Read the life of the Mother of God on earth. Little-known facts of the earthly and heavenly life of the Virgin

The Most Holy Theotokos occupies one of the main positions in the Orthodox Church. She is also important for Catholics, who prefer to call her the Virgin Mary. On many icons, the Mother of God is most often present and occupies one of the central positions there. The biography of the Mother of God of the Virgin Mary perfectly shows the central role of the Mother of God in the entire Christian culture.

But how many believers know who the Most Holy Theotokos is? To understand how important it is in Orthodoxy, you need to know its history.

History of the Virgin Mary

O important events from the early and late life of the Virgin Mary, the Apostle Luke narrates, who was closely acquainted with her and even painted her icon, which became the original for all subsequent images.

It is known that Mary was the daughter of Joachim and his wife Anna, who were pious people, but did not have children until old age. They were known throughout the city of Nazareth, where they lived for their meekness and humility. Joachim came from the family of King David and knew that according to the prophecies, the Messiah should be born in his family. Therefore, they tirelessly prayed for the child and made a vow to give him to the service of the Lord.

Blessed Virgin Mary

The Lord heard them and sent them a daughter, Mary. At the age of three, the girl, serving her parents' dinner, was given to serve in the temple and lived there with the rest of the pious virgins, studying the Law of God.

When she was 14 years old, the priest betrothed her to the carpenter Joseph, who was also from the family of David. Maria's parents had died by that time. Some time after the betrothal, the archangel Gabriel brought joyful news to Mary - she would become the Mother of God.

Mary, remaining a Virgin, conceived a Son. Her sister Elizabeth was carrying a child at the same time, the future John the Baptist. And she, as soon as Mary visited her, realized that she was honored to become the Mother of the Messiah.

Anyone can read the story of the birth of Christ, the flight to Egypt in the Gospels. Mary and Joseph experienced a lot in the first days of the life of Jesus Christ, but with humility they accepted the role of the earthly parents of the Savior himself.

The very first miracle of Christ, during the wedding in Cana of Galilee, shows the compassion and caring of Mary, because it was she who asked Christ to help. Thanks to her request, the Messiah performed the first miracle there. When reading the Gospels, one can see Mary coming to the place where Christ taught. She was on Calvary, at the foot of the cross, where her Son was crucified. After the death of Jesus, John the Evangelist became her son.

The whole life of the Virgin Mary is humility. She was given to the service of the Lord by her parents and fulfilled the obligation with dignity. The Lord saw her meekness and humility and despised her, giving her an important role - to be the Mother of the Messiah himself. Bear and give birth to the Savior of this sinful world.

Assumption of the Virgin

The legends of the elders, in addition to the described miracles of the Mother of God, report that after the death of Jesus Christ, she lived for about 20 years. The Apostle John the Theologian accepted her into his house, as Christ commanded him, and took care of her as of his mother.

There is a legend according to which, before her death, the Mother of God prayed on the Mount of Olives and saw an angel who said that she had no more than 3 days left to live. In the hands of the angel was a date branch. It so happened that at that time all the apostles, except for Thomas, were in Jerusalem, where the woman lived. They came to her on the day of her death and saw a wonderful picture: the room was filled with bright light, Christ appeared with a host of angels and received the soul of his Mother.

The icon “Assumption of the Virgin” was painted on this topic, where you can see all the participants in that action.

About other Mother of God icons:

Dormition Holy Mother of God

The apostles buried the body of the Ever-Virgin in the Garden of Gethsemane, where Christ prayed on his last free night, in the tomb of her parents and Joseph, her husband. During her burial, numerous miracles took place, the blind received their sight and the lame began to walk upright.

Important! During her lifetime, the Lady of Heaven was a symbol of meekness before the Lord and strictly carried out His words and accepted them. Therefore, after her death, she was honored to help believers and hear their prayers, as well as to intercede with the Lord for believers and those who ask.

Our spiritual mother

Why do Orthodox believers venerate the Mother of God? Because it has a basis set forth in the Gospels.

When the Virgin became pregnant and talked to her sister Elizabeth, she said: “For from now on all generations will please Me” (Luke 1:48). This is not about simple respect, because respect implies a polite attitude. The Mother of God speaks of gratification, which includes prayer. That is why Catholics and Orthodox have a prayerful veneration of the Most Pure, embedded in worship.

Virgin and Child

Virgo is distinguished by her meekness before God. She not only carried out the order, she wanted to fulfill it and agreed, voluntarily, to endure and give birth to a child, although this threatened her with death. Indeed, earlier, in Israel, a girl who married already pregnant, and the Mother of God had just become engaged to Joseph, was stoned to death. That is, Mary voluntarily takes the risk of losing her life for the sake of fulfilling the Lord's words.

Jesus Christ could not be born through the violence of man's good will. The full consent and acceptance of the girl was necessary. However, in reverence it is easy to fall into sin.

Important! The veneration of the Virgin should not, in the eyes of the faithful, equate her with the Lord. Because that would be blasphemy.

There was a sect in the 80s of the last century "Mother of God Center", whose members had communion not only with the Blood and Flesh of Christ, but with the tears of the Mother of God. This is heresy and blasphemy. These people, members of the sect, did not know the Scriptures and the commands of the Lord. They compared a woman, albeit blameless, but a woman, with our Lord Jesus Christ. It is unacceptable. The Lord says in the book of the prophet Isaiah in chapter 42: “I will not give My glory to another,” and the Reverend said to herself: “Behold, the servant of the Lord.”

The Mother of God is the prayer book and the spiritual Mother of all people. If through Eve all were born into the world, then through Mary all were born spiritually. There are many testimonies about the Mother of God when she answered prayers and prayed to the Lord for believers.

Prayers to the Most Holy Theotokos:

Almost every icon of hers is known for great miracles. The tears of a mother who prays for her child will never go unanswered, so can the prayer of the Lady of Heaven, the spiritual Mother of all people, go unanswered? Of course not.

