🙏Holy righteous Joachim came from the tribe of Judah, from the house of King David. 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, father Mother of God.
Saint Joachim lived in the city of Nazareth in Galilee and had a wife named Anna from the tribe of Levi, from the family of Aaron, the daughter of the priest Matthan, who lived before the reign of Herod, the son of Antipater. This priest Matthan had as his wife Mary, from the tribe of Judah, from the city of Bethlehem, and three daughters: Mary, Sovia and Anna. Mary was the first of them to marry in Bethlehem, and gave birth to Salome; then she married Sovia, also in Bethlehem, and gave birth to Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist; the third, as we have already said, the mother of the Most Holy Theotokos, was given in marriage to Joachim in the country of Galilee, in the city of Nazareth. These spouses, Joachim and Anna, coming from a noble family, learned in the law of the Lord and were righteous before God. Having material wealth, they were not deprived of spiritual wealth. Adorned with all the virtues, they immaculately kept all the commandments of the law of God. For each holiday, pious spouses separated two parts from their property - one was given for church needs, and the other was distributed to the poor.
By their righteous life, Joachim and Anna pleased God so much that He made them worthy to be parents of the Blessed Virgin the pre-chosen Mother of the Lord. From this alone it is already clear that their life was holy, pleasing to God and pure, since they had a Daughter, the Most Holy of All Saints, who pleased God more than anyone else, and the Most Honest Cherubim. At that time, there were no people on earth more pleasing to God than Joachim and Anna, according to their immaculate life. Although at that time it was possible to find many living righteously and pleasing God, but these two surpassed everyone in their virtues and appeared before God the most worthy of the Mother of God being born from them. Such mercy would not have been bestowed upon them by God, if they did not really excel all in righteousness and holiness. But just as the Lord Himself had to be incarnated from the Most Holy and Most Pure Mother, so it was fitting for the Mother of God to come from holy and pure parents. Just as earthly kings have their purples, made not of simple matter, but of gold-woven, so the Heavenly King wanted to have His Most Pure Mother, in whose flesh, as in royal purple, He had to put on, born not from ordinary intemperate parents, as from simple matter, but from the chaste and saints, as if from golden-woven matter, the prototype of which was the Old Testament tabernacle, which God ordered Moses to make from scarlet and scarlet matter and from fine linen (Ex. 27:16). This tabernacle represented the Virgin Mary, in Whom God had "to live with men" as it is written: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them" (Rev. 21:3). The scarlet and scarlet cloth, and the linen, from which the tabernacle was made, represented the parents of the Mother of God, who descended and was born from chastity and abstinence, as if from scarlet and scarlet clothes, and their perfection in the fulfillment of all the commandments of the Lord, as if from fine linen.
But these holy spouses, by God's will, were childless for a long time - so that in the very conception and birth of such a daughter, the power 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 is at work, but God, who conquers the laws of nature and destroys the bonds of barrenness. To be born of infertile and aged parents is a great honor for the one who was born herself, because she is born not from intemperate parents, but from temperate and aged parents, such as Joachim and Anna, who lived in marriage for fifty years and had no children. Finally, through such a birth, the dignity of the parents themselves is revealed, since after a long 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 (Gen. 21: 2). However, without a doubt, it can be said that the birth of the Virgin is higher than the birth of Isaac by Abraham and Sarah. As far as herself virgin born Mary is higher and more worthy of honor than Isaac, so much greater and higher is the dignity of Joachim and Anna than Abraham and Sarah. They did not immediately achieve this dignity, but only with zealous fasting and prayers, in spiritual sorrow and heartfelt grief, they begged God for this: and their grief turned into joy, and their dishonor was a harbinger of great honor, and the zealous petition of the leader to receive blessings, and prayer is the best intercessor.
Joachim and Anna mourned and wept for a long time that they had no children. Once, on a big feast, Joachim brought gifts to the Lord God in the Jerusalem temple; along with Joachim, all the Israelites offered their gifts as a sacrifice to God. The high priest Issachar, who was at that time, did not want to accept the gifts of Joachim, because he was childless.
“You shouldn’t,” he said, “accept gifts from you, because you don’t have children, and therefore the blessings of God: you probably have some secret sins.”
Also, one Jew from the tribe of Reuben, along with others who brought his gifts, reproached Joachim, saying:
Why do you want to offer sacrifices to God before me? do you not know that you are not worthy to bring gifts with us, for you will not leave offspring in Israel1]?
These reproaches greatly saddened Joachim, and in great sorrow he left the temple of God, shamed and humiliated, and the feast turned into sadness for him, and the festive joy was replaced by sorrow. Deeply grieving, he did not return home, but went into the wilderness to the shepherds who pastured his flocks, and there wept for his barrenness and for the reproach and reproaches made to him. Remembering Abraham, his forefather, to whom God had given a son already at an advanced age, Joachim began to earnestly pray to the Lord that He would grant him the same favor, hear his prayer, have mercy and take away from him the reproach from people, granting him in old age fruit to his marriage, as once to Abraham.
- May I, - he prayed, - have the opportunity to be called the father of a child, and not childless and outcast from God to endure reproaches from people!
