Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary - the main signs and prohibitions of the holiday Today, September 21, Orthodox Christians remember the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. This event - the birth of the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ from the righteous parents Joachim and Anna - is described in the Church Tradition. Kdeparh. ru tells about the history, meaning and folk traditions associated with the holiday. What is the Nativity of the Virgin The Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary is the full name of the holiday that the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates on September 21 in the new style (September 8 in the old style). This is one of the twentieth Orthodox holidays. The twelve feasts are dogmatically closely connected with the events of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Mother of God and are divided into Lord"s (dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ) and Theotokos (dedicated to the Mother of God). The Nativity of the Mother of God is the Mother of God holiday. The event that we celebrate on this day is not described in the New Testament. The knowledge about him came to us from the Church Tradition, one of the sources of our faith, together with the Holy Scriptures. The legend about the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, namely the Proto-Gospel of Jacob, was written in the 2nd century. And they began to celebrate the holiday as a separate significant day by the second half of the 5th century. For example, we read about this in the Patriarch of Constantinople Proclus (439-446) and in the missal (liturgical book) of Pope Gelasius (492-426). When the Nativity of the Virgin is celebrated Orthodox Christians celebrate the Nativity of the Virgin Mary on September 21 New Style (September 8 Old Style). This is a non-passing holiday, that is, its date remains the same every year. According to the Orthodox tradition, the holiday lasts 6 days, from September 20 to 25. This period includes forefeast and afterfeast. Forefeast - one or several days before a big holiday, the services of which already include prayers dedicated to the upcoming celebrated event. Accordingly, afterfeast is the same days after the holiday. What can you eat at the Nativity of the Virgin In 2020, the holiday falls on Monday, there are no restrictions on food. Events of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin In the New Testament, we will find practically nothing about the earthly life of the Mother of God. The Gospels do not provide information about who the parents of the Virgin Mary were and under what circumstances she was born. The Feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos is based on the Church Tradition. There is the so-called Proto-Gospel of Jacob, written in the 2nd century. In it we read that Mary was born of pious parents, Joachim and Anna. Joachim came from a royal family, and Anna was the daughter of the high priest. They lived to a ripe old age and were childless. This was a source of grief for the couple and caused public censure. Once, when Joachim came to the Temple, the high priest did not allow him to offer sacrifice to God, saying: “You did not create offspring for Israel”. After that, the inconsolable Joachim went into the desert to pray, while Anna stayed at home and also prayed. At this time, an angel appeared to both of them and announced to each: "The Lord heeded your prayer, you will conceive and give birth, and they will talk about your offspring in the whole world. " Having learned the good news, the couple met at the Golden Gate of Jerusalem. After that, Anna conceived. As the Proto-Gospel of Jacob writes, "the months allotted to her passed, and Anna gave birth in the ninth month. " The righteous took a vow to consecrate their child to God and gave their daughter Mary to the Jerusalem temple, where she served until she came of age. History of the celebration of the Nativity of the Virgin Christians began to celebrate the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin only by the 5th century. We read the first mentions of him in the Patriarch of Constantinople Proclus (439-446) and in the missal (service book) of Pope Gelasius (492-426). Saints John Chrysostom, Epiphanes and Augustine also write about the holiday. And in Palestine, there is a legend that the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Empress Helen built a temple in Jerusalem in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. Icon of the Nativity of the Virgin We meet the most ancient images of the events of the Nativity of the Mother of God by the X-XI centuries. These are icons and frescoes. For example, the painting of a 7th century Georgian temple in Ateni. This entire temple is dedicated to the Mother of God (the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God). Nativity of the Virgin 2 There are other ancient images of the holiday: frescoes in the Kiev Sophia Cathedral (first half of the 11th century) and in the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Mirozh Monastery (XII century), a composition in the Church of Joachim and Anna of the Serbian monastery Studenica (1304). Traditionally, on early icons and frescoes, icon painters depicted righteous Anna, the mother of the Virgin Mary, in the center of the composition. The woman in labor reclining on a high bed, before her are women with gifts, a midwife and maids who wash the Mother of God in the font.