary had to be postponed due to the struggle of the church with unbelievers and heretics. That is why the prototype of the icon came in the form of a fresco in one of the temples. The source of the creation of a full-fledged icon was Holy Tradition, in which this miraculous event was described in detail.

Description of the icon

The original image of the birth of the Mother of God is written sparingly. Over time, the icon acquired new colors and strokes, complemented by new persons depicted on the canvas. The most common icon is where Anna sits on a bed, accepting gifts in the form of food and vessels from three virgins. At the bottom right is the cradle of her daughter Mary, the future Mother of God, who is rocked in the cradle. Later, Joachim appeared on the icon, who was assigned a place on the edge, since men could not enter the female half of the house at certain moments. One way or another, each icon, painted by skilled craftsmen, fully conveys to us the triumph of what is happening, filling the heart of every Orthodox Christian with joy and spiritual awe.

What helps the miraculous image

Prayers before the image of the Nativity of the Virgin will be surely heard, no matter what you ask for in your appeal. The intercession of the Mother of God extends to all people. It protects and protects from adversity, troubles and misfortunes. They turn to her to strengthen faith, protect against doubts and hesitations, and choose the right decision. Families with no children pray before the icon, as well as mothers with a request to protect their babies. More than once, the icon of the Mother of God showed miracles of healing, especially for childless women, who, after sincere prayers, gave birth to healthy offspring. Anyone who wants to join the Orthodox faith, atone for sins and get advice from the Higher Powers can resort to the icon of the Nativity of the Virgin.

Days of celebration

The Church has set a date for the celebration of the icon, which is dedicated to the birth of the Virgin Mary. According to the new style, this is September 21, and according to the old one, the eighth. This holiday is the twelfth, it was established approximately in the fourth century.

Prayer before the icon

“Holy Mother of God, hear our humble prayers! Do not leave us, sinful servants, without Your mercy and protection. Grant us, Queen of Heaven, may not leave Your goodness in the hour of doubt and suffering. Protect our souls from evil and vice and show the right path leading to the Lord. Show us your righteous power and heal us from bodily ailments, grant us healthy offspring and save our children from impious deeds. Amen".

There are many icons depicting the Virgin, each of which you can bow and offer prayers. On the day of celebration, the church encourages everyone to open their soul and heart to meet the Lord and humbly spend the day for purification and spiritual growth. We wish you peace and understanding in the family, and do not forget to press the buttons and

21.09.2017 04:18

On October 28, believers will traditionally venerate the miraculous icon of the Mother of God "The Conqueror of Bread", asking her to...

Every year on September 21, the Orthodox Church celebrates a great holiday - the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was established in honor of the miraculous birth of the Virgin Mary from elderly parents - the pious Anna and Joachim. The holiday was first mentioned in the 5th century.

There is little information about the Mother of God in the New Testament. The story of her life has been brought to us by a legend according to which the parents of the Virgin Mary came from the family of David. The Church calls them the holy Fathers of God, because according to the flesh they are the ancestors of Jesus.

Miraculously, the Divine Providence for the salvation of mankind manifested itself on Anna and Joachim: after 50 years of married life, the childless Anna conceived and gave birth to the Mother of God. Even before the birth of the girl, the Angel gave her the name Mary. She became the only and most holy Virgin Who was foretold to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah: “Behold, a Virgin in the womb will bear and bear a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).

History of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

According to legend, the place where the Mother of God was born is in Jerusalem. However, in the Russian Orthodox Church, the version put forward by St. Dmitry of Rostov became widespread: that the Virgin Mary was born in Nazareth, where her parents lived.

Nazareth was a small town, unremarkable. The Jews even spoke of him somewhat contemptuously: "Can something good come from Nazareth?" The pious couple of Anna and Joachim lived in this city, who were chosen by the Lord to become the forefathers of the Savior of people. Anna came from a priestly family, and Joachim from the family of King David. Anna's niece, the righteous Elizabeth, became the cousin of the Virgin Mary and the mother of John the Baptist.