Joachim added fasting to this prayer and did not eat bread for forty days.
“I will not eat,” he said, “and I will not return to my house; let my tears be my food, and this wilderness my home, until the Lord God of Israel hears and takes away my reproach.
In the same way, his wife, being at home and hearing that the high priest did not want to accept their gifts, reproaching them for barrenness, and that her husband retired into the wilderness out of great sorrow, wept with inconsolable tears.
“Now,” she said, “I am the most unfortunate of all: rejected by God, reviled by people and left by my husband!” what to cry about now: about your widowhood, or about childlessness, about your orphanhood, or about not being worthy to be called a mother?!
She cried so bitterly all those days.
Anna's slave, named Judith, tried to console her, but could not: for who can console her whose sorrow is as deep as the sea?
Once sad Anna went to her garden, sat down under a laurel tree, sighed from the depths of her heart and, raising her eyes full of tears to the sky, saw a bird's nest with small chicks on the tree. This spectacle caused her even greater grief, and she began to cry with tears:
- Woe to me childless! It must be that I am the most sinful among all the daughters of Israel, that alone before all the women I am so humiliated. Everyone carries the fruit of their womb on their hands, everyone is comforted by their children: I alone am a stranger to this joy. Woe is me! The gifts of all are accepted in the temple of God, and they are respected for childbearing: I alone am rejected from the temple of my Lord. Woe is me! Who will I be like? nor to the birds of the air, nor to the beasts of the earth: for they too, O Lord God, bring forth their fruit to Thee, but I alone am barren. Even with the earth I cannot compare myself: for it vegetates and grows seeds and, bearing fruit, blesses you, Heavenly Father: I alone am barren on earth. Alas for me, Lord, Lord! I am alone, sinful, deprived of offspring. You, who once gave Sarah the son of Isaac in extreme old age (Gen.21:1-8), You, who opened the womb of Anna, the mother of Your prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 1:20), now look at me and hear my prayers. Lord Sabaoth! You know the reproach of childlessness: stop the sadness 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.
When Anna cried out like this with weeping and sobbing, an angel of the Lord appeared to her and said:
- Anna, Anna! your prayer was heard, your sighs passed through the clouds, your tears 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.
Hearing the angelic words, Anna bowed to God and said:
- The Lord God lives, if a child is born to me, I will give him to serve God. May he serve Him and glorify holy name God's day and night throughout your life.
After this, filled with inexpressible joy, Saint Anna quickly went to Jerusalem, so that there with prayer she would give thanks to God for His merciful visit.
At the same time, an angel appeared to Joachim in the wilderness and said:
- Joachim, Joachim! God has heard your prayer and is pleased to grant you His grace: your wife Anna will conceive and give birth to your daughter, whose birth will be a joy to the whole world. And here is a sign for you that I am proclaiming the truth to you: go to Jerusalem to the temple of God and there, at the golden gate, you will find your wife Anna, to whom I proclaimed the same thing.
Joachim, surprised by such an angelic gospel, glorifying God and thanking Him with his heart and mouth for his great mercy, with joy and joy hastily set off for the Jerusalem temple. There, as the angel had announced to him, he found Anna at the golden gate, praying to God, and told her about the angel's gospel. She also told him that she had seen and heard an angel announcing the birth of her daughter. Then Joachim and Anna glorified God, who had done them such a great mercy, and, bowing to Him in the holy temple, they returned to their home.
And Saint Anna conceived on the ninth day of the month of December, and on the eighth of September she gave birth to a daughter, the Most Pure and Most Blessed Virgin Mary, the beginning and intercessor of our salvation, at whose birth both heaven and earth rejoiced. Joachim, on the occasion of Her birth, offered God great gifts, sacrifices and burnt offerings, and received the blessing of the high priest, priests, Levites and all the people for being worthy of God's blessing. Then he arranged a plentiful meal in his house, and everyone glorified God with joy.
The growing Virgin Mary of Her parent was cherished like the apple of an eye, knowing, by a special revelation of God, that She would be the light of the whole world and the renewal of human nature. Therefore, they brought her up with such careful diligence, which befitted the one who was supposed to be the Mother of our Savior. They loved her not only as a daughter, expected for such a long time, but also revered her as their mistress, remembering the angelic words spoken about her, and foreseeing in spirit what should happen to her. She, full of Divine grace, mysteriously enriched her parents with the same grace. Just as the sun illuminates the heavenly stars with its rays, giving them particles of its light, so the God-chosen Mary, like the sun, illuminated Joachim and Anna with the rays of the grace given to her, so that they were filled with the Spirit of God, and firmly believed in the fulfillment of the angelic words.
When the maiden Mary was three years old, her parents brought Her with glory into the temple of the Lord, accompanying her with lit lamps, and consecrated Her to the service of God, as they had promised. Several years after the introduction of Mary into the temple, Saint Joachim died at the age of eighty years from birth. Saint Anna, left a widow, left Nazareth and came to Jerusalem, where she remained near her Most Holy Daughter, praying unceasingly in the temple of God. Having lived in Jerusalem for two years, she reposed in the Lord, having 79 years from birth2].
Oh, how blessed are you, holy parents, Joachim and Anna, for the sake of your Blessed Daughter!
