The happiest parents of all human history were Joachim and Anna. The saints gave birth to the most beautiful and most holy child - the Mother of God, who surpasses all that exists. And if the whole world is on one side of the scale - all the stars, all the people and all the saints, and the Mother of God is on the other, then the latter will outweigh.
Saint Anna did not perform a miracle, she did not suffer martyrdom and venerable deeds. She bore other sorrows. And those that every woman carries when building her family. And the sorrow of fruitless loneliness, and the patient hope of motherhood, which had to be carried into old age. Twith patience and hope righteous Anna acquired her treasure in her earthly life. Patience and hope were crowned with the joy of Christmas and became the guarantee of eternal joy in God. And Christ the Savior commands us: “By your patience save your souls” (Luke 21:19). (Priest Pavel Adelheim)
According to the teaching of the Holy Fathers, the whole world was created for the sake of the Mother of God, and the Mother of God for Christ.
For Christ is the cause and purpose of creation. Christ could become a man, a God-man only with the help of the Virgin Mary. Just as a tree exists for the sake of the fruit, so all people and Angels exist for the sake of the Virgin Mother of God, Who in her greatness surpasses not only people, but also Angels and Archangels.
So, is it possible to imagine happier parents than the parents of the Virgin? St. John of Damascus glorifies these parents, saying: “O happy spouses Joachim and Anna, all creation glorifies you, for you have awarded the Creator with the greatest gift - a humble, only, worthy mother for the Creator. Wonderful is Anna's womb, which gradually grew within herself and gave birth to the Most Holy Child. This womb carried within itself the living Sky, eclipsing the boundless skies with its breadth.
Humanity is indebted to Joachim and Anna for this great gift.
They gave us the Virgin Mary. But at the same time, they are infinitely indebted to God and feel great gratitude for the great joy that He has given them.
We know other Old Testament women who miraculously recovered from infertility, but they all had sons
The name "Anna" means "grace". The Lord gave them this grace. Who was Anna? A barren woman, unable to have a child. But her prayers were answered, and she found a child. We know other Old Testament women who were miraculously healed of infertility. However, all of them had sons: Sarah had Isaac, Anna, the wife of Elkana, Samuel, Elizabeth had the prophet John.
Anna, the wife of Joachim, became the only barren woman who gave birth to a daughter. Why?
Because it was the woman, the first Eve, who, through her disobedience, gave birth to sin and death. Another woman, the new Eve, the Mother of God, with her humility gave life to the sinless Savior of the world.
Joachim and Anna were worthy of joy. They were both grateful. Christ said, “By their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:16). Children are the fruit, the image of the parents. Godly and believing parents produce good children. What kind of children do you expect from unbelieving, ungodly worldly parents? A rotten tree is rotten fruit, wicked parents are corrupt children. Of course, there are exceptions. However, the parents of the Mother of God led a righteous life: the holy parents are the Most Holy Child. In one of the troparions we read: “He who has life is exalted, life is the lordship, all together the parents of the former earthly ones exceeded the Incorruptible Virgin as if she gave birth” (1st song of the canon of Matins 9/22 September).
Joachim and Anna, in the purity and morality of their lives, became the greatest of all parents, since they brought the Most Pure Virgin into the world.
St. John of Damascus writes: “While leading a holy and pure life, you have borne fruit that has become an adornment of purity. Pure before birth, at birth and after birth, beautiful, remaining forever pure mind, soul and body."
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| Righteous Joachim, rightful husband of Anna, father of Rev. Mother of God |
Her husband, holy righteous Joachim, was from the tribe of Judah, from the house of King David. According to the ancient promise, the Messiah was to come from the line of David. The couple lived in Nazareth of Galilee. Every year they gave two-thirds of their income to the Jerusalem Temple and the poor. By a special providence of God, the holy couple had no children until old age. The spouses greatly grieved over this, since childlessness among the Jews was considered a grave misfortune and a punishment from God. The saints fervently prayed for the gift of offspring to them.
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. Saint Joachim was deeply distressed. He turned to the genealogy of the twelve tribes of Israel and made sure that all the righteous men had offspring, including the hundred-year-old Abraham. Not returning home, Saint Joachim went into the wilderness and spent forty days there. strict post and prayer, invoking the mercy of God upon themselves and washing away their dishonor with bitter tears.
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| Right. Joachim and Anna |
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| Right. Joachim and Anna |
With the same gospel, an angel appeared to Saint Joachim in the wilderness and commanded him to go to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, the holy righteous Anna conceived the Blessed Child and gave birth to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Until the age of three Holy Mary lived in the house of her parents, and then was solemnly led by Saints Joachim and Anna to the temple of the Lord, where she was brought up to adulthood.
Soon after the introduction of the Most Holy Theotokos into the temple, the 80-year-old elder Joachim died. Saint Anna survived him by two years and passed away to the Lord at the age of 79. The advanced age of the righteous spouses shows that the birth of their Daughter was the action of a special Providence of God.
The Church calls Joachim and Anna the Fathers of God, for they were the ancestors of Jesus Christ according to the flesh, and daily at the end of the Divine Service asks their prayers for the believers leaving the temple.
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| Right Anna, mother of the Most Holy Theotokos. |
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| Holy Righteous Anna and the Most Holy Theotokos. |
At the end of the 10th century, the skete of St. Anna was built on Mount Athos - the oldest of all Athos sketes. Devastated for many years by pirates, it was restored in the 17th century. Patriarch of Constantinople Dionysius, who acquired from the Christians of Asia Minor the foot of the holy righteous Anna. In 1680, a cathedral church was erected there in memory of the Assumption of St. Anna. Since that time, the skete began to bear the name "St. Anna". He is famous on Mount Athos for the high ascetic deeds of the monks.
Not far from the skete of St. Anna is the so-called New Skete of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin or "Little Anna". The proximity of these fertile places emphasizes the connection between the sacred events of the conception and the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.