The Blessed Virgin gives us a testament

“The Mother of God revealed to everyone the inexpressible abyss of God’s love for people. Thanks to Her, our long-term enmity with the Creator ended. Thanks to Her, our reconciliation with Him was arranged, peace and grace were granted to us, people rejoice together with the Angels, and we, previously condemned, became children of God. From Her we plucked the bunch of life; from her they took the branch of incorruption. She became a mediator for us in all blessings. In Her God became man, and man became God” (St. John of Damascus).

* * *

The following excerpt from the book The Earthly Life of the Most Holy Theotokos (Collection, 1892) provided by our book partner - the company LitRes.

Christmas

Holy Mother of God

“Worthy, Bogomati, Thou hast inherited the Nativity of Your purity through a promise: sometimes more unfruitful is the fruit of God’s fruit, thou hast gone: by this, all the tribes of the earth unceasingly magnify Thee.”

From the service of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Wonderful are the fates of the Israeli people! To him alone rightfully belongs the significant name of the people of God. The expectation of the Messiah was the focus of all the faith of the ancient Israelites; with the name of the Messiah, the Jew connected the concept of the best time for his people. The kings and prophets wanted to live until that time and died without getting what they wanted. the best people of the Jewish people lived with their thoughts in the future: their distinguishing features were love for offspring, the desire for prosperity and glory, the desire in their generation to find what was promised by God seed wife- the great Prophet and Conciliator.

The patriarchs of the people of Israel were repeatedly given a promise by God about the multiplication of their offspring; this promise, as one of the most important, passed from generation to generation and was always alive in the memory of the people. Is it any wonder after the fact that the Israelites considered childbearing to wives in honor and glory, and they looked at numerous offspring as a great happiness and blessing of God. On the other hand, childlessness was considered a grave misfortune and punishment from God. So, Abraham complained to God about his childlessness; Rachel wanted to die rather than remain childless; Anna, later the mother of Samuel, inconsolably complained about the lack of children and in tearful prayer asked the Lord to give her a son; Elizabeth, mother of St. John the Baptist, directly called her barrenness shame, "a reproach between people." And meanwhile, how often from parents who did not bear fruit until a certain, God-appointed time, children descended, constituting the ornament of the history of the people of God! Abraham had a son, Isaac, one of the main Israelite ancestors; Anna has Samuel, the glorious ruler of the people; Elizabeth has John, the great Prophet and Forerunner of the Lord. The same thing happened with the parents of the Blessed Virgin.

In the Promised Land given by God to the people of Israel, in the mountains bordering the Ezdralon Valley from the north, was the city of Nazareth. He lay on the slope of the mountain and defended three days' journey from Jerusalem and eight hours from Tiberias and the Lake of Gennesaret. In the entire Old Testament, Nazareth is nowhere mentioned: he was so insignificant and unimportant that the Jews did not expect anything special from him and said: Can anything good come from Nazareth?(John 1:46). Shortly before the Nativity of Christ, a God-blessed couple, Joachim and Anna, lived in Nazareth.

This couple came from ancient family Davidova. The kings of this family successively occupied the ancestral throne for several centuries, until Nebuchadnezzar crushed the kingdom of Judah. Having taken the capital Jerusalem, he led the best part of the people into captivity, known as the Babylonian. However, the descendants of David, being in severe captivity, although they did not have a scepter in their hands, still retained a sign of greatness. Finally, one of them, Zerubbabel, subsequently received permission not only to return with his people to the fatherland, but also to restore the devastated Jewish capital.

Jerusalem was restored, and the people were gathered and organized as far as possible; but the glory of the kingdom passed away irrevocably. Zerubbabel continued to govern the Jews as long as he lived; with his death, the ancient rights of the royal house of David were so obscured that they are not mentioned either in the later Books of the Old Testament or in other Jewish legends. And when the people of Israel fell under the dependence of the Romans and lost their independence, then the descendants of David completely lost their former greatness and their family finally merged with the people.

Such was the state of the glorious family of David when Joachim and Anna lived in Nazareth. Joachim came from the tribe of Judah and had the ancestor of King David, and Anna was the youngest daughter of the priest Matthan from the tribe of Aaron. The holy couple lived in abundance, because Joachim was a rich man and, like the forefathers of the people of Israel, had many flocks. But not wealth, but high piety distinguished this couple from others and made them worthy of the special mercy of God.

Tradition does not speak in detail about the virtues of the God-fathers (this is how the Holy Church calls Joachim and Anna in the sense of ancestors in the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ), but points especially to one of their traits, which testifies that their whole life was imbued with the spirit of reverent love for God and mercy for near. They annually set aside two-thirds of their income, of which one was donated to the temple, and the other was distributed to the poor. Relentlessly following all the rules of the law of God, they, as the Holy Church confesses, and in lawful grace, were so righteous before God that they were worthy to give birth to the God-given child. This proves that in purity and holiness they surpassed all those who then looked forward to the Joy of Israel.

Thus, enjoying the peace of mind and leading a life in the spirit of the law of God, the pious spouses, apparently, were quite happy; but Anna's barrenness, which at first resonated sadly in their family relations, finally turned into anguish and anxiety of both holy hearts. Childlessness, as noted above, was considered an unpleasant state among the Israelites; but it was even more regrettable and sensitive for the descendants of David, because, according to the ancient promise of God, they could hope that the Savior of the world would be born from them; in childlessness, this sweet and great hope disappeared.

The spouses prayed much and earnestly that God would grant them children; but 50 years of their married life passed, and Anna's infertility was not resolved. This unsatisfied desire, common to all the righteous of the Old Testament, for the speedy coming of the Messiah into the world, and at the same time the sad conviction of their indifference to the common goals and hopes of the people, caused Joachim and Anna the strongest sorrow that they approached old age. According to religious feelings, according to the burden of popular opinion, according to the orphanhood of their warm heart, this grief was great and hard for them; but the righteous endured it meekly and with humility, trying with even greater zeal to please God by firmly keeping His law. However, with all their meekness and devotion to the will of God, the holy spouses could not help but be grieved at the neglect they often had to endure from their compatriots for their childlessness.