Blessed are you especially for the sake of Her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all peoples and tribes of the earth have received blessing! Rightly did the Holy Church call you Fathers of God3], for we know that God was born from your Most Holy Daughter. Now standing close to Him in heaven, pray that some part of your endless joy will be given to us too. Amen.
Troparion, tone 1:
Even in the lawful grace of the righteous, Joachim and Anna gave birth to the God-given child to us: the same day, the divine church celebrates your honor, cheerfully celebrating your memory, glorifying God, who raised up the horn of salvation to us in the house of David.
Kontakion, tone 2:
Now Anna rejoices, having resolved her barrenness, and feeds the Most Pure One, calling all the praises, who gave from her womb a single Mother and an unskillful man.
patron saint of women
bearing the name ANNA -
Saint Anna the Prophetess
Holy Prophetess Anna is the patroness of babies. If the child is sick, turn to her with a prayer. For those who are faced with the problem of infertility, the icon of the saint will also help. For a righteous life, the Prophetess Anna was given to see the newborn Christ in the temple, so that later she could preach the Good
news. Those who want to get rid of sorrow, who lack humility, who want to live righteously, but are tempted,
you should seek help from a saint. It will protect from troubles and diseases, help to live a long and blessed life. Icon
with the image of the Holy Prophetess Anna is a nominal icon for girls and women who received the name Anna at baptism and
born on a day close to the day of her veneration (August 28/September 10). The name Anna means "grace" or "merciful" and
this is how she will live her whole life.
Life of Saint Anna the Prophetess
The prophetess Anna, according to the Gospel of Luke, was the daughter of Phanuelov, descended from the clan of Asirov, who was distinguished by wealth, but at the same time, meekness of morals in Everyday life. Having married at a young age, after seven years Anna became a widow, and from that time until a ripe old age (the Evangelist Luke mentions that she was eighty-four years old), the prophetess lived by fasting and prayers, praising the Lord.
When the Mother of God, on the fortieth day after birth, brought the Savior to the temple, so that, according to ancient Jewish customs, He, like any other male baby, would undergo the rite of purification, Saint Anna followed Elder Simeon the God-Receiver also began to offer praise and words of gratitude to the future Savior of mankind, who had been waiting for the coming of the Messiah for so long. So the Lord rewarded the Prophetess Anna for many years of service, granting her, at the age of 84, a meeting with Jesus Christ.
What a miracle happened
Anna's life itself, and the fact that her faith and patience led her to meet the Living Incarnation of the Lord at the end of her life, can be called a miracle. About the importance of patience for a Christian spoke Father Paisios Athos : Nothing happens without patience. Some are as impatient as a man who wants, as soon as he has planted a vineyard, to drink wine the next day.
This is, of course, impossible. He who does not have patience suffers a lot. Frost seems to him doubly cold, and heat is doubly hot. Like a soldier who thinks that the last month of his service is longer than the entire service. They transfer their impatience to others, constantly complain about their life, instead of being patient. Great patience is needed in everything, and especially in spiritual things... When Christ sees that this one is striving, but does not receive human help, then He Himself comes and helps. The more you constrain yourself, the more grace and joy you will receive.”
What does the icon help with?
At sincere prayer By her intercession before the Lord, she helps the holy Prophetess Anna to resist temptations, get rid of spiritual sorrow, troubles, misfortunes and all evil, and live piously and righteously.
How does the icon protect
Those who want to get rid of grief, who lack humility, who want to live righteously, but are subject to temptations, should turn to the saint for help. It will protect from troubles and diseases, help to live a long and blessed life.
How to pray in front of an icon
Prayer to Saint Anna the Prophetess
Oh, holy saint of God, holy Anna the Prophetess! Having labored on earth with a good feat, you received the crown of truth in Heaven, and the Lord has prepared it for all who love Him. The same, looking at your holy image, we rejoice in the glorious end of your residence and honor your holy memory. But you, standing before the Throne of God, accept our prayers and bring to the All-Merciful God, to forgive us every sin and help us become against the wiles of the devil, and get rid of sorrows, illnesses, troubles and misfortunes and all evil, we will live piously and righteously in the present forever and we will be honored by your intercession, if not worthy of us, to see the good on the land of the living, glorifying the One in His saints glorifying God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and ever. Amen.
When is the holy day
The Day of Remembrance of Righteous Anna the Prophetess is celebrated on August 28/September 10, and also on February 3/16, when she is remembered with Righteous Simeon the God-Receiver on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord.
In which churches there is an icon of the saint
If you want to pray in front of the icon of the Holy Righteous Anna the Prophetess in the temple, visit the church or the chapel of the temple named after her. Church of the Saints and righteous Simeon God-Receiver and Anna the Prophetess is located in St. Petersburg . This oldest temple city, which is architectural monument.
In the Sverdlovsk region in the city of Sysert there is a temple with the same name It was also built in the 18th century. It is very similar to the St. Petersburg church, which is not surprising, if you believe the version that the organizer of the church went to the Northern capital for drawings.