Joachim was a wealthy man, kept a large number of cattle. Despite their wealth, throughout their lives the righteous couple believed in God and were merciful to people. For this, they were loved and respected by their neighbors. The existence of spouses was overshadowed only by childlessness, which among the Jews was considered God's punishment. They constantly asked the Lord to give them a baby. But the older they got, the weaker was the hope.

Once Joachim, bringing a gift to God, heard a cruel reproach addressed to him from another Jew: “Why do you want to bring your gifts to the Lord before others? After all, you, being barren, are not worthy of this? Hearing this, Joachim was very upset. Out of great grief, he went into the wilderness for prayer and fasting.

Upon learning of this, Anna felt herself the culprit of their childlessness, and began to pray even more fervently that the Lord would hear her and send them a child. During one of her prayers, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her and said: “Your request has been heard by God. Soon you will conceive and give birth to a blessed Daughter who will be higher than all earthly daughters. Call her Mary." Upon hearing the joyful news, Anna promised to give the child to the service of the Lord.

Archangel Gabriel also appeared to Joachim. He also told the saint great news and ordered him to go to Jerusalem, where he would meet his wife at the Golden Gate. Joachim hastened to Jerusalem, taking with him gifts for God and the priests.

At the Golden Gate, Joachim met with Anna. They told each other about the miraculous appearance of the Angel of the Lord. They spent some more time in Jerusalem, and then returned home to Nazareth. Nine months later, Anna gave birth to a daughter, who was named Mary.

When the girl was one year old, her father arranged a feast, to which he called the elders, priests and all his acquaintances. During the celebration, he showed his Daughter to all those present and asked the clergy to bless her.

According to church traditions, the Virgin Mary was born at a time when religion was in decline and various prejudices gained great popularity. Every year the moral strength of the people was depleted. Believers understood that only some extraordinary event, God's intervention in earthly affairs, could save spirituality. The Son of God decided to take on the human image in order to come to earth and save mankind from sins. Mary was chosen to be the mother of Jesus because she led a very pious life. She devoted herself entirely to the service of the Lord. From childhood, the Virgin Mary diligently studied, studying the Holy Scriptures, therefore she was ideally suited to fulfill this important mission.

The Nativity of the Mother of God is celebrated as the day on which God's providence began to be carried out regarding the salvation of the human race from devilish ideas. The holiday is also associated with the day of childbirth. Women who dreamed of knowing the joy of motherhood invited guests to dinner and ordered a service in the church.

Icon "Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary"

The icon "Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos" helps everyone who turns to her with their requests. It protects from all evil, averts misfortune, helps to heal the human soul and guides on the true path. Also, childless people pray at the holy image, dreaming that the Lord would give them a child.

Troparion of the Nativity of the Theotokos, tone 4

Kontakion of the Nativity of the Virgin, Tone 4

magnificence Nativity of the Virgin

We magnify Thee, Blessed Virgin, and honor Your holy parents, and all-glorious glorify Your Nativity.

“Your prayer has been heard!.. You will have a daughter!” Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Natalia Sukhinina

A girl was born in the family ... A common phrase about an everyday event. But how small, how inexpressive these words seem, if we attribute them to an event two thousand years ago, when a long-awaited daughter, begged in tearful prayers, was born in the righteous family of Joachim and Anna. Now we say this - the Most Holy Theotokos, the Ever-Virgin Mary, the Mother of God ... And then - in appearance an ordinary child, pure, tremulous, - trustingly peered into the world presented by his parents, and elderly parents rejoiced, looking at Her, and thanked the Lord for sent to old age comfort. A girl was born in the family… But Her birthday is now celebrated as Christmas.

Do you know Christmas? - Why don't we know Christmas! - But there is another Christmas, in mid-September, in the days of the last summer heat and the first timid news of the approaching cold ...