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| The burial of the righteous Anna. |
Magnification on the Assumption of Righteous Anna:
We magnify thee, / holy righteous Anno / pramati of Christ our God, / and all-honorable praise / your Assumption.
Troparion of the Feast of the Conception of the Righteous Anna of the Most Holy Theotokos, Tone 4
Today, the bonds of childlessness are resolved, / Hearing Joachim and Anna, God / promises the Mother of God more than the hope of giving birth to those in reality, / from, Not having been born Undescribed, Being a Man, / Commanding an angel to cry out to Her: / rejoice, full of grace, / the Lord is with you.
(Minea December. Part 1. - M., Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2002, www.otechestvo.org.ua; illustrations - www.calend.ru; days.pravoslavie.ru; www.lavra.kiev.ua www.tserkov.info; sobory.ru).
Skete of St. Anna on Mount Athos.
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(Sotiris Kadas. Holy Mount Athos. Monasteries and their treasures. - Athens, 2006).
Prayers to the holy and righteous Fathers of God Joachim and Anna
Prayer one:
Oh, saints of the righteous, God-fathers Joachim and Anno! Pray to the Merciful Lord, as if He would turn away His anger from us, according to our deeds righteously moved on us, and may our countless sins, despising, turn us, the servants of God (name), to the path of repentance, and on the path of His commandments, let us confirm us. With your prayers, save our life in the world, and ask for all the good haste in all good things, all that is necessary for us from God to the belly and piety, from all misfortunes and troubles and sudden death by your intercession, delivering us, and protecting us from all enemies visible and invisible, and so in the world this temporary life has passed, we will reach eternal peace, even if with your holy supplication let us be honored with Heaven of the Kingdom of Christ our God, to Him with the Father and the Most Holy Spirit all glory, honor and worship befits forever and ever.
Prayer is different:
About the glorification of the Righteous of Christ, the Holy Fathers of God Joachim and Anna, coming to the Heavenly Throne of the Great Tsar and having great boldness towards Him, as if from your Blessed Daughter, the Most Pure Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, who deigned to incarnate, to you, as a powerful representative and zealous prayer book for us, resorted we eat, sinners and unworthy. Pray for His goodness, as if He would turn away His wrath from us, according to our deeds righteously moved against us, and, having despised our countless sins, turn us to the path of repentance and on the path of His commandments, let us be confirmed. With your prayers, save our belly in the world and ask for good haste in all the good things, all that is necessary for us from God to the belly and piety, from all misfortunes and troubles, and vain death, delivering us through your intercession, and protecting us from all visible and invisible enemies, as if we would live a quiet and silent life in all piety and purity, and so this temporary world lives we have passed, we will achieve eternal rest, even with your holy supplication, may we be merciful to the Heavenly Kingdom of Christ our God, to him with the Father and the Most Holy Spirit all glory, honor and worship is due forever and ever. Amen.
(azbyka.ru)
Saint Righteous Anna often pray for healing from infertility. Here are some tips for those who pray for the gift of childbearing and prayer (translated from Greek, the material is taken from the official website of the Valaam Monastery):
Tips for childbearing
"Your prayer has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son"
“They were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments
and without blame to the ordinances of the Lord” (Luke 1:6).
Those who wish to acquire a child of inheritance should first, with sincere repentance and contrition of heart, confess their sins from birth, for without confession, repentance, and divine communion of the Body and Blood of our Savior Jesus Christ, there is no salvation, and naturally, Orthodox spiritual life cannot be imagined without them. When we desire something from the Good God and "knock on the door of mercy", it follows that our life should be pleasing before Him, that we should be heard. Therefore, according to the word of the Lord Christ, "If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, then ask for whatever you wish, and it will be for you (John 15, 7). That is, if you abide united with Me and My words, that is, My commandments abide within you, then ask what you desire and it will be for you. Thus, it is also unconditionally explained that the prayer and petitions of our saints (living and departed) will be heard and by miracles follow.
Spouses should always have before their eyes the example of the holy and righteous Fathers of God Joachim and Anna, whose help should be called upon, by virtue of the special grace given to her, to deliver from barrenness. For she miraculously gave birth to the Lady Theotokos at an advanced age, despite her barrenness, as a result of persistent and intense prayer together with her husband, St. Joachim.
If they offended or offended someone, one should make amends and make amends for the insult, and it is necessary to reconcile with those against whom they had enmity or hatred. At the same time, they should constantly pray, glorify the Holy Trinity, seek her help, go to Church together and do alms according to their strength.
When they have done all this, they should invite a priest to their house so that he performs a prayer service for the blessing of water in the house, and they should also pour into the consecrated water that holy water that was consecrated at the relics of St. Anna.
Then they should begin a forty-day fast without oil, except on Saturday and Sunday, when they can afford wine and oil. During these forty days they should sleep separately and make 50 prostrations every day. Every morning from the days of fasting and abstinence, they must first eat the antidoron, and then drink a little from holy water, and then make a cross on their foreheads with holy oil from the inextinguishable lamp at the relics of St. Anna. If they have the time and desire, let them, then they can read the prayer canon to the holy foremother of God Anna. However, if due to health or excessive fasting one of the spouses loses strength, let them fast according to their strength, following the advice of their confessor.
For forty days we do for them Divine Liturgy and a prayer service, remembering their names.
After a forty-day preparatory fast, let them confess again and let them again call the priest to their house so that he can perform the sacrament of unction, and if they have the permission of the confessor, let them partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ and after three days let them enter into marital communion.
We hope that the formerly barren holy foremother of God Anna and her most pure daughter, the Mother of God, will fervently pray for them to our Savior Jesus Christ and the many-merciful Lord will hear the prayers of all of us and grant those who pray in humility and repentance a child of inheritance for their benefit.
Prayer of the Holy Mother of God Anna, resolving the bonds of childlessness and infertility.
Let's pray to the Lord.