Among the churches of modern construction, one of the largest - Kazansko-Nikolskaya and Anna the Prophetess Church, which is located in the village of Ryazanovka located in the vicinity of Ufa. There are several churches in Moscow, the aisles of which are named after the holy righteous Anna.
The meaning of the icon
The icon with the image of the Holy Prophetess Anna is a nominal icon for girls and women who received the name Anna at baptism and were born on a day close to the day of her veneration (August 28/September 10). Anna's name comes from the Hebrew for "grace" or "merciful" and this is how she will live her entire life.
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The meaning of the name Anna
The meaning of the name Anna is "pretty",
"God's mercy", "grace"
Origin - Hebrew
Anna Horoscope
*Zodiac sign - Virgo.
*Patron planet - Ceres,
Proserpina
* Talisman-stone - ruby.
*Mascot color - red, blue,
matte, beige-pink.
*Mascot plant - pink aster,
rowan, blueberry.
*Animal mascot - hare, lynx
*The most successful day is Wednesday.
* Predisposition to such traits as - self-sacrifice, kindness, sincerity, intuition, patience, selflessness, uncompromisingness,
truthfulness.
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Rewrite the prayer by hand and always carry it with you, it will be your protection, you can read it at any time when you have problems, and also do not forget to praise your protector - St. Anna the Prophetess.
The Most Pure Virgin Mary, who, by the will of God, gave the Messiah to the world of people, is revered in Russian Orthodox Church, and in Christianity in general, almost on a par with Jesus. It is not for nothing that she is called an intercessor, an intercessor, because the Mother of God is able to convey any prayer to the Creator, to help when there is no hope for improving the situation, avoiding danger, healing the disease. Meanwhile, special reverence believers are also used by the holy parents of the Most Pure: Joachim and Anna. On August 7, the Church celebrates the Dormition of Righteous Anna, Mother of the Virgin.
The life and personality of the saint
The mother of the Most Holy Theotokos was born into the family of the priest Matthan of Bethlehem and Mary, his wife. The latter came from the tribe of Levi, the clan of Aaron. Almost nothing is known about the childhood and youth of the righteous woman, but it is clear that she grew up in an atmosphere of deep religiosity and God-fearing, given the specifics of the kind of activity of the father of the servant of God. When the time came, the righteous Anna married Joachim, a man from Gaul. They lived in perfect harmony, but both spouses were saddened by one circumstance: the couple could not have children in any way. In those days, childlessness was considered a disgrace, so Joachim and Anna were constantly subjected to ridicule and public contempt. We must give them their due: the couple did not grumble, but only fervently prayed to the Lord to send them the happiness of becoming parents, showing absolute humility before the will of the Almighty.
So passed 50 years of their life together. One day, during a feast, Joachim went to Jerusalem to bring gifts to God. What was his disappointment and grief when the Israeli priest rejected the offerings of her husband, motivating his refusal by the latter's childlessness: a man who allegedly has no children is unworthy in this way to show his respect and love to the Creator. The elder, immersed in deep sadness, did not return home, but settled in the desert, where, observing strict post, spent days and nights in prayers to God for the gift of a baby to him and his wife. The righteous Anna, having learned how her husband was humiliated in Jerusalem, followed his example: she went into seclusion and began incessantly in fasting to pray to God for deliverance from barrenness.
The common prayer of Joachim and Anna was heard by the Lord many years later. An angel appeared to them, who announced to the couple about the imminent birth of their daughter, who would be blessed by everyone. human race. Having heard the prophetic words, the righteous Anna vowed to consecrate to God the child she would have, so that it would serve the Lord faithfully and faithfully. The conception of a child happened in Jerusalem, where the long-awaited baby was born. On this occasion, Joachim again went to Jerusalem and this time brought gifts to the Creator without any obstacles, favorably received and approved by the local priest. After that, he arranged a feast in his house with a plentiful meal in honor of the fulfillment of their main desire with his wife by a merciful God.
Maria was very much loved by her parents. They protected her in every possible way and raised her in love for the Lord, so that in due time the prophecy proclaimed by the Angel would be fulfilled. The love of Joachim and Anna for their daughter was twofold: on the one hand, the spouses experienced tender feelings for the child, which is what one should feel for an offspring; on the other hand, they revered the future Mother of God, like a mistress, realizing that she was chosen by the Creator to carry out a great mission. Mary answered her parents in full 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 once made to the Creator to dedicate the child given by him to the service of the Creator. We are reminded of this wonderful and in many ways significant event every time by a big Christian holiday titled "Entrance into the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos". Since then, the future Mother of God has been in the house of God under the care of the clergy, where, one might say, she was preparing to fulfill her great destiny.
Dormition of Righteous Anna
A couple of years after the Entrance of the young Mary into the temple, the Most Pure father died. He was 80 years old at that time. Left a widow, the righteous Anna left Nazareth for Jerusalem, to the temple, where her daughter was now brought up. The holy day and night prayed to the Creator and was next to her extraordinary child. So she lived for two years, and then died at the age of 70 years. This temple was renovated shortly after this event by order of Emperor Justinian II. The reason was a dream that the pregnant wife of the ruler had a dream: in it she saw Saint Anna. Justinian also ordered that the body of the Mother of God and her maforium (veil) be transferred to the Byzantine capital, Constantinople.