On one occasion, this neglect, expressed in public, deeply upset the pious Joachim and plunged him into a disconsolate state. On one of the great feasts of St. Joachim, as an exact executor of the law, came with his compatriots to the Jerusalem temple with the intention of bringing, as usual, a double sacrifice to the Lord, and presented it, perhaps with even more pure and warm feeling than all the others. But what was the surprise of the righteous man when a certain Reuben began to contemptuously reject his offering, saying: “Why do you want to bring your gifts to God before others? You are unworthy of this as barren." This unexpected reproach struck the heart of the righteous man. It seemed to him that perhaps he was sinful to such an extent that the wrath of heaven justly pursues him, punishing him with childlessness.

This thought robbed Joachim of all courage, he left the temple in deep sorrow. "Alas! he said. “Now is a great holiday for everyone, but for me it’s only a time of tearful lamentations.” In order to find even a small consolation for himself that, perhaps, his example of childlessness was not the only one, he went from the temple to look at the genealogies of the twelve tribes. But having made sure here that all the righteous men had offspring, and even the hundred-year-old Abraham was not deprived of this blessing of God, Joachim was even more saddened and did not want to return home, but went to a distant desert - to the mountains where his flocks were grazed.

He spent forty days there in strict fasting and prayer to the Lord, invoking His mercy upon himself and washing away his dishonor in people with bitter tears. “I will not eat food,” he said, “and I will not return to my house! Prayer and tears will be my food, and the desert will be my home until the Lord God of Israel hears and visits me! God of my fathers! the grieving Joachim prayed. - You gave a son to the forefather Abraham in old age: make me worthy of Your blessing! Give fruit to my marriage, so that although in my advanced years I could be called a father and not be rejected from You, my Lord!

Meanwhile, the rumor about what happened to Joachim in Jerusalem reached the pious Anna, who remained at home. Having learned the details, as well as the fact that Joachim had retired to the desert and did not want to return home, she indulged in inconsolable grief. Considering herself the main culprit of the grief that befell them, she exclaimed with a sob: “Now I am the most unfortunate of all! God rejected, people vilify, my husband left me! What more should I cry about: about my childlessness or about loneliness? Is it about the fact that I did not deserve to be called a mother, or about my widow's orphanhood? During the time of separation from her husband, she almost did not dry her tears, did not eat food, and, like Samuel's mother, in languorous anguish asked God to resolve her infertility.

In such an anxious state of mind, one day Anna went out into the garden and in prayerful thoughts, raising her eyes to the sky, saw among the branches of a laurel tree a nest of barely fledged birds. The sight of these young chicks even more struck her mourning heart for childlessness.

“Woe to me,” she said, “lonely, rejected from the temple of the Lord my God and before all the humiliated daughter of Israel! Who i like? Everything in nature gives birth and educates, everyone is comforted by children, only I alone do not know this pleasure. I cannot compare myself either with the birds of the air or with the beasts of the earth: both bring their fruit to Thee, O Lord; I alone remain barren! Not with waters: in their swift streams they will give birth to living creatures for Your glory; I'm the only one dead and lifeless! Not with the earth: and she, vegetating, glorifies You with her fruits, Heavenly Father; only I alone am childless, like a waterless steppe, without life and plants! Oh, woe to me! Woe is me! Lord, she continued, You who gave Sarah a son in her old age and opened Anna's womb for the birth of Your prophet Samuel, look at me and hear my prayer! Loose the sickness of my heart and loosen the bonds of my infertility. May that which I have born be brought as a gift to Thee, and may Thy mercy be blessed and glorified in it!”

As soon as Anna uttered these words, an angel of God appeared before her. “Your prayer has been heard,” the heavenly messenger told her, “your sighs have penetrated the clouds, and your tears have sunk before the Lord. You will conceive and give birth to a blessed daughter, above all the daughters of the earth. For her sake all the generations of the earth will be blessed, by her salvation will be given to the whole world, and she will be called Mary (with heb.- Mrs.)!

Hearing these words, Anna bowed to the Angel and said: “As the Lord my God lives!

If I have a child, then I will give it to the Lord for the service, let it serve Him day and night, praising holy name Him for life." Anna's former sadness now turned into joy, poured out in enthusiastic gratitude to God. According to the gospel, the angel became invisible to her.

An angel of God, after the gospel to Anna, appeared to St. Joachim in the wilderness and said to him: “God has graciously accepted your prayers; your wife Anna will give birth to a daughter, in whom all will rejoice. This is the sign of the fidelity of my words: go to Jerusalem and there, at the Golden Gate, you will find your wife, to whom the same thing is proclaimed.

Reverent joy seized the heart of the holy elder: he immediately and with rich sacrifices went to Jerusalem and there he really met his wife at the place indicated by the Angel. Seeing her husband, Anna hurried to him with an exclamation: “I know, I know, the Lord God generously blessed me, because I was, as it were, a widow - and now I am not a widow, I was childless - and now I will have a child.” Here they told each other all the details of the appearances of the Angel, brought a sacrifice to the Lord in the temple and, judging by the course of further events, remained in Jerusalem for some time to await the fulfillment of the promise they had received.

Soon the holy Fathers of God saw over themselves the fulfillment of this wonderful promise: on the ninth day of December, the Orthodox Church celebrates the conception of the Blessed Virgin by Anna and sings: “Anna is now beginning to raise the Divine rod (the Mother of God), the vegetative mystical flower – Christ, the Builder of all.” “The barren, fertile beyond expectation, the Virgin, who has to give birth to God in the flesh, shines with joy and rejoices, crying out loudly: rejoice with me, all the tribes of Israel: I carry in my womb and get rid of reproach in childlessness; so pleases the Creator, who heard my prayer and healed the heart disease by dispensing what I wanted. “People will see and marvel that I have become a mother: here I give birth, because He who resolved the union of my infertility was so pleased.”