A pleasing root that has grown the former prosperous and ever-blossoming - the venerable Mother of God, from Her originated the Head of life and the Finisher of faith Jesus Christ, a multi-precise source, from nothing originated, like a stream of sweetness and a river of peace Blessed in women, exuding an abyss of blessings and an inexpressible sea of goodness and endless bliss. The predetermined womb-bearing incomparably the brightest of the rays of the sun, Who has seen and preached the prophetic trumpets. Known from the Fruit of her, the Queen of Angels and the highest being of heaven, like a vessel chosen by the Holy Spirit and a clearest receptacle of grace. The image of righteousness and immaculate residence and wisdom is a fragrant and sweetly fragrant meadow. Fulfilling the lawful commands in rightness of heart and burning reverence and all diligence with her blessed husband and God-bearer Joachim. By divine will, she conceived in old age the venerable and gave birth before the age of the predestined Mother of God to be born. Pramati of the all-merciful and all-merciful God, ready intercession and intercession with faith resorting to you, comfort to those who suffer and peace to those who grieve, by the grace of your Grandson showing childless and barren wives are gracious, accept and pray to us sinners and change the sorrow of the childlessness of those who pray to you into joy.
Give the fruit of the womb to those who call on you, resolving the darkness of their barrenness and, like the resolution of barrenness, childless wives, graciously create those who please you and glorify the God-man - your Grandson and Creator and Lord.
To her, blessed and gracious Anna, to everyone, like a bright moon, sending a peaceful and quiet light of God-given gifts in you, seeming to Sarah the most honest, Anna's mother Samuel, the most glorious, Elizabeth the most glorious and all righteous wives, their law glorifies, most honest and as if from this much honor and grace awarded, fill the hearts of those who run to you with joy and gladness and give your grace your servant, I will accept
ANNA
IN 80 BC was born Joachim, father of Mary.Anna born in 74 BC in a large family, becoming the fourteenth child. Anna's mother was then 45 years old. Anna's parents, at that time, were middle-class people. They lived in the city of Nazareth, were engaged in cattle breeding and had a small herd. In addition, Anna's father kept a small inn. There were three rooms in the courtyard where visiting merchants stayed.
Nazareth was located very well, just on the way from Egypt to India, and caravans constantly visited this town.
Very often, Simeon, a well-known soothsayer, stayed in their house. This is the same 113-year-old elder Simeon, who was waiting for the appearance of the newborn Jesus in the temple. It was he who said then: “Praise the Lord that I waited for this!” At that time, Simeon was still young. He was engaged in healing, treated with herbs and could predict the future. He did this with the help of thirteen stones and a lamb shoulder. Simeon threw them up, and then carefully studied what alignment was obtained from the stones that fell to the ground. At that moment, the unknown future of man was revealed to him. Previously, people with great respect and faith treated the soothsayers. Simeon's prophecies always came true, and people often turned to him for help.
Little Anna was then 12 years old. Anna impressed everyone with her diligence, helped her mother with all her might in the household. At such a young age, she already knew how to work like an adult: milk a cow and run a household. At the same time, she was distinguished by her great love of life, irrepressible gaiety and, most importantly, an unchildish feeling of pity for all living things. She felt sorry for everyone - old people, weak and sick wanderers and neighbors, animals, she could not calmly look at anyone's suffering. Anna had a big and kind heart. Anna simply fell in love with the soothsayer Simeon. He was so strange and mysterious. He was engaged in something incomprehensible and mysterious - a real magician-wizard ...
The room where Simeon stayed was divided into two parts by a curtain. Anna - a terribly curious girl - hid in the second half of the room and from there carefully watched Simeon from the side, fascinated by his actions. She terribly wanted to understand what their mysterious guest was doing, and she wanted to learn it herself. Simeon also drew attention to the curious child. He liked Anna for her spontaneity, kindness and obvious, undisguised thirst for new knowledge. He slowly began to teach the girl the art of healing and revealed to her some of the secrets of medicine.
Simeon was not mistaken - Anna turned out to be a capable student and grasped everything right on the fly. Soon, she herself could talk about a toothache, remove a purulent abscess from the patient’s body, or calm the pain in the stomach.
In the past, home health care was practiced everywhere. Each family had a person who could help sick household members or pets. Magic, healing and predictions of the future did not surprise or frighten anyone, they treated this calmly, with faith and understanding. No one divided medicine into official and folk.
Once Anna begged Simeon to tell her what will happen to her when she grows up, what future awaits her. Simeon, agreeing, spread the stones and for a long time silently looked at the resulting alignment. He sighed, looked at Anna and did not say anything.
The intrigued girl began to persistently pull at him, persuading him to tell her the truth. Simeon refused for a long time, but then in the end, succumbing to her persuasion, he said: “You will live through a difficult and short life. And you will die when you give birth to a child, at the age of 54 years. You will have a girl, whom you will have to name Mary. This will be an extraordinary girl. Time will pass, and she will have a son named Jesus. This man will be the Messiah, he will bring people a new faith that will save the world.”
After this prediction, Simeon began to look at the little girl with completely different eyes. From ancient prophecies, Simeon knew that someday a man would be born on the land of Judea, who in the future would turn the whole world upside down, cleanse it of filth and vice, give people new life. And now - wow - this prophecy is coming true right before his eyes!
Simeon now prayed for only one thing - if only to live to see this bright day and see the Savior of the world with his own eyes, if only he had the strength to wait for this miracle!
After all, it turned out according to the prophecy that the Mother of God Mary would be born when Simeon was almost a hundred years old! Just live to see this day!