Thus, according to church tradition, the Assumption of St. Anna occurred even before the Annunciation. As a result, the glory of her daughter, who was worthy to become the mother of the Messiah, was revealed to the righteous only in eternal life, "in the other world." Why does the Church consider Anna herself a saint? She did not suffer from mortal torments for Christ, she did not perform feats that are typical for people leading an ascetic lifestyle, she did not heal the sick. Here is something different: the righteous Anna, during her earthly existence, experienced purely feminine sorrows. And she deserved to be canonized by the unshakable patience and stubborn, unceasing hope shown during her lifetime. The latter were crowned with the joy of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, although she was tasted at the end of existence, in old age. However, this is exactly what Jesus Christ commanded us, saying: “By your patience save your souls” (Luke 21:19).
How and what to pray for
Righteous Anna helps in many life situations. Mostly women turn to her with prayer. The main requests of the saint are addressed to those representatives of the fair sex who suffer from infertility.
There are icons depicting the righteous Anna holding the Blessed Virgin Mary in her arms as a child. One of these images, very old, was in the village of Minkovitsy, Dubno district, Volyn diocese. The very feast of the Dormition of the righteous Anna, mother of the Virgin, has been revered by women in position from time immemorial.
You can pray to the saint in your own words, but it is better to read special prayers daily in front of her icon at home. The text of the latter is given below.
Troparion of Righteous Anna, tone 4
You bore the life that was born in the womb, Pure Mother of God, / God-wise Anno. / However, to the acceptance of Heaven, where the rejoicing dwelling, / rejoicing in glory, now has passed away, / honoring you with love / sins asking for purification, / / ​​blessed.
Kontakion of Righteous Anna, Tone 2
We celebrate the memory of the forefathers of Christ, / those faithfully asking for help, / get rid of everyone from all sorrow, calling: // Our God is with us, glorify them, as if they were well pleased.
Particles of the relics of St. Anne are in many churches in different countries.
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Among all the revered saints in Orthodox world, probably, there is no longer a married couple such as Saints Joachim and Anna. This married couple for many centuries, people have been worshiping asking them in prayer for the most secret.
In this article, we will look at them short life. Imagine the prayers addressed to them. Glorifying marriage, the church honors Love - a feeling that lasts even after death.
Life of Joachim and Anna
The Holy Fathers of God Joachim and Anna are the parents of the Most Holy Theotokos. As mentioned in the holy letter, marriage received its justification by law, only as a duty to society. According to the law, marriage had the right to exist only after the adoption of the law on procreation. It was one of the most severe laws of the Jews. But by and large, it was Anna and Joachim who put an end to this terrible tradition. They became a story of reckless and sincere feelings and real romanticism.
According to the laws of that time, childbearing was seen as a duty. If a woman could not have children, then this served as a reason for divorce and her husband had every right to look for another woman. It so happened that Anna could not have children. But despite this, Joachim, even after all the most noble people in the city turned away from him, did not abandon his wife. He continued to be faithful to her and loved only her alone.
The saints lived in the Galilean city of Nazareth. The couple were very righteous. They were very worried about childlessness. They had to experience both contempt and contempt from others. Over time, such contempt came to open humiliation. Once the high priest refused to accept a sacrifice from the righteous Joachim, and he, with great shame, was forced to leave the temple.
But the more they began to experience the grief of childlessness, the stronger and zealously they began to read prayers to the Lord God. Not a short time passed before the Lord sent his herald Archangel Gabriel to them, who informed them that they would soon have a child - the Blessed Virgin Mary. Having learned such news, the righteous began to carry out the feats of piety even more zealously, by fasting, prayers and good deeds.
They were preparing with all their might for the arrival of such a long-awaited child. They wanted to become worthy parents for him.
Anna gave birth to a daughter on time. They named her Mary. Thus, after a long and painful shame and many trials, they still managed to experience joy and happiness. When the little girl was three years old, her parents brought her to the temple. They were already 80 years old at that time. A few years later Saint Joachim died. After his death, Anna moved to live in Jerusalem and lived there next to her daughter. Anna also died two years later.
Icon of Joachim and Anna
Saints Joachim and Anna are especially revered in Zachatievsky monastery, which is located in Russia in Moscow. On the icon, the saints are depicted in full growth. Icon painters depict them as married, loving couple. Thus, they show not only feelings of spiritual love, but also the worldly warmth of the flesh.
It is also worth noting that the icon of the righteous Fathers of God Joachim and Anna is considered quite strong in the Orthodox world. In order to bow before them and pray with a request for healing and the granting of worldly goods, people come from all over the world. The story of these two saints shows today that one should never despair.
God can send us trials that we are able to endure. But despite all the experiences, he can also send children, regardless of the age of the future parents.
What do they pray for in front of the icon of the saints
Saints Anna and Joachim lived in coherence and love throughout their family secular life. Even though they couldn't have children. It must be said that this married couple deserves to be an example of an ideal married life, which everyone should have today.
Despite all their obstacles and humiliations, they so desired to have a child that their Lord gave it to them. Miracles through the prayers of Joachim and Anna for the gift of children are being performed to this day. The icon of St. Anne, which is today on Mount Athos, is hidden under a large number of offerings that were given as a token of gratitude for help.