It is impossible not to revere this miraculous conception and not to see in it the extraordinary and great goals of Divine Providence. God, apparently, wanted to prepare for faith in the future, even more wonderful conception and birth of His Only Begotten Son: “The Mystery,” as the Holy Church sings, “the sacrament will predict.” “The Virgin Mother was born of a barren woman,” says St. John of Damascus, because by miracles it was necessary to prepare the way for the only news under the sun, the most important of miracles, and gradually ascend from less to more. “If,” as St. Andrew of Crete, - it is a great thing that a barren woman gives birth, is it not more surprising that a Virgin gives birth? barren mother, and then in the Mother changed the laws of nature, making the Virgin the Mother and preserving the seal of virginity.

And if Joachim and Anna, even before receiving the joyful news, excelled everyone in purity and holiness, then were they not more kindled with holy zeal and devotion to God when they were deemed worthy to receive a grace-filled revelation about the removal of reproach from them? And at the same time, didn’t their holy qualities attract God’s favor to them to a greater extent and didn’t they bring down on them grace-filled gifts that prepared them for a miraculous event?

If the prophet Jeremiah and the Forerunner of the Lord John were sanctified by God before birth and were filled with the Holy Spirit while still in their mother's womb, then an even greater sanctification, no doubt, was acquired by womb-bearing righteous Anna. Here not one simple birth was being prepared, but at the same time the revelation of the mystery of the wise counsel of God, hidden from the ages and impenetrable even to the Angels themselves. Here the ark of God, not made by hands, was arranged, the living settlement of the Most High was prepared. The only and most holy Virgin was to come from here, Who, according to the prophet's prediction (see: Is. 7, 14), was predestined to become the Mother of God the Word. “A most glorious sacrament,” sings the Holy Church, “unknown to the Angels, great for men and hidden from eternity! Here, the chaste Anna carries in her womb the Virgin Mary, who is being prepared for a village for the King of all ages and for the renewal of our family.”

After the days of gestation, the gospel of the Angel was fulfilled, and St. Anna on the 8th day of September gave birth to a daughter. The delight of the parents, freed from the "reproach of childlessness", was inexpressible. A clear miracle of God's mercy first of all turned their eyes, full of tears of gratitude, to heaven, and Joachim reverently appealed to Almighty God: "You, who poured out water from the rock for disobedient people, give fruit to the obedient from barren loins for our joy." Anna, in silent delight, ascending to heaven with her soul, humbly thought: “He who closes and opens the abyss, raises water to the clouds and gives rain! You, Lord, have given me to grow the most pure fruit from a barren root. And the Holy Church, sharing the delight of the righteous Fathers of God, cries out together with them to the whole world: “This is the day of the Lord! Rejoice, folks!"

The Blessed Virgin, despite the then unimportance of the once famous house of David, inherited high glory in Her birth: Her family, proceeding from Abraham and David and continuing for many centuries, contained the names of the Old Testament patriarchs, high priests, rulers, leaders and kings of the Jews. The valor of the glorified ancestors at the very birth of the grace-filled Infant already adorned His name. But all these advantages, so much appreciated by the world, soon faded into radiant light that unearthly glory that the Almighty has prepared for the newborn Virgin.

Saint Joachim, in the liveliest gratitude, offered in the temple what sacrifice he could to God; when the fifteenth day after the birth of the Child came, then, according to the custom of the Jews, the newborn Daughter was named Mary the name given to her by an angel before she was conceived. The Holy Infant was guarded and brought up with all the tenderness and care of pious parents, and visibly strengthened from day to day. Tradition says that when the Blessed Virgin was six months old, her mother placed Her on the ground to test whether she could stand, and the Most Blessed One, after taking seven steps, returned to her mother's arms. Then St. Anna took Her in her arms and said, “As the Lord my God lives! You will not walk the earth until I bring you into the temple of the Lord.” And arranging special place in the bedroom, where all unclean things were forbidden, Anna chose immaculate Jewish daughters to follow her Blessed Daughter. When Mary was one year old, Joachim arranged a great feast and called the priests, scribes, elders, and many people to it. At this feast, he brought his daughter to the priests, and they, blessing her, said: “God of our fathers! Bless this Child and give Him a glorious and eternal name in all generations! Those present answered: “Yes, it will be. Amen!" After that, he brought the Daughter to the high priests, who, also blessing Her, said: “God above! Look upon the Child and bless Him with the last blessing without succession.” Anna herself joyfully cried out at the same time: “I will sing a song to the Lord my God, He looked at me and, having taken away the reproach of my enemies, gave me the fruit of truth, the only and most valuable before Him.” And taking the Baby into the bedroom, she again went out to the guests and served them. When Mary reached the age of two, St. Joachim wanted to fulfill the vow of dedication to her temple over the blessed daughter, but St. Anna, both in the feelings of a tender mother and out of fear that the Child would not miss home and would not look for parents, persuaded her husband to postpone this dedication for another year. At that time, in the Blessed Infant Virgo, those powers of mind and heart that had prevented age began to develop, and the parents began to suggest to Her more and more often that She was born as a result of their prayers; that she was consecrated to God even before her birth, and that, as a child of God, she must be separated from them and be with God in the temple; that She will be much better there than they are, and if She loves God and follows His law, then God will do much more for Her than her father and mother! So St. Joachim and Anna were preparing their Baby for consecration to God.