At the age of 13, Anna was married to 19-year-old Joachim. In those days, children grew up very quickly, at the age of 13 the girl was considered to be of age and ready for marriage. They lived in the Holy Land, were well-born and rich, but they had no children. In the society that surrounded them, the absence of children in the family was tantamount to a curse, displeasure from Above, and therefore the priest stopped letting Joachim into the temple. He left home for the desert and decided not to return. Only Anna remained in the house, grieving over her misfortune. On the anniversary of her wedding with Joachim, she wept bitterly in the garden: “Woe to me, to whom I have become like, I have not become like the birds of the air, because even the birds of the air are fruitful before you, Lord! Woe to me, I have not become like the beasts of the earth, because they also have children! Even those waves will give birth to waves that play and splash, glorifying God. And I can’t compare with the earth, because the earth bears its fruits ... ”Anna’s cry was heard, the heavenly messenger - the Angel - assured Anna that soon a girl would be born to her, who would be called Mary.
Icon "Meeting of Joachim and Anna"
Images of Joachim and Anna are not uncommon in icon painting, they always represented them in the same way: Joachim - in the form of an old man with a long beard, Anna - in a long himation with a covered head. Sometimes they were included in a number of selected saints of the icon. There was also a special composition "Meeting of Joachim and Anna". Joachim and Anna hugged each other when they met after the gospel and Joachim's return from the desert to his home.
Nativity of the Virgin Mary
Years passed. Anna had long forgotten about the prophecy of Simeon. Business, household, life - life went on as usual. Joachim and Anna were considered in Nazareth to be a prosperous married couple of average income. They kept livestock - goats, cows, horses, bulls. And a large flock of sheep. In addition, Joachim owned a small oil mill, which produced sour cream, cottage cheese, and butter. Despite his advanced 60 years of age, Joachim still worked hard, trying to do the housework everywhere.
Suddenly, the unexpected happened - his wife Anna became pregnant again. At 54! Just a miracle! And only now Anna remembered Simeon! She told all her loved ones - her husband, relatives - about the prophecy she made in her childhood: that she would become pregnant at the age of 54 and die in childbirth, and the child that appeared should be called Mary, and this girl would later become the mother of Jesus - the Messiah, who would suffer a lot and bring a new faith to this world.
Anna's relatives were simply confused. What kind of prophecy, where, what kind of Messiah, will Anna really die, how is it, and then who will raise the child?
Joachim was already 60 years old, and he is unlikely to be able to raise a girl alone.
In those days, having many children was commonplace. And none of the relatives could take little Mary to them. And then Anna remembered her distant relative Elizabeth. Elizabeth's mother was a second cousin of Anna's mother. Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah had no children of their own, so they agreed to take Mary with them.
Early in the morning, at 6:15 a.m., July 21, 20 BC. e. in the house of Joachim, a girl was born, who was named Mary. Anna, unable to endure a difficult birth, died, as was predicted by Simeon.
Saints Joachim and Anna
The image of the parents of the Mother of God was ordered by the icon painter, usually by families without children or expecting their first child.
The child was very sickly, and it was not certain that the girl would survive without her mother's milk. Therefore, Joachim recorded his daughter in the family pedigree lists only when the danger of an early death had passed, i.e. exactly two months later, on September 21st.
This date was considered to be Mary's birthday. In our time, on this day, September 21, one of the twelve great church holidays- Nativity of the Blessed Virgin.
All babies born three days before July 21 and September 21 are often gifted children, and they are all under the auspices of the Virgin Mary.
July 21 is a special day. Nature itself rejoices and celebrates the birth of the Virgin Mary - the air is filled with the heady smells of summer and the sun, an extraordinary lightness settles in all people in the soul, in the morning everyone wakes up with good mood, anticipating that something extraordinary is about to happen today.
Dormition of Righteous Anna
July 25/August 7 - Dormition of Righteous Anna, mother of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Icon of the Assumption of Rights. Anna, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary
According to legend, Saint Anna in Jerusalem acquired two estates: the first at the Gethsemane gate, and the second - in the valley of Jehoshaphat. In the second estate, she arranged a crypt for the deceased members of the family, where she was buried along with Joachim. The most pure body of the Mother of God was buried in this family cemetery. A temple was erected on the burial site. There is a legend that St. Helena Equal to the Apostles built a basilica here. In 614 the temple was destroyed, but the tomb of the Mother of God was preserved. Most of the modern building dates back to the time of the Crusaders. This underground temple, to which 50 steps lead, with chapels of Sts. Godfathers Joachim and Anna and Joseph the Betrothed, located on the sides of the stairs.
Funeral crypt of Joachim and Anna in the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin 
Tombs of St. Joachim and Anna in the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin
In con. 10th century on Mount Athos, the monastery of St. Anna was built - the oldest of all Athos sketes. Devastated for many years by sea robbers, he was in the XVII century. It was restored by Patriarch Dionysios of Constantinople, who acquired the foot of the holy righteous Anna from Christians in Asia Minor. In 1680, a cathedral church was erected there in memory of the Assumption of St. Anna. Since that time, the skete began to bear the name "St. Anna". He is famous on Mount Athos for the high ascetic deeds of the monks.
Not far from the skete of St. Anna is the so-called New Skete of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin or "Little Anna". The proximity of these fertile places emphasizes the connection between the sacred events of the conception and the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Under the holy noble king Justinian (527-565), a temple was built in her honor in Devtera, and the emperor Justinian II (685-695; 705-711) renovated her temple, because the righteous Anna appeared to his pregnant wife; at the same time, her body and the maphorium (veil) were transferred to Constantinople. The Assumption of St. Righteous Anna is celebrated on August 7 (July 25).
At present, particles of the relics of St. Anne are located:
- in the monasteries of Athos (the left foot in the Great Skete of Righteous Anna, the right foot in the monastery of Kutlumush, left hand in the monastery of Stavronikita);
- in various monasteries and churches in Greece (including the monastery of St. John the Theologian on Patmos, the church of Panagia Gorgoepikoos in Thessaloniki);
- to the church of St. Nicholas in Pyzhy, Moscow;
- October 26, 2008 a particle of the relics of St. Anna was brought from Athos to temple complex Iberian icon Mother of God the city of Dnepropetrovsk, where it was placed in an ark in the lower aisle of the cathedral church in the name of Joachim and Anna;
- July 10, 2011 a particle of the relics of St. Anna was transferred to the Valaam Monastery.