They offer such gifts as a token of gratitude for the fact that, under a deep prayer appeal to the holy family, infertility was cured, unmarried and unmarried people found a worthy mate. Interesting is the fact that even representatives of other faiths were healed. According to predictions, prayer to the saints helped the Turkish sultan, who professed the Muslim faith, to recover from infertility.
The days of remembrance of the saints are August 7, September 22 and December 22. These days, prayer to Joachim and Anna is considered especially strong. They come to them and pray for help in the following situations:
- About marriage unity
- About marital infertility
- The childless ask to have children.
In addition, the saints are addressed to the saints about any family need.
Where to read a prayer to the saints at home or in the temple is up to everyone to decide for themselves. But at the same time, you need to take into account that if you read it within the walls of your home, then this must be done in front of their icon. But do not forget that it is in the church in front of the icon or at the relics of the saints that the power of prayer has a special meaning. And of course, there must be a desire and faith in healing.
The text of the prayer to the righteous Joachim and Anna:
Oh, 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 Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, who willed incarnate!
To you, as a powerful representative and diligent prayer book for us, we resort, sinful and unworthy. 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 ask for good haste in all good things, all that is needed for life and piety, we need it from God, from all misfortunes and misfortunes and sudden deaths 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 such a temporary life in the world has passed away, we will achieve eternal peace, even if by 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 befits , honor and worship forever and ever. Amen.
The Lord is always with you!
Watch the video about Saints Joachim and Anna:
Meeting Joachim and Anna at the Golden Gate
Among Orthodox icons There is one special, with a rather unexpected plot. It depicts a man and a woman clinging to each other in a tender embrace. This icon reminds believers of the power of prayer, of life in piety and purity, of trust in God and the reward for righteousness. Heroes of this image - Saints Joachim and Anna, parents of the Virgin Mary. And the icon is called - "Meeting at the Golden Gate" or " Conception of Saint Anne”.
The Gospels say nothing about Joachim and Anna. We know the history of the spouses from the apocrypha "Protevangelium of James" - a text that is not considered fully canonical, but partially entered the Tradition of the Church.
It is believed that Joachim was a wealthy man, he lived in Nazareth. Anna, his wife, came from Bethlehem. The spouses were distinguished by piety: they gave alms to the poor, donated to the temple. But Joachim and Anna had no children. Such people were looked down upon in Jewish society. Childlessness was considered God-forsakenness, punishment, a sign of God’s displeasure…
Life of the Holy Fathers of God Joachim and Anna
WITH holy righteous Joachim came from the tribe of Judah, from the house of King David. 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.
Saint Joachim lived in the city of Nazareth in Galilee and had a wife named Anna from the tribe of Levi, from the family of Aaron, the daughter of the priest Matthan, who lived before the reign of Herod, the son of Antipater. This priest Matthan had his wife Mary, from the tribe of Judah, from the city of Bethlehem, and three daughters: Mary, Sovia and Anna.
Mary was the first of them to marry in Bethlehem, and gave birth to Salome; then she married Sovia, also in Bethlehem, and gave birth to Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist; the third, as we have already said, the mother of the Most Holy Theotokos, was given in marriage to Joachim in the country of Galilee, in the city of Nazareth. These spouses, Joachim and Anna, coming from a noble family, learned in the law of the Lord and were righteous before God.
Having material wealth, they were not deprived of spiritual wealth. Adorned with all the virtues, they immaculately kept all the commandments of the law of God. For each holiday, pious spouses separated two parts from their property - one was given for church needs, and the other was distributed to the poor.
By their righteous life, Joachim and Anna pleased God so much that He made them worthy to be the parents of the Blessed Virgin, the predestined Mother of the Lord. From this alone it is already clear that their life was holy, pleasing to God and pure, since they had a Daughter, the Most Holy of All Saints, who pleased God more than anyone else, and the Most Honest Cherubim. At that time, there were no people on earth more pleasing to God than Joachim and Anna, according to their immaculate life.
Although at that time it was possible to find many living righteously and pleasing God, but these two surpassed everyone in their virtues and appeared before God the most worthy of the Mother of God being born from them. Such mercy would not have been bestowed upon them by God, if they did not really excel all in righteousness and holiness.
But just as the Lord Himself had to be incarnated from the Most Holy and Most Pure Mother, so it was fitting for the Mother of God to come from holy and pure parents. Just as earthly kings have their purples, made not of simple matter, but of gold-woven, so the Heavenly King wanted to have His Most Pure Mother, in whose flesh, as in royal purple, He had to put on, born not from ordinary intemperate parents, as from simple matter, but from the chaste and saints, as if from golden-woven matter, the prototype of which was the Old Testament tabernacle, which God ordered Moses to make from scarlet and scarlet matter and from fine linen (Ex. 27:16). This tabernacle represented the Virgin Mary, who dwelled in whom God had " live with people " as it is written: behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them» (Rev. 21:3).