The earthly life of the Most Holy Theotokos (part 1). THE NATIVITY OF THE MOTHER OF GOD The Blessed Mother of God was born of aged barren parents in the city of Nazareth, which lies on a slope of a mountain, three days away from Jerusalem. In all Galilee there was no more unimportant town than Nazareth. “Can anything good come from Nazareth,” said the Jews when they heard that the great prophet Jesus had come from there. According to the predictions of the prophets, the promised Savior of the world was to come from the royal tribe of David. But from the time of the Babylonian captivity, the descendants of King David gradually lost their rights, and when the tribe of Maccabees rose, all the distinction of the royal tribe disappeared and it became along with the common people. When, at the time predicted by the prophets, the royal scepter passed to the foreigner Herod; when the iron came, all breaking the kingdom of Rome; when a general decline in morality and religion was revealed, then the Jews realized that the weeks of Daniel were coming to an end, and began to look forward to the appearance of the Messiah, hoping to see Him in the form of a great conquering king who would free them from a foreign yoke and give them dominion over others peoples. A pious couple lived in Nazareth - Joachim and Anna. Joachim came from the tribe of Judah, the royal tribe, Anna was the youngest daughter of a priest from the tribe of Aaron, Matthan, who had three daughters: Mary, Sophia and Anna; Sophia had a daughter, Elizabeth, who was the mother of John the Baptist. Joachim and Anna were righteous before the Lord and kept his commandments with a pure heart, and were known to everyone not so much for their nobility of origin, but for their humility and mercy. Thus they reached a ripe old age. Their whole life was imbued with love for God and mercy for their neighbors: they annually allocated two-thirds of their considerable income: one was donated to the temple of God, the other was distributed to the poor and wanderers; the rest was used for their own needs. They were happy, but childlessness filled their hearts with grief: according to the concepts of that time, childlessness was considered disgrace and a heavy punishment, all the more regrettable because the descendants of David were given the hope of becoming instruments of the salvation of the human race through the birth of the promised Messiah. Fifty years of their married life passed, and they endured the reproach of childlessness. According to the law supported by the Pharisees, Joachim had the right to demand a divorce for the barrenness of his wife; but Joachim, a righteous man, loved and revered his wife Anna for her extraordinary meekness and lofty virtues, and did not want to be separated from her. With heartfelt sorrow, but meekly, they bore the burden of trial and continued to lead their lives in fasting, prayer and almsgiving, strengthening each other with mutual love and not losing hope that God is always strong to have mercy on his servants. On great feasts they used to go to Jerusalem. On the day of the renovation of the temple, Joachim came to the temple in order to bring a sacrifice together with his other compatriots; but Bishop Issachar rejected Joachim's offering and, reproaching him with childlessness, said: "The Lord, for the sake of some secret sins of yours, has taken away His blessing from you." Others from the forthcoming fellow tribesmen also reviled him: "It is not permissible for you to bring your gifts with us, for you did not create a seed in Israel." It was hard for Joachim to hear such complaints in public, and he did not return home, but went into the desert. For forty days and forty nights the righteous elder wept, fasted and prayed, dissolving his grief with tears of compunction, crying out to God so that disgrace and reproaches would be taken away from him, so that a child would be given to him in old age. At the same time, having learned about the insult inflicted on her husband, Anna wept inconsolably and, in order to hide her grief from her family, went into the garden. Sitting under a laurel tree, she did not stop crying and praying with unshakable faith that God is strong and that it is humanly impossible to make possible! At this time, raising her eyes to the sky, she saw among the branches of a laurel tree a nest with fledgling chicks - tears poured out of her eyes even more, prayers poured out of her heart even more plaintively: “Woe to me, lonely,” she cried, “everything in the world children console themselves: both the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth are fertile with You, O Lord, and the earth bears its fruits in time, and all bless You! I am alone, like a waterless steppe, without life and vegetation! Look at me, Lord, and hear my prayer!” Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared before her and said: “Anna! The Lord has heard your prayers, and you will give birth to a child, and all the generations of the earth will be blessed in your seed. Let your daughter's name be Mary, and by her will salvation be given to the whole world." An angel told Anna to go to Jerusalem, predicting to her that she would meet her husband at the golden gate. Filled with reverent joy, Anna exclaimed: “As the Lord my God lives! If I have a daughter, I will give her to the service of God, and let her serve Him day and night, praising His holy name.” And, having pronounced this vow, she hurried to Jerusalem to give praise and thanksgiving to the Almighty. An angel of God appeared and righteous Joachim standing at prayer in the wilderness, and said: “The Lord has accepted your prayers: your wife will bear you a daughter, in whom everyone will rejoice. Go to Jerusalem, and there, at the golden gate, you will find your wife, to whom I announced this." They met; together they offered thanksgiving sacrifices in the temple of God, together they returned home, with firm faith that they would receive according to the promise of the Lord. Since ancient times, the Orthodox Church has been celebrating on the 9th day of December the Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos from elderly parents deprived of childbearing, so that the born child would be recognized by everyone as a special gift of God, because by miracles it was necessary to prepare the most important miracle, the only good news that from the Virgin will be born the Savior of the world. According to the teaching of the Orthodox Church, the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived and born according to the promise of God from a husband and wife; the only Lord Jesus Christ was born of the Ever-Virgin Mary without a husband, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Blessed Virgin Mary was born in a little-known place of Nazareth from the humiliated, once famous house of David, which had already lost the luster of its greatness. Neither the splendor nor the glory of the world surrounded her cradle: all these earthly advantages faded in the light of the invisible glory prepared from the ages of the Mother of God, called, according to the testimony of the Gospel, grace-filled and blessed from the day of the incarnation of the Savior of the world from Her. Eternal wisdom hid this grace-filled mystery from the limited human mind: by faith the grace-filled mystery is accepted. 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, which means in Hebrew: “lady”, “hope”. Mary, having become the Mother of the Creator, appeared as the mistress and hope of all creatures. In commemoration of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Church has established a holiday since ancient times: back in the 4th century Equal-to-the-Apostles Elena built a temple in honor and memory of the Nativity of the Mother of God. This great, twelfth, ecumenical holiday was established on September 8: this is a holiday of universal joy, because the whole human race was renewed by the Mother of God and the sorrow of the foremother Eve changed into joy.

After the ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven, the apostles with Mary, His Mother, and other holy women returned to Jerusalem; there they all gathered in the Upper Room of Zion, and there they were in unanimity and prayer. Every day believers in Christ came to them and prayed with them. It was the same room in which Jesus Christ celebrated the Last Supper. Mount Zion also received great significance in the New Testament, as the prophets predicted: "From Zion comes the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." Here was the first Christian church.