Troparion of Righteous Anna
Tone 4
The life that gave birth in the womb was carried by you, the Pure Mother of God, God-wise Anno. Meanwhile, to the acceptance of Heaven, where the dwelling is rejoicing, rejoicing in glory, now you have reposed, honoring you with the love of sins, asking for cleansing, blessed.
Kontakion of Righteous Anna
Voice 2
We celebrate the memory of the ancestors of Christ, those faithfully asking for help, get rid of everyone from all sorrow, calling: our God is with us, glorify these, as if you were well pleased.
Magnification on the Assumption of Righteous Anna:
We magnify thee, holy righteous Anno pramati of Christ our God, and glorify thy dormition all-honourably.
The miraculous icon and part of the relics of the holy righteous Anna in the skete of St. Anna on Mount Athos.
On June 17, 2006, Valaam met the icon of the holy righteous Anna, the foremother of Christ, who has great grace from the Lord to heal from the ailment of infertility. This is a list with miraculous icon, which is located in the Skete of St. Anna on Mount Athos. There are now three such lists in the monastery, all are exact copies miraculous image St. Anna, and were written directly to the skete of St. Righteous Anna. Countless letters of thanks have come to Athos from parents who have found the opportunity to have children, thanks to the intercession of the holy righteous Anna.
Prayers in marital infertility
For help from marital infertility, turn with prayers to the righteous God-fathers Joachim and Anna, the prophet Zechariah and Elizabeth, the Monk Roman, the martyr Paraskeva, named Friday.
Meeting of St. Righteous Joachim and Anna. Fragment of an icon of the 17th century.
Prayer to the Righteous Fathers of God Joachim and Anna:About the glorification of the righteous of Christ, the holy fathers of God Joachim and Anna, coming to the heavenly throne of the Great Tsar and having great boldness towards Him, as if from your most blessed Daughter, the Most Pure Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, who deigned to incarnate!
To you, as a powerful representative and zealous prayer books for us, we resort, sinful and unworthy (names). Pray for His goodness, as if He would turn away His wrath from us, according to our deeds righteously moved on us, and let our countless sins, despising, turn us to the path of repentance, and confirm us on the paths of His commandments. Also, with your prayers, save our life in the world, and in all good things, ask for good haste, all that is necessary for us from God to life and piety, from all misfortunes and troubles and sudden death by your intercession, delivering us, and protecting us from all enemies visible and invisible, as if we would live a quiet and silent life in all piety and purity, and so in the world this temporary life has passed , in eternal peace we will achieve, even with your holy prayer, let us be vouchsafed to the Heavenly Kingdom of Christ our God, to Him, with the Father and the Most Holy Spirit, all glory, honor and worship befits forever and ever. Amen.
Personal petition of the righteous Anna for the gift of a child(from the Memorials of St. Demetrius of Rostov):
Woe to me, Lord! Who will I be like? Not to the birds of the air, nor to the beasts of the earth: for they, too, bring forth their fruit to Thee, O Lord God, but I alone am unfruitful. Alas for me, Lord! I am alone, sinful, deprived of offspring. You who once gave Sarah, in her old age, the son of Isaac. You who opened the womb of Anna, the mother of your prophet Samuel, now look at me and hear my prayers. Stop the sorrow of my heart and open my womb, and make me, barren, fruitful, so that what I have born, we bring to You as a gift, blessing, singing and glorifying Your mercy.
Kissing Zechariah and Elizabeth. End of XV - beginning. 16th century
Holy Righteous Joachim and Anna. lifeSaint Joachim was the husband of Saint Anna, the father of the Virgin. Hagiographic literature gives Joachim the following origin: His genealogy is as follows: the son of David Nathan was born the son of Levi, Levi gave birth to Melchia and Panther, Panther gave birth to Varpafir, Varpafir also gave birth to Joachim, the father of the Mother of God". Joachim lived in Nazareth. He married Anna, the youngest daughter of the priest Matthan from the high priestly family of Aaron. By her father she was from the tribe of Levi, and by her mother she was from the tribe of Judah. The conception and birth of the Mother of God is known from the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James (II century). According to this apocrypha, Joachim and Anna had no children for a long time. When the high priest denied Joachim the right to offer God a sacrifice, since he “did not create offspring for Israel,” he retired to the wilderness, and his wife remained at home alone. At this time, both of them had a vision of an angel who announced: The Lord heeded your prayer, you will conceive and give birth, and your offspring will be talked about all over the world».
After this gospel, Joachim and Anna met at the Golden Gate of Jerusalem. And now Joachim came up with his flocks, and Anna, who was standing at the gate, saw Joachim walking, and, running up, hugged him, and said: “Now I know that the Lord has blessed me: being a widow, I am no longer a widow, being barren, I will now conceive!” And Joachim that day found peace in his house. (Protevangelium of James (4:7-8)). After that, Joachim came to the Jerusalem temple, saying: "If the Lord has mercy on me, then the golden plate of the priest will show me." And Joachim brought his gifts, and looked intently at the plate, going up to the altar of the Lord, and did not see sin in himself. (Protevangelium of James (5:1-2)). Anna conceived, “the months due to her passed, and Anna gave birth in the ninth month”. The date of conception - December 9, is set on the basis that it is 9 months away from the date of the Nativity of the Virgin (September 8).
The four canonical Gospels do not mention the name of Mary's mother. Anna appears only in the apocryphal tradition, in particular in the Proto-Gospel of James, as well as in the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and the Golden Legend. The tradition was also influenced by the "Word for the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos" by Andrew of Crete (7th-8th centuries). According to Jewish custom, on the 15th day after the birth of the baby, she was given the name indicated by the angel of God - Mary. Out of gratitude to the Lord, the parents promised to send the child to the Temple. Mary was introduced into the Temple at the age of three. Joachim and Anna put their daughter on the first step, and, to everyone's amazement, the three-year-old Mary, without outside help, climbed to the very top, where she was received by the high priest Zacharias.