There are no Christmas frosts, but there is Christmas. There are no Christmas trees hung with garlands, but there is Christmas. And Christmas cards with generous wishes do not fly like carrier pigeons around Mother Russia, but there is Christmas. Quiet on earth, light and calm. And we quietly sing the Christmas troparion: “Your Christmas, Virgin Mother of God, joy to erect throughout the Universe.” A girl was born in the family, By her birth - by Christmas she had already taught us the silence of the soul and modesty of thoughts.

It is not uncommon to complain about the lack of positive examples for our children. There are no teachers, no individuals who are ready to lead, teach good and strengthen unsteady children's souls. And Joachim and Anna?! Encyclopedia of family life, in which every deed is a science. Humble. Be in love. Hope. Believe. They were despised for being childless, but they did not grumble. They were called righteous, and they considered themselves "more sinful than all in the world." Years silvered their heads, but they did not lose hope. A humble heart is a gift to the Lord, and He hurries to the humble with a gift: “Anna! Your prayer has been heard!.. You will have a daughter,” the Angel proclaimed the good news. Great joy. And then - a hasty gratitude to the Lord: a promise to consecrate a daughter to Him! What an amazing, what a humble and meek maternal heart. The Mother of God the Virgin inherited it from her mother, and never, even when it was impossible to endure and humble herself by human standards, she did not betray her generous parental inheritance. And why do we so rarely pray to the righteous parents of the Most Holy Theotokos? Why don't we seek their richest experience of family life? Why don't we cry in front of their holy icon, don't ask for admonition and help? They are, in their righteousness for us, the very golden specimens that we crave so much and which we search for with fire in modern textbooks on pedagogy and lectures on family and marriage.

The Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos lit up the sinful earthly world with a ray of grace. The world was silent in anticipation of Salvation. Time will pass, and the small legs of the Virgin Mary will easily and deftly overcome the high steps of the Jerusalem temple. In the meantime, while happy parents bowed over their dear child. For fifty years they begged for a child. And we... We quickly get tired of prayer, we need it right away, we need it now, we need it quickly. And it’s not given quickly, which means it’s useless, how much you can bruise your forehead on church flooring, how many candles to warm, how much silver to exhaust. Zapolshennye, in a hurry, of little faith, impatient, touchy - what gifts of the Lord are we waiting for, what bounties we hope for?

The Mother of our God is now celebrating Her Christmas. With this feast, the Most Pure One awakens our hardened souls from hibernation and lack of faith. Today is Christmas... Today is the bright day of the bright glory of the Mother of Light. Let us honor her with songs, honor her with the Christmas troparion, honor her with our unworthy prayer. If only the heart did not absorb the breath of the first, still cautious autumn weather.

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is not a long-standing event, but a miracle of eternity

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!

A few days ago, by the grace of God, we entered into a new church year, and now we are celebrating the first great feast of the annual liturgical cycle -.

In order to understand the meaning of this feast, and with it other church holidays, we must first of all remember that church life is a mystery, incomprehensible to those who are outside the Church.

It is no coincidence that the most important thing in the life of the Holy Church is its center, through which we become partakers of the grace of God, we call MYSTERIES.

We ourselves, with our created mind, could not comprehend this church mystery. But the Lord, by His mercy, gradually opens it to those who live in the Sacraments, who fall to this source of grace and drink its living water.

There are many mysteries in the life of the Church, but one of them is constantly revealed to believers. We enter into communion with her not only when we receive gifts of grace through the Sacraments, but every time we are in church and participate in divine services.

However, for many of us believers, this mystery continues to be hidden. In order to truly get in touch with it, we need to be not just listeners and spectators of what is happening in the temple, but enter into the experience of those who were the creators of worship and captured it in their prayers and hymns, starting from the time of the apostles, through the martyrs and saints and ending with the ascetics of our time.

The creators of worship, in full agreement with all the fathers and teachers of the Church, tell us that man was created for eternal life, that the true element in which only his soul can live is eternity.

When we bury our dead and pray for the repose of their souls, we ask the Lord to create an eternal memory for them. But this prayer can also apply to us, who are still living on earth, because we also need the Lord to have us in His Eternal Memory: after all, the goal of our life is communion with eternity. Therefore, the best and most valuable wish of the Church is the wish of eternal memory.