The scarlet and scarlet cloth, and the linen, from which the tabernacle was made, represented the parents of the Mother of God, who descended and was born from chastity and abstinence, as if from scarlet and scarlet clothes, and their perfection in the fulfillment of all the commandments of the Lord, as if from fine linen.
But these holy spouses, by God's will, were childless for a long time - so that in the very conception and birth of such a daughter, both the power of God's grace, and the honor of the Born and the dignity of the parents were revealed; 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 is at work, but God, who conquers the laws of nature and destroys the bonds of barrenness.
To be born of infertile and aged parents is a great honor for the one who was born herself, because she is born not from intemperate parents, but from temperate and aged parents, such as Joachim and Anna, who lived in marriage for fifty years and had no children.
Finally, through such a birth, the dignity of the parents themselves is revealed, since after a long 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 (Gen. 21: 2).
However, without a doubt, it can be said that the birth of the Virgin is higher than the birth of Isaac by Abraham and Sarah. As much as the born Virgin Mary herself is higher and more worthy of honor than Isaac, so much greater and higher is the dignity of Joachim and Anna than Abraham and Sarah. They did not achieve this dignity right away, but only with zealous fasting and prayers, in spiritual sorrow and heartfelt grief, they begged God for this: and their grief turned into joy, their dishonor was a harbinger of great honor, and fervent petition was a guide to receiving blessings, and prayer is the best intercessor.
Joachim and Anna mourned and wept for a long time that they had no children. Once, on a big feast, Joachim brought gifts to the Lord God in the Jerusalem temple; along with Joachim, all the Israelites offered their gifts as a sacrifice to God. The high priest Issachar, who was at that time, did not want to accept the gifts of Joachim, because he was childless.
“You shouldn’t,” he said, “accept gifts from you, because you don’t have children, and therefore God’s blessings: you probably have some secret sins.”
Also, one Jew from the tribe of Reuben, along with others who brought his gifts, reproached Joachim, saying:
Why do you want to offer sacrifices to God before me? Don't you know that you are not worthy to bring gifts with us, for you will not leave offspring in Israel 1 ?
These reproaches greatly saddened Joachim, and in great sorrow he left the temple of God, shamed and humiliated, and the feast turned into sadness for him, and the festive joy was replaced by sorrow. Deeply grieving, he did not return home, but went into the wilderness to the shepherds who pastured his flocks, and there wept for his barrenness and for the reproach and reproaches made to him.
Remembering Abraham, his forefather, to whom God had given a son already at an advanced age, Joachim began to earnestly pray to the Lord that He would grant him the same favor, hear his prayer, have mercy and take away from him the reproach from people, granting him in old age fruit to his marriage, as once to Abraham.
“May I,” he prayed, “be able to be called the father of a child, and not childless and outcast from God to endure reproaches from people!”
Joachim added fasting to this prayer and did not eat bread for forty days.
“I will not eat,” he said, “and I will not return to my house; let my tears be my food, and this wilderness my home, until the Lord God of Israel hears and takes away my reproach.
In the same way, his wife, being at home and hearing that the high priest did not want to accept their gifts, reproaching them for barrenness, and that her husband retired into the wilderness out of great sorrow, wept with inconsolable tears.
“Now,” she said, “I am the most unfortunate of all: rejected by God, reviled by people and left by my husband!” Why cry now: about your widowhood, or about childlessness, about your orphanhood, or about not being worthy to be called a mother?!
She cried so bitterly all those days. Anna's slave, named Judith, tried to console her, but could not: for who can console her whose sorrow is as deep as the sea?
Once sad Anna went to her garden, sat down under a laurel tree, sighed from the depths of her heart and, raising her eyes full of tears to the sky, saw a bird's nest with small chicks on the tree. This spectacle caused her even greater grief, and she began to cry with tears:
- Woe to me childless! It must be that I am the most sinful among all the daughters of Israel, that alone before all the women I am so humiliated. Everyone carries the fruit of their womb on their hands, everyone consoles themselves with their children: I alone am a stranger to this joy.
- Woe to me! The gifts of all are accepted in the temple of God, and they are respected for childbearing: I alone am rejected from the temple of my Lord. Woe is me! 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. I cannot even compare myself with the earth: for it vegetates and grows seeds and, bearing fruit, blesses You, Heavenly Father: I alone am barren on earth.
“Alas for me, Lord, Lord! I am alone, sinful, deprived of offspring. You, who once gave Sarah the son of Isaac in extreme old age (Gen.21:1-8), You, who opened the womb of Anna, the mother of Your prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 1:20), now look at me and hear my prayers. Lord Sabaoth! You know the reproach of childlessness: stop the sorrow of my heart and open my womb and make me barren, making me fruitful, so that what I have born, we bring to You as a gift, blessing, singing and glorifying Your mercy.
When Anna cried out like this with weeping and sobbing, an angel of the Lord appeared to her and said:
Anna, Anna! 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.
Hearing the angelic words, Anna bowed to God and said:
- The Lord God lives, if a child is born to me, I will give him to serve God. May he serve Him and glorify the holy name of God day and night throughout his life.
After this, filled with inexpressible joy, Saint Anna quickly went to Jerusalem, so that there with prayer she would give thanks to God for His merciful visit.