According to the life, Joachim lived 80 years. Saint Anna died at the age of 79, two years after him, having spent them at the temple next to her daughter. Commemoration of the Dormition of Righteous Anna on August 7 (July 25, Old Style). Joachim and Anna were buried near the future tomb of their daughter, as well as the grave of Joseph the Betrothed, in the Garden of Gethsemane, under the Mount of Olives, not far from Jerusalem. These tombs were located on the edge of the valley of Jehoshaphat, which lay between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives.
Russian Faith Library
Life of the Holy Righteous Fathers of God Joachim and Anna. Great Menaion Cheti →
Veneration of the Holy Righteous Fathers of God Joachim and Anna
The Orthodox Church calls Joachim and Anna Godfathers, because they were the forefathers of Jesus Christ according to the flesh.
Days of Remembrance:
- Dormition of St. Anne - August 7 (July 25 old style),
- the memory of the Godfather Joachim and Anna - September 22 (September 9, old style),
- the conception of St. Anna of the Most Holy Theotokos - December 22 (December 9 old style).
In 710, the relics and maphoria of St. Anne were transferred from Jerusalem to Constantinople. In the records of medieval Western pilgrims, the presence of the shoulder and palm of St. Anna in the Cypriot monastery of Stavrovouni is reported.
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Kontakion and troparion to the holy righteous Joachim and Anna
Troparion, tone 1
Even in the legal canopy of the righteous, the God-given child is born to us, Joachim and Anna. On the same day, the divine churches, your honorable memory, glorify the Father, who raised the horn of salvation to us in the house of God, triumphantly and cheerfully celebrating.
Kontakion, tone 2
Now Anna is rejoicing, the cowardice is resolved sous. And nourishes the Most Pure, calls all, sing the bestower, from her bed to the earth, one Mother, unskilled.
Holy Righteous Joachim and Anna. Icons
In the icon-painting tradition, there are both separate and joint images of the holy righteous Godfathers Joachim and Anna. Icons where the saints are depicted together are usually illustrations from their lives, showing some of the moments described in the apocrypha, for example, the meeting of spouses after the joyful news of the conception of the Virgin was announced to them. Joachim and Anna on the icon are in the center of the composition. Around are scenes of previous and subsequent events: a meeting with an angel, the birth of Mary, her introduction to the temple, etc.
Conception of the Mother of God. End of the 16th century Museum. Andrey Rublev 
Joachim and Anna. Detail of the fresco "The Sacrifice of Joachim and Anna". Last quarter of the 12th century Church of St. George, Staraya Ladoga 
The Tikhvin icon of the Mother of God, with the life of Joachim, Anna and the Mother of God. OK. 1500 Novgorod state. historical-architectural and art museum-reserve, Novgorod
On separate icons, the holy righteous Joachim and Anna are depicted in height or waist-high. Saint Joachim is depicted with curly black hair with large gray hair and a small roundish beard, wearing a chiton and a chasuble with exclamations, and righteous Anna is thin, with an oblong face and a sharp nose with a small hump; the underwear on her is a chiton, according to the chiton - a split phelonion, a veil is on her head. The earliest image of the holy righteous Anna is fragments of frescoes of the 8th century in the church of Santa Maria Antiqua in Rome. A fresco from Farras (Egypt) belongs to the same century.
Temples in the name of the holy righteous Joachim and Anna
In the East, churches dedicated to the holy righteous Joachim and Anna appear from the 6th century, while in the West only in the 12th century. In the middle of the 6th century, a temple was built in Constantinople in the name of St. Anna. In the Middle Ages, in the cities of Apt (Provence) and Düren (Germany), they believed that they possessed the relics of Anna. In the West, increased veneration of Anna began in the 14th century. The first monastery in the name of the holy righteous Anna in the West arose in 701 in Floriac near Rouen.
In the village of Brezova, in the Raška region of Serbia, there is a church dedicated to Saints Joachim and Anna, also known as the Royal Church, in honor of its founder, King Milutin. It was erected in 1314, in the form of a compressed cross, with an exterior in the form of an octagonal dome. Built of stone and tuff.
In Pskov, on Uspenskaya Street, there was Yakimansky convent(XIV century) and his main temple in the name of the holy righteous Joachim and Anna (1544). The monastery was abolished in the 18th century, and the church became a parish. In Soviet times, the temple was closed. In 1947–1951 restoration took place here. The renewal of the church is now beginning.
Also in the name of the holy righteous Joachim and Anna, the chapel of the Nativity Church in Yaroslavl was consecrated. The Church of the Nativity in stone was built in 1635-1644 on the site of the wooden church of the same name.
Holy Righteous Joachim and Anna. Paintings
Many painters depicted the holy righteous Joachim and Anna on their canvases: Giotto di Bondone (1266-1337), Masolino da Panicale (c. 1383 - c. 1440), Masaccio (1401-1428), Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), Wolf Traut (1480-1520) gg.) and others.
Holy Righteous Joachim and Anna. People's memory
Saint righteous Anna is depicted on the coat of arms of the cities of Kobrin (Belarus), St. Annen (Germany), Yakhimov (Czech Republic), Gorodets (Belarus).
The names of one of the streets of Moscow - Bolshaya Yakimanka and the villages in the Shuisky district of the Ivanovo region - Yakimanna were formed from the continuous pronunciation of the names of the holy righteous Joachim and Anna.