And we keep forgetting about it. Burdened with worldly cares and overshadowed by the temporary circumstances of our lives, we forget about what we were created for, we forget about eternity, in which only that which was created by the Lord lives - VIRTUE.

Everything else is swept away and thrown into the fire - into outer darkness. It only seems to us that it exists, but in fact, as one holy father says: “In the beginning there was no evil, because even now it does not exist in the saints and for them it does not exist at all” (1).

Truly, there is only life in God and that which is on the path of acquiring the Kingdom of God in us.

The Holy Fathers tell us that man is created in the image and likeness of God, that he is the crown of nature and the king of all visible creation, and at the same time a keeper of God's grace. They teach that with his body a person is connected with all earthly creatures, because the Lord created this body, dust from the earth (Gen. 2.7), and with his soul he is connected with the Heavenly angelic world. Man stands on the verge of two worlds - earthly and heavenly. “In his creation,” says Gregory the Theologian, “the artistic word creates a living being, in which invisible and visible nature are brought into unity; He creates, taking a body from already created matter and putting life from Himself, delivers to the earth another Angel, a worshiper composed of different natures, a spectator of a visible creature, a secret of a contemplative creature ”(2).

But created in the image of God and placed by the Lord on the verge of two worlds, man did not fulfill his destiny: he sinned, falling away from God, and through him the whole visible world, of which he is the crown, began to depart from the Lord. Then the Son of God appeared on earth, Who by His death abolished death and by His Resurrection opened the way to Eternal life for us. He gave us eternal memory, and not only to us who believe in Him, but also to all visible creatures.

Therefore, the task of a person is to cleanse his soul from sin, to raise and spiritualize also the substance from which his body is created, making it a worthy abode of an immortal soul. The Holy Fathers say that on the day of the last resurrection, not only our souls will appear before the Lord, but together with them our resurrected bodies. And in this earthly life, in his ascent to God, a person can only follow the path indicated to him by the Lord, who placed him on the verge of two worlds. Only in communion with these two worlds and together with them can a person here on earth serve God. The Holy Church constantly reminds us of this in her divine services.

Recently, we performed a New Year's service. On this day, we brought praise to the Lord not only from ourselves, but also from the whole world, visible and invisible, with which we are united in body and soul.

This is clearly stated in the canon of the day: All Your works, O Lord, the heavens, the earth, the light and the sea, the waters and all springs, the sun, the moon and darkness, the stars, fire, men and cattle, so the angels praise Thee. (3)

Whoever believes that these words correspond to reality and that in worship we truly unite with both worlds, he understands what a great mystery lies in Orthodox worship.

This mystery consists not only in the fact that here the boundary between man and all creatures, heavenly and earthly, is destroyed, the boundary that we so clearly feel while living in this temporary world, but also in the fact that through worship we overcome the very boundaries time of the current nature and enter the world of eternity. Therefore, there is nothing temporal in worship, but everything lives in eternity.

Usually, we see the meaning of celebrating this or that event from the life of Jesus Christ or the Mother of God in going to the temple, listening to the Gospel and hymns there, telling about events that happened once very long ago, to remember these events. This is how we can relate to today's holiday, church tradition tells us that about 2000 years ago the Blessed Virgin was born in the Galilean city of Nazareth from aged parents - the righteous Joachim and Anna. It tells that by her birth the Virgin Mary loosened the bonds of their infertility and gave them great joy. Today's hymns tell us about this, and, apparently, the whole meaning of the holiday is to remember these events.

But if we turn to the text of the chants themselves and try to understand the meaning of what their creators say, then we will be convinced that such an attitude towards the holiday is characteristic only of external people who do not understand the mysteries of church life. In fact, the hymns of the holiday say something completely different. In the verses of this evening we heard: Today the barren gates are opened and the divine divine door is coming ... Today universal joy proclamation, today blowing the wind, the herald of salvation, barrenness of our nature is resolved, and finally: Today barren Anna gives birth to the Virgin Mary(4). What does this mean today? (today barrenness is allowed, today Anna gives birth to the Mother of God). Are these only techniques of figurative, poetic speech, or do these words contain some other meaning?