At the same time, an angel appeared to Joachim in the wilderness and said:
- Joachim, Joachim! God has heard your prayer and is pleased to grant you His grace: your wife Anna will conceive and give birth to your daughter, whose birth will be a joy to the whole world. And here is a sign for you that I am proclaiming the truth to you: go to Jerusalem to the temple of God and there, at the golden gate, you will find your wife Anna, to whom I proclaimed the same thing.
Joachim, surprised by such an angelic gospel, glorifying God and thanking Him with his heart and mouth for his great mercy, with joy and joy hastily set off for the Jerusalem temple. There, as the angel had announced to him, he found Anna at the golden gate, praying to God, and told her about the angel's gospel. She also told him that she had seen and heard an angel announcing the birth of her daughter. Then Joachim and Anna glorified God, who had done them such a great mercy, and, bowing to Him in the holy temple, they returned to their home.
And Saint Anna conceived on the ninth day of the month of December, and on the eighth of September ( 21st according to the new style) she had a daughter, the Most Pure and Most Blessed Virgin Mary, the beginning and intercessor of our salvation, about whose birth both heaven and earth rejoiced. Joachim, on the occasion of Her birth, offered God great gifts, sacrifices and burnt offerings, and received the blessing of the high priest, priests, Levites and all the people for being worthy of God's blessing. Then he arranged a plentiful meal in his house, and everyone glorified God with joy.
Holy Righteous Anna with the Virgin Mary in her arms
The growing Virgin Mary of Her parent was cherished like the apple of an eye, knowing, by a special revelation of God, that She would be the light of the whole world and the renewal of human nature. Therefore, they brought her up with such careful diligence, which befitted the one who was supposed to be the Mother of our Savior. They loved her not only as a daughter, expected for such a long time, but also revered her as their mistress, remembering the angelic words spoken about her, and foreseeing in spirit what should happen to her.
She, full of Divine grace, mysteriously enriched her parents with the same grace. Just as the sun illuminates the heavenly stars with its rays, giving them particles of its light, so the God-chosen Mary, like the sun, illuminated Joachim and Anna with the rays of the grace given to her, so that they were filled with the Spirit of God, and firmly believed in the fulfillment of the angelic words.
When the maiden Mary was three years old, her parents brought Her with glory into the temple of the Lord, accompanying her with lit lamps, and consecrated Her to the service of God, as they had promised. Several years after the introduction of Mary into the temple, Saint Joachim died at the age of eighty years from birth. Saint Anna, left a widow, left Nazareth and came to Jerusalem, where she remained near her Most Holy Daughter, praying unceasingly in the temple of God. Having lived in Jerusalem for two years, she reposed in the Lord, having 79 years from birth 2 .
Oh, how blessed are you, holy parents, Joachim and Anna, for the sake of your Blessed Daughter!
You are especially blessed for the sake of Her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all peoples and tribes of the earth have received blessing! Rightly did the Holy Church call you Godfathers 3 for we know that God was born from your Most Holy Daughter. Now standing close to Him in heaven, pray that some part of your endless joy will be given to us too. Amen.
JOAKIM AND ANNA
Troparion, tone 2
Thy righteous, Lord, we celebrate the memory, / by those we pray to Thee: / save our souls.
Another troparion, tone 1
Even in the lawful grace of the righteous formerly, / Joachim and Anna gave birth to the God-given child for us. / The same day, the Divine Church, your honorable memory, / glorifies God, / lifts up the horn of salvation to us in the house of David.
Kontakion, tone 2
Now Anna rejoices, / having resolved the barrenness of the sous, / and nourishes the Most Pure, / calling all the praise / Who bestowed from her womb a man / one Mother and Unskilful.
Prayer to the holy righteous Joachim and Anna
Oh, the derived of the righteous, the Holy of the Virgin of Joachim and Anno, the upcoming heavenly throne of the Great Tsar and the boldness of the property to Him, as from the subtlewood of your, the pure of the Mother of God and the Big -eater of Mary, come true to you, as to you, like multiple representations and diligent prayers and diligent prayer , we resort, sinful 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 even despising our countless sins, turn us to the path of repentance and confirm us on the path of His commandments. With your prayers, save our belly in the world and ask for good haste in all good things, all that is necessary for us from God to the belly and piety, from all misfortunes and misfortunes and vain 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 away, we will achieve eternal peace, even if by your holy supplication 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 befits and worship forever and ever. Amen.
*
1 Even the patriarchs of the people of Israel were repeatedly given a promise by God about the multiplication of their offspring; therefore, the Israelites looked upon numerous offspring as the highest happiness and blessing of God. On the other hand, according to the ancient promise of God, the Israelites hoped in their offspring to find the God-promised “Seed of the Woman,” the Messiah. That is why childlessness was considered among the Jews a grave misfortune and God's punishment for sins, and Jews looked at people who did not have children as great sinners.
3
The Church every day at the end of divine services, on vacation, asks those coming from the temple for mercy and salvation from the Lord through the prayers of the Mother of God and St. Righteous Godfather Joachim and Anna, and annually commemorates them on the next day of the Nativity of the Theotokos, for after the feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God it is proper to glorify St. Her parents.