Holy righteous Anna came from the tribe of Levi from the family of the high priest Aaron, and her husband, Saint Joachim, from the tribe of Judah, the family of David. Thus, when they were married, two main genealogical branches were united in the new family: the royal and messianic line of David, the king-psalmist, and the priestly line of Aaron, the brother of Moses, then incarnated into the Virgin Mary, and through Her the incarnation took place in the Nativity of Jesus Christ - the Heavenly High Priest and the long-awaited Messiah on earth.Saint Anna was the youngest of the three daughters of the priest Matthan, who lived in Bethlehem, his wife, also descended from the tribe of Judah, was called Mary. In total, they had three daughters. The eldest Mary was the first to marry in Bethlehem and gave birth to Salome, the second, Sovia, in marriage gave birth to Elizabeth - the future mother of John the Baptist and also remained in the city of her parents. But the younger Anna was married to Joachim of Nazareth in the country of Galilee.
It is known that the spouses entered into marriage very young, but, coming from noble and pious families, from birth they grew up and were brought up in the strictness of the Law of God, and their righteousness was exemplary and sincere. With spiritual wealth, they also had material wealth, but they knew the true value of both: every holiday, observing the commandments of the Law and the customs arising from them, Saints Joachim and Anna allocated considerable funds from their property, dividing them, as it was supposed, into two parts - one was donated to the temple, the other was distributed to the poor and needy.
However, despite the charitable life of Joachim and Anna, the Lord did not immediately realize His great plan for this family - the Nativity of the Lady of our Most Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, although, as we see, this plan was prepared by Him for many and many generations from generation to generation, from generation to generation. For a long time the holy parents of the Most Pure One were childless, however, as St. Demetrius of Rostov says, “in the very conception and birth of such a daughter, power was also manifested. God's grace, and the honor of the Born, and the dignity of the parents; 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 works, but God, who conquers the laws of nature and destroys the bonds of barrenness. “Finally,” the saint continues, “through such a birth, the dignity of the parents themselves is revealed, since after a long barrenness they gave birth to joy to the whole world, by 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). Reflections of Dimitry of Rostov on the miracle of the birth of the Virgin from elderly parents once again confirm the greatest opportunities that a virtuous, God-loving life gives a person, despite any trials sent to him by the Lord: them turned into joy, and their dishonor was a harbinger of great honor, and the zealous petition of the leader to receive blessings, and prayer - the best intercessor.
However, the secret of God, not yet revealed by Him to everyone, people tend to explain to themselves in their own way, according to existing customs and ideas. Everyone around saw that time was passing, and the addition to the family of Joachim and Anna did not come. Infertility in the family in those days was tantamount to admitting that there was no God's favor over this house, since He suddenly decided to stop this family. Childlessness was considered a dishonor, which was so great that when, on a great feast, Joachim brought gifts to God in the Temple of Jerusalem, Issachar, who was then the high priest of Jerusalem, refused to accept them, saying that since Joachim is still childless, it means that with outward piety he has secret sins. Another parishioner also stated that Joachim was not worthy to bring gifts to God, since there was no offspring from him to Israel.
Since ancient times, the patriarchs have been given a promise from God more than once about the multiplication of the people, and the more children there were in the family, the more mercifully God blessed the parents, it was believed. On the other hand, the memory of numerous prophecies about the coming Messiah gave all clans and tribes the opportunity to hope that He would appear precisely in their family, and those who had no children were accordingly deprived of such a prospect, and childlessness was considered a punishment, and the childless among the Old Testament Jews were considered indisputable sinners before God.
Saddened, Joachim left the temple. This holiday turned into a deep sorrow for him. He did not go home to Anna who was waiting for him, but into the desert to the shepherds who pastured his flocks, and, crying, he began to remember all his ancestors, looking for someone who might have had such a fate, because his family had not been interrupted. So, going through his family knee by knee, he remembered Abraham and Sarah, who gave birth to Isaac at a very advanced age, and began to pray to God that He would make him such a joy - to have a child, no matter how old he was, and thereby revealed His good will to him. For forty days Saint Joachim prayed and fasted on water alone, and made a vow that he would not eat and would not return to his house, remaining alone among the flocks, until God, by His will, showed him mercy, gave a sign that dishonor was removed from his house.
And Saint Anna, joyfully expecting her husband home with holiday service, received a completely different, bitter news: the high priest did not accept their gifts, and the husband retired to the wilderness, and all this because of their long barrenness. Crying inconsolably, the poor woman did not even know what suffering to recognize as great: rejection from God, unexpected orphanhood, for her husband was her whole family, as custom ordered, or barrenness - she considered all the blame for the absence of children in her marriage with Joachim.
According to legend, fifty years have passed. Saint righteous Joachim prayed and fasted in the desert, and holy righteous Anna lived as best she could with her servant Judith, who, although she tried to somehow console the hostess, understood that human words are powerless where only the word of God can decide everything. People bypassed the house by her side, because there lived a woman in double dishonor: childless, abandoned by God and abandoned by her husband.
Once, already in her old age, Saint Anna went out into her garden and sat down under a large laurel, on which the birds had built a nest, and there the chicks were already chirping, and their parents were fluttering above them. The little bird happiness so touched her, so stirred up all her many years of grief, that in complete despair she again turned to God with tears and prayer, complaining that, in the eyes of God, she was probably the most sinful of women. Her gifts to God are not accepted by the high priests in the temple, and people turn away from her, and since she is barren, it means that it is not pleasing to the Lord that the people of Israel multiply from her. But, perhaps, since He once gave a son to the ninety-year-old Sarah, that, once, for many years, childless Anna, the wife of a certain Elkan, prayed to God for offspring, promising that if she gave birth, she would give the child to serve Him, she found joy, having given birth to the prophet Samuel (I Kings 1: 9–18), then the Lord would not leave her either. And, weeping and praying, the holy righteous Anna made a vow that if by the will of God a Child was born to her, she would bring him as a gift to God.
As soon as the righteous Anna uttered the words of her sacred vow, the Angel of the Lord appeared to her, who brought the news that, as St. Demetrius of Rostov writes beautifully and with inspiration: “... Your prayer has been heard, your sighs have 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 be blessed and salvation will be given to the whole world; her name will be Maria. To which, bowing to God, Anna replied that when the child was born, she would give him to serve God. "Let it serve Him and glorify the holy name of God day and night all the time of its life."