If you think from the point of view of the wisdom of this world, then the assertion of the real meaning of these words is folly. After all, this all happened a long time ago. But for those who are spiritually wise (cf. Rom. 8:5), everything that happened for us and for our salvation, not only happened in time, but also abides in eternity.

So when we hear today that now the Pure Virgin descends from Anna(5), - the gates of eternity open to us.

The service of today tells us that the birth of the Blessed Virgin was a joy not only for Her parents and relatives who lived in Nazareth, but became a worldwide joy, that it resolved the barrenness not only of the holy righteous Joachim and Anna, but in it barrenness of our nature is resolved and life-giving fruit is born to the world (6).

The divine service reveals to us that the Nativity of the Mother of God was significant not only for those who lived in those days in Nazareth, but it happened for us for the sake of people and for our salvation, which with the birth of Her life a bridge is born today(7) leading us into eternity.

Glorifying the Lord, we end each doxology with the words: . With these words, the Holy Church tells us that the divine service that we celebrate today will be celebrated forever and forever, because even now it is being celebrated in eternity and joins us to Eternal life.

This is the great mystery of worship, which the Holy Church reveals to us.

Take away from worship its hidden meaning, contained in the words now and forever and forever and ever, and the source of Eternal life flowing in it will be closed for us, you will forever remain cut off from what was and has gone into the irrevocable past, for none of the people can be present at the birth of their mother or father. But we know that the best of our ascetics, those who were the creators of liturgical hymns and canons, drank from this source of eternal life. They learned by experience that worship opens us to the knowledge of eternity.

And for us sinners, the most important thing (and this must always be remembered) is to touch this source of knowledge, which is revealed to us through the mystery of worship.

And for this, while you are still here on earth, with faith, reverence and the fear of God, perceive everything that you see and hear in the temple - everything that happens, is sung, is read at the service.

And when we now again enter the annual circle of worship, let us remember WHO we are and WHAT WE ARE CALLED TO.

And as we enter into it, the great mystery of eternity will be revealed to us more and more.

The Holy Church believes that we are not alone in celebrating divine services, that together with us the Angelic Powers and the entire Heavenly Church pray and glorify the Lord. Now the Heavenly Forces serve with us invisibly, we sing during Great Lent at the Presanctified Liturgies.

And not only on these great days, but also on all days of the church year, at each Liturgy, before the small entrance, the priest prays: Create with our entrance the entrance of the holy angels of life, serving us and glorifying Your goodness. It is precisely from here, from this co-presence and co-service with us of angels and saints who have already reached eternity and live eternal life in the Lord, that aspiration to eternity is born in us.

Therefore, during the Divine Liturgy, the priest, after offering the Lord the thanksgiving service about all the saints and fairly about the Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed and Glorious Lady of Our Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary commemorates the living and the departed and prays that the Lord would remember them in His Kingdom, that is, would join them to His Eternal Memory, which is the Kingdom of God.

From this it should be clear to us that the worship performed here on earth is nothing but the successive revelation in time of the mysteries of eternity. And for each of us believers, it is the path that leads us to eternal life.

Therefore, church holidays are not a random collection of memorable days, but points of eternity shining in our temporal world, the passage through which is subject to an unchanging spiritual order. These points replace each other in a certain sequence, they are connected with each other, like steps of a single ladder of spiritual ascent, so that, standing on one of them, we already see the light that illuminates us from another step. Today, too, the reading of the canon is accompanied by the singing of the Vozdvizhenskaya katavasia Moses drew the cross. It would seem that it has nothing to do with today, but in fact it is not. She tells us about the inextricable spiritual connection of the successive church holidays.

This is the light of Exaltation that illuminates us from afar, so that today we begin to enter into it.