Near this glorious room was the house of John the Theologian, in which, according to the will of the Lord, His Most Pure Mother stayed. She was that bright cloud that guided the first steps of the infant Church. She was the comfort and joy of the apostles and all believers. In conversations with them, She conveyed to them all the words that she composed in Her heart about miraculous events before and after the birth of the Savior; and the disciples, listening to Her, found consolation, strength, courage and were strengthened by faith. Everyone blessed the name of the Most Blessed Mary, and the general reverence for Her was boundless.

On the day of the great feast, Pentecost, the Mother of God with all the disciples was in the Zion Chamber and prepared with warm prayers for the acceptance of the promised Comforter. Suddenly, at the third hour of the day, a great noise was heard in the air, as if during a storm, and filled the house in which they were, and it appeared to them like tongues of fire and rested on each of those present, and everyone was filled with the Holy Spirit. This happened on the tenth day after the ascension of the Lord Jesus.

After the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, they did not immediately disperse throughout the universe, but remained in Jerusalem for a long time, until Herod Agrippa (AD 44) began to persecute Christians. The Most Holy Theotokos stayed all the time in the house of John the Theologian. Concerned about the organization of the salvation of the Jews, the apostles from time to time dispersed to other cities and towns, but always hurried back to Jerusalem in order to see the Mother of God and hear from Her a divinely inspired word. Saint John the Theologian remained constantly with Her and served Her with reverent devotion. Only once he was sent together with the Apostle Peter to Samaria to call the Holy Spirit on the newly enlightened Christians, and after completing his work, returning to Jerusalem, he was never separated from the Most Holy Theotokos until Her most blessed death.

In Christian traditions, the memory of many events from the subsequent life of the Mother of God has been preserved. Even during Her lifetime, the magnificence predicted by Her in a divinely inspired song was fulfilled: “Behold, from now on, all will give birth to Me.” The glory of the Lord Jesus Christ spread among all peoples, the name of His Most Pure Mother was announced, and all generations blessed Her.

From further countries, newly enlightened Christians came to Jerusalem to see and hear the Mother of the Lord. Much historical evidence of the Mother of God has been preserved in the writings of contemporaries of Her earthly life. Saint Ignatius the God-bearer wrote from Antioch to John the Theologian: “The glory swept over Her that this Virgin and Mother of God is full of grace and all virtues. Yes, and how not to want to see the Most Pure Virgin? How not to want to talk with the One Who gave birth to the true God?

The height of the holiness and majesty of the Mother of God shone through the veil of Her deepest humility: in Her, the nature of the angels was united with the human. Dionysius the Areopagite, the famous learned Athenian, converted to Christianity by the holy Apostle Paul, visited the Ever-Virgin Mary in Jerusalem three years after he received St. baptism. The impression made on him by a conversation with Her, he describes to the Apostle Paul: “It seemed incredible to me, I confess before God, that, besides the Highest God Himself, anyone should be full of Divine power and wondrous grace. None of the people can understand that I I saw and comprehended through not only spiritual, but also bodily eyes.I saw with my eyes the Godlike and more than all heavenly spirits, the Most Holy Mother of Christ Jesus, our Lord ... I testify by God, who had a residence in the most honest womb of the Virgin, that if I in the memory and the newly enlightened mind of your Divine teaching, then I would recognize the Virgin as the true God and give Her the worship due to the one true God, because the human mind cannot imagine any honor and glory for a person glorified by God, which would be higher I thank my God, I thank the Divine Virgin, I thank the beautiful Apostle John and you, graciously rendered who gave me such a great boon."

For ten years the apostles were engaged in the organization of the Church in Jerusalem; but, when Herod Agrippa began, 44 years after the Nativity of Christ, to persecute Christians, beheaded the Apostle James, imprisoned the Apostle Peter and also wanted to kill him, then the apostles, with the consent of the Most Holy Theotokos, recognized it as better to leave Jerusalem and decided to cast lots who should choose which country as a field for preaching the Gospel. The Blessed Mary also wished to take part in this lot and received the country of Iberia (Georgia) as her inheritance. She was preparing to visit Iberia; but the angel of the Lord announced to her that she must remain in Jerusalem for the time being, that she was destined for the feat of enlightenment in another country, about which in due time she would hear the will of the Lord.

The stay in Jerusalem was the most gratifying for the Most Holy Theotokos: all these places, sanctified by the presence, teaching, suffering and death of Her Son and God, spoke so much to Her soul! She often stayed at His life-giving Tomb, and Her heart was filled with indescribable joy: here He was buried like a man, here He was resurrected as the almighty God, who crushed death with His death.

A tradition has been preserved that some of the Jews, haters of Christians, reported to the high priests that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, goes every day to Golgotha, kneels before His Sepulcher, cries and burns incense. The guards assigned to the Tomb according to this denunciation received a strict order to vigilantly lie in wait for Mary and immediately kill Her. The Mother of God preserved the power of God: She continued to go to the Tomb every day, but the guards did not deign to see Her and, after a long time, they swore to the authorities that they had not seen anyone all the time. The Blessed Virgin knew no fear of the enemies who sought Her destruction, and, as always, Her actions were courageous; not hiding from the people, she acted without fear, for the glory of God. She offered prayers to the Lord when the apostles were imprisoned, and through Her prayer the Lord sent His angel to free the prisoners. She followed the First Martyr Stephen as they led him to his death; She fervently prayed that the Lord would strengthen the courageous sufferer in patience and accept him into His kingdom! Comforting and instructive was the earthly life of the Zealous Intercessor.

During the strongest persecution of Christians, after the murder of the Apostle James, the Most Holy Theotokos retired to Ephesus, the place assigned by lot to John the Theologian for preaching. Traditions give details of the Virgin's journey to Cyprus at the request of Lazarus, a friend of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was ordained Bishop of Cyprus by the Apostle Barnabas. Lazar was deeply grieved that he had long been deprived of the happiness of seeing the Mother of His Lord; he himself did not dare to come to Jerusalem, knowing the malice of the Jews who threatened to kill him. The Mother of God wrote a letter to Lazarus, in which She, to console him, expressed her consent to visit him and asked him to send a ship for Her. Lazarus, animated with joy, immediately sent a ship for her. The Mother of God, together with John the Theologian and other companions, sailed to the island of Cyprus. There was not much left to go to Cyprus, when suddenly a strong opposite wind blew, and the ship, not obeying the helm, rushed in the other direction; quickly rushing between the islands of the Archipelago, he suddenly stopped off the coast of Mount Athos, without suffering any damage.