With a long-forgotten feeling of unspeakable joy, the holy righteous Anna hurried to the Temple in Jerusalem, where in the house of God she bowed to Him for His great mercy to her.
At the same time, when the Messenger of God appeared to Anna, he appeared to the holy righteous Joachim in the desert and said that joy awaits him - they will have a daughter, whose birth will be a joy for the whole world. The angel ordered Joachim to immediately go to Jerusalem, where at the Golden Gate he would meet his wife Anna, to whom the same was announced.
Amazed and delighted, Joachim hurried to Jerusalem, met where the angel had pointed him out, his wife Anna. After exchanging stories about the angelic visit, the couple praised God in the temple and went home. On December 9/22, the Conception of the righteous Anna took place, which we now celebrate among other holidays. On September 8/21, the promised joy to the world happened - the Daughter, the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, was born to the righteous Anna. The holy righteous Joachim hurried to the Jerusalem temple, where, thanking God with all his heart, from the bottom of his soul, he brought gifts, sacrifices, burnt offerings to God, and all the high priests, all the clergy blessed him. Then he arranged a plentiful and rich meal in his house, distributed great alms to the poor, and all who had previously turned away from their house rejoiced with him and his wife Anna.
The young Virgin holy righteous Anna and righteous Joachim, remembering given to God the vow and the words of the Angel about Her great purpose, cherished and raised in piety, feeling the wondrous grace that came from the Ever-Virgin, who grew up as an amazing child, soon growing up beyond her years. When the Virgin Mary was three years old, the time came for her Entrance to the temple, where her parents reverently accompanied her to the service of God, as they had promised. After a short time, the holy righteous Joachim appeared before God, he was 80 years old. The holy righteous Anna, after the death of her husband, left Nazareth, came to the Jerusalem temple and lived with her Most Pure Daughter, praying to God, and left this world, outliving her husband by two years. We commemorate her dormition on July 25/August 7.
Their remains were laid to rest on the edge of the valley of Jehoshaphat, which lay between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. Later, the tomb of the Mother of God was built there and Joseph the Betrothed was buried.
Veneration of the holy righteous Anna after life
The first small monastery - a skete in honor of the holy righteous Anna was built on Holy Athos, and this is one of the most ancient Athos monasteries, but at that warlike time it was repeatedly destroyed by sea pirates. In the 17th century, the skete was restored and strengthened by Patriarch Dionisy of Constantinople, who by that time had acquired the foot of the holy righteous Anna. Here, in 1680, he built the cathedral church of the Assumption of St. Anna, and since then the skete has been named after the Most Pure Mother and is famous on Athos for the special deeds of the monks working there. Next to it is the New Skete of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, or “Little Anna”, which emphasizes the special grace, the feeling of priesthood, poured over those places that carry the sacred invisible presence of the connection between the conception of St. Anna and the Nativity of her Most Pure Daughter.
In the 6th century, under the holy right-believing king Justinian, a temple was erected in Deftera on the island of Cyprus in her honor, in the 17th - XVIII centuries he was renewed by Emperor Justinian II, after the holy righteous Anna appeared in a dream to his pregnant wife. At the same time, her holy relics and the veil in which they were wrapped were transferred with honors to Constantinople.
The meaning of the icon
The love of both parents for their child, whether it be a daughter or a son, is always important for mutual fullness, necessary for his happy growth. However, it is not for nothing that motherly love has been deified in all nations since the beginning of time, and a mother’s prayer is no other prayer stronger than her holy request for children. And although the icons of the Mother of God “Holy Righteous Anna with the Infant Mary” are more common, where the Intercessor is revealed in Her infancy with both parents, there are old lists that depict only righteous mother and her Blessed Daughter.
On this list, his composition is completely similar to the composition of the Mother of God icons, where the Virgin is depicted as the Mother of God with the Infant Jesus in her arms, and this image is clearly similar in typology to in the most ancient way Her "Eleusa" - "Tenderness". Just as sadly, the righteous Anna bows to the face of the Infant Mary, foreseeing with her motherly intuition all the earthly labors of the Daughter and remembering the vow given to God: Her long-awaited, later and only Child is destined for Him; Mary's infant cheek clung to Her mother's cheek just as touchingly, She looks at her mother's face just as understandingly and consolingly, holding a blue flower in her small hand - a symbol of Her eternal Divine Heavenly purity and chastity. Traditionally, the Mother of God blue color in the attire of the Infant Mary, nobly combined with emerald, symbolizing life, first of all, life in the Spirit, taught by Christ to the disciples (on the Trinity feast, the clergy are dressed in green clothes), emphasizes Her status as the Ever-Virgin. Gold stars on the omophorion on the forehead and ramen - shoulders - point to Her as the Mother of God, being an indispensable detail of Her images.
The omophorion of the righteous Anna on the most ancient lists was mainly depicted in scarlet, but, thanks to the possibilities of the Kuznetsov dot technique, in the floral ornament of her attire, the same virgin dove and gold were added to it as a sign of her participation in the Divine chosenness of her in the succession of Christ's ancestors according to the flesh from the royal house of David.
The fields of Kuznetsov's icons always not only absorb all the color of the dolitic and continue the ornamental style chosen by the icon painter for this image. They inherit the emotional and event symbolic series. Rondos with floral patterns inscribed in them in gold, ruby, sapphire tones, located around the holy mother and her Most Pure Daughter, seem to be voluminous spheres. They soar like angelic incorporeal creatures, as if welcoming and protecting the Divine couple. The multi-valued image, voluminous in feeling and meaning, repeating the ancient drawings, but re-voiced through the color and ornamental techniques of the new in the icon painting technique, opens to meet us, and the soul prayerfully opens to meet it.