The mystery of worship is the greatest of the mysteries of the Church. We ourselves can not immediately comprehend it. But we know that it was revealed to the great and greatest of God's saints. Therefore, entering into their experience through those prayers and hymns in which they captured it, asking for their help and prayers for us sinners, we can gradually begin to touch this great mystery.

And as the elements of eternity are born and grow in us through this, we will treat our temporal life in a different way than now. We will understand then that it is only a path that leads us from the bottom to the top, from the temporal to the eternal.

And then, leaving this life, we, perhaps, will be worthy of the Eternal Kingdom prepared by the Lord for those who already here on earth have begun to enter into His Eternal Memory, which is the greatest achievement for a person going from the bottom to the top.

(1) Saint Athanasius the Great. Word on the Gentiles 2 // Creations. Part 1. S. 127.
(2) Saint Gregory the Theologian. Word 38. On Theophany or the Nativity of the Savior // Creations. Part III. pp. 9-200.
(3) Service 1 September. Canon of the Indict. Song 9.
(4) Service of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos: in the Lord, cry out stichera 4,5,6.
(5) Ibid. Canon 2. Song 4, 2nd troparion.
(6) Ibid. Ikos.
(7) Ibid. Canon 1. Song 1, 3rd troparion.

September 21 is the day of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is considered the first in the cycle of the great twelfth holidays. According to church tradition, the pious parents of the Virgin Mary, Joachim, who came from the family of King David, and Anna, from the family of the high priest ... ... Encyclopedia of newsmakers

Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, a Christian holiday, is celebrated on September 8 (21). In the Orthodox Church, it is one of the Twelve Feasts of the Theotokos (see TWELVE HOLIDAYS), the annual circle of church holidays begins with it. ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary- the twelfth Feast of the Theotokos, celebrated on September 21 (8). Established by the Church in memory of the birth of the Most Holy Theotokos from childless and elderly, but pious parents Joachim and Anna. Shame and dishonor accompanied the childless ... ... Orthodox Encyclopedia

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary- cf. One of the main Christian church holidays, established according to church doctrine in memory of the birth of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ, in Nazareth in Galilee (celebrated by the Orthodox on September 8 according to the old style or September 21 ... ... Modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language Efremova

NATIVITY OF THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD- the beginning of all Christian holidays. And not only because this is the first twelfth holiday of the new church year (September 1/14, the beginning of the indictment of the church new year), but also the beginning of the fulfillment of the salvation of the human race promised by God from ... ... Russian history

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary- a holiday of the Orthodox Church, one of the twelve, established in memory of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mary was born in the Galilean city of Nazareth, in the family of the holy righteous Joachim and Anna. Her parents were childless and in advanced years ... Fundamentals of spiritual culture (encyclopedic dictionary of a teacher)

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary- the first in a series of twelve fixed holidays in the annual liturgical circle; celebrated on 8 (21) September. The holiday was established in the IV century. It is dedicated to the "beginning of our salvation", the birth of the Virgin Mary. The circumstances of this event are not described in ... ... Orthodoxy. Dictionary-reference

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin according to the Orthodox calendar- September 21 (September 8, old style) the Orthodox Church celebrates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Nativity of the Mother of God is the first twelfth feast of the church year, which begins on September 14 (September 1, old style) ... Encyclopedia of newsmakers

Glinskaya Nativity of the Mother of God ICON- (holiday Sept. 8, Oct. 23), according to the tradition kept by the monks of Glinskaya in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed. The Mother of God is empty, revealed on a pine tree in the forest, called the "side-hole", during the collection of honey. From under the root of a pine, on which an icon was found, it became ... ... Orthodox Encyclopedia

Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary- This term has other meanings, see Annunciation (meanings) ... Wikipedia

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• , Malkov Petr Yurievich. Anthology of patristic creations for the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary includes works of different traditions and eras, Byzantine, Russian and Serbian authors - from St. Andrew of Crete and ... Buy for 468 rubles
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