The Blessed Virgin came to an unknown shore and in this miraculous event saw the will of God, which indicated Her lot, according to the prediction of an angel. Mount Athos was then considered by the Hellenes a special sanctuary and was filled with idol temples, with the main temple of Apollo. The Greeks flocked there in large numbers to worship the gods and to question the oracles about their destinies.

As soon as the ship approached the shores of Athos, evil spirits, who were in idols, obeying the Higher Power, said: "People, seduced by Apollo, hasten to get off the mountain, go to Clement's Quay to meet and receive Mary, the Mother of the great God Jesus." From all sides the pagans ran to the pier and, seeing the Divine Virgin, bowed to Her with reverence and then began to ask what kind of God She gave birth to, where He was and what His name was. The Most Holy Theotokos revealed to them the power of the Gospel teaching, and there was so much grace-filled power in Her words that the pagans immediately glorified God and wished to immediately accept holy baptism. She placed one of those who arrived with Her on the ship as the head and teacher of the newly enlightened. Many miracles were performed by the Mother of God on Mount Athos to strengthen the faith of new Christians. Giving them the last parting blessing, She said: "Let this place be My lot, given to me from My Son and My God. I will be an intercessor for this place and a warm intercessor before God for it." After that, the Most Holy Theotokos sailed with Her disciples to Cyprus.

For a long time, having no news of the Mother of God, Lazar was greatly distressed, but soon his sadness turned into great joy: he finally saw the blessed Visitor. She brought him as a gift an omophorion and a handrail arranged for him by Her pure hands. After comforting Lazarus and blessing the believers, the Blessed Mary returned to Jerusalem. At this time, thirteen years after the ascension of Christ, the Blessed Virgin was visited by Dionysius the Areopagite, who wished to receive blessings and guidance from Her. She received everyone, comforted everyone, healed the sick, corrected sinners, gave hope to the contrite. She who was delighted by God made people happy.

Reprinted from the book: The Earthly Life of the Most Holy Theotokos / Comp. S. Snessoreva. Yaroslavl, 1999.

To understand the Christian tradition and the very Divine image of the Mother of God, it is useful for every Christian to know the following truths: The Blessed Virgin Mary is in the literal sense the Mother of the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore the Mother of God; She remains the Ever-Virgin before the birth of Jesus Christ, at Christmas and after Christmas; The Mother of God follows the Savior, as high power all heavenly powers- Holy Apostles and Holy Fathers of the Church. The books of the Old and New Testaments, the very earthly life of the Mother of God, lead to such a generalization.

More than two thousand years separate us from the day when the Blessed Virgin appeared in the light of God. Today it is hard even to believe that She had an earthly life filled with human worries, joys and sufferings. We are accustomed to perceive Her as the Queen of Heaven, and She had her own earthly traits of character - a penchant for peace, thoughtfulness, as evidenced by Her contemporaries. The divine touching smile of the Virgin Mary was forever captured by icon painters, this is not even a smile, but an image of kindness itself.

Mary's mother's name was Anna, her father's name was Joachim, both tribal branches had respectable ancestors, among whom were patriarchs, high priests and rulers of the Jews from the branches wise Solomon and mighty David. Joachim and Anna were not considered wealthy and noble, although they lived comfortably, breeding large herds of sheep. Only one sadness oppressed them: there were no children. The coming of the Messiah was already predetermined, and childless people obviously lost the hope of having the Messiah as their descendant, which every family secretly dreamed of. Among the Israelites at that time, even the clergy perceived the childless as punished from above. This confirms the fact from the life of Joachim. On the feast of the renewal of the Temple of Jerusalem, he, along with other residents, brought rich gifts for the Temple, but the priest refused to accept them - Joachim's childlessness was the reason for this. He endured his grief heavily, for some time even retired to the desert, where bitterly weeping repeatedly turned to God: "My tears will be my food, and the desert will be my home until the great and wise Lord hears my prayer." And then Joachim heard the words of the Angel of the Lord: "I have been sent to tell you that your prayer has been heard."

Your wife Anna will bear you a wonderful daughter, and You will name her Mary. Here is a confirmation of my words for you: entering Jerusalem, behind the Golden Gates you will meet your wife Anna, and she will also please you with joyful news. But remember that your daughter is the fruit of a divine gift."

An angel of the Lord also appeared to Anna and also told that she would give birth to a blessed daughter. The small southern town of Nazareth, where Joachim and Anna lived, was located three days from Jerusalem. From the very beginning of their life together, they walked from Nazareth in order to express their great request to God in the famous Jerusalem Temple: to have a child. And now the dream came true, their joy knew no bounds.

December 9 (Hereinafter in the biography, the dates are given in the old style.) The Orthodox Church celebrates the conception of the Blessed Virgin, and on September 8, Her birth. Three years old, Mary was brought into the Temple of Jerusalem. It was a very important moment, and it is no coincidence that the Orthodox Church celebrates such an event. It took place in a very solemn atmosphere: the procession was opened by girls of the same age as the Blessed Virgin, with lit candles in their hands, followed by Joachim and Anna, along with their blessed daughter, holding hands. They were followed by numerous relatives, among whom were very noble persons. Everyone's faces were lit up with joy. The virgins walked with the singing of spiritual songs, their voices merged with the singing of the Angels.

In the Temple of Jerusalem, the Blessed Virgin was destined to spend many years. That temple was a prototype of a monastic monastery. Within the walls of the Temple there were 90 separate spacious rooms-cells. A third of them were assigned to virgins who dedicated their lives to God, the rest of the rooms were occupied by widows who gave dinner to keep celibacy. The elders took care of the younger ones, taught them to read sacred books and needlework. The Blessed Virgin Mary immediately surprised everyone by the fact that she easily comprehended the most difficult parts of the sacred books, better than all adults who have studied these books all their lives.

After the birth of the desired child, the parents die very soon, first Joachim at the age of 80, followed by Anna. There was no one even to visit a small child staying in the Temple. Orphanhood and the consciousness of her loneliness turned Mary's heart even more strongly to God, in Him was contained Her whole destiny.

When Mary was fourteen years old, the high priests announced to her that it was time to get married. Mary replied that she wanted to consecrate her life to God and wanted to keep her virginity. How to be?

The angel of the Lord appeared to the high priest Zechariah and told him the advice of the Almighty: "Gather the unmarried men of the tribe of Judah, from the tribe of David, let them bring their staffs. And to whom the Lord will show a sign, you will hand over the Virgin to become the guardian of Her virginity."

It all happened. High Priest Zechariah gathered unmarried men near the temple and turned to God with a prayer: "Lord God, show me a man worthy to become the Virgin's betrothed." The staves of the invited husbands were left in the sanctuary. When they came for them, they immediately saw how one staff blossomed, and a dove sat on the branches that appeared. The owner of the staff turned out to be 80-year-old widower Joseph, who was engaged in carpentry. The dove, flying off the staff, began to circle over Joseph's head. And then Zechariah said: "You will receive the Virgin and you will keep Her." At first, Joseph objected, fearing that with adult sons who are older than Mary, he would become a laughingstock of people. Tradition says that Mary herself was very upset that she had to leave the Temple of God. But by the will of the Almighty, the betrothal happened, only Joseph became not the husband of Mary, in our usual understanding, but the guardian of holiness and caring servant of the Virgin Mary.

Not much is said about Joseph in Scripture, but still, bit by bit, a fairly clear image can be put together. The elder was a descendant of the kings David and Solomon, a man of firm and truthful disposition, modest, attentive, hardworking. From his first marriage to Solomiya, he had two daughters and four sons. Before his betrothal to Mary, he lived for many years in an honest widowhood.

Joseph brought the God-given girl to his home in Nazareth, and they plunged into their daily routine. Only Mary did not leave the premonition of a great accomplishment, something indescribable, extraordinary. All people were waiting for the coming of the Messiah, as the only deliverer from the numerous vices that entangled people like a cobweb.

Luxurious Rome, which conquered many countries, excelled in pleasures, mired in debauchery, perversions, fanaticism, forgetting about all the virtues. The catastrophe of the spirit always leads to the catastrophe of the body. Only the Almighty could be the healer of the spirit. And the Virgin Mary, as if instinctively, without realizing it, was preparing for the fulfillment of the greatest Divine plan. She comprehended with her soul the appearance of the Savior into the world, She did not yet know in what way God would send His Son to Earth, but Her soul was already preparing for this meeting. Thus, the Blessed Virgin of things, with Her only essence, could unite the age-old foundations old testament with the new Christian laws of life.

For the gospel of His Divine plan, the Lord chose the archangel Gabriel, one of the very first angels. The icon "Annunciation" (celebration of March 25) reveals to us this great deed of the Lord. It depicts a quiet rally from heaven to Earth of an angel in the guise of a magnificent young man. He gives the Virgin Mary a heavenly flower - a lily and utters priceless words; "Rejoice, full of grace: the Lord is with you! Blessed are you among women!" The meaning of these heavenly words is that the Blessed Virgin conceives a Son whose kingdom will have no end. Before She read sacred books, in particular, the prophet Isaiah, that a certain Virgin will give birth to the Son of Man from God. She was ready to become a servant of That woman, and did not think about her own divine destiny.

Modern man can create doubt in his mind. The Immaculate Conception has been questioned throughout the ages. But the most surprising thing is that the heard Good News first of all doubted Mary herself. "How will it be with me when I don't know my husband?" were her first words.

The fact may indeed seem doubtful if comprehended by a cold mind. But it must be accepted not with the mind, but with the soul. The Immaculate Conception or ever-virginity of the Most Holy Theotokos is a union of the heavenly and the earthly, the spiritual and the material. That was the moment of the rebirth of a worldly person into Holiness, which people have been worshiping for two millennia.

The Metropolitan of Moscow, St. Philaret (1782-1867), speaks penetratingly and sublimely about this phenomenon: “The virgin is ready to become a mother, She bows before the Divine appointment, but does not want and cannot experience earthly marriage, this common path to birth on Earth .. "This heart trembles with Divine love alone. Everything - all thoughts, feelings, aspirations - are given to the invisible, impregnable God. He alone could be Her desired, Her imperishable bridegroom. And at that moment, as She was told about the Son, Her purest soul , frightened by the mere possibility of the thought of an earthly marriage, with strength rushed there, on high, to the only desired and awaited God. And then a mysterious, miraculous, immaculate conception happened ... "

Thus, the words of the archangel Gabriel were confirmed: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the Child is holy, and will be called the Son of God."

Materialists cannot comprehend this miracle. Some accept only physics, others take a bolder step - into metaphysics. But how natural and logical to recognize the Divine principle! Although the concept of "beginning" is applicable to a specific phenomenon, and God is Eternity, which cannot have a beginning and an end. God is a force that maintains harmony in the universe.

The Annunciation icon helps a mortal person to accept this spiritual essence and connects us with the Divine world. In Nazareth, where the Archangel Gabriel proclaimed the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, a temple was erected in the 4th century in memory of the Annunciation. Inextinguishable lamps burn in the altar, throwing light on the words, which contain the essence of the greatest mystery: "Yic Verbum caro fuit" ("Here the word is flesh"). Above the throne is an image of the Annunciation and next to it are a vase with white lilies. The flower, which was in the hands of the Archangel Gabriel, symbolizes purity.

It is necessary to imagine the state of the Virgin Mary, who must explain to her husband the reason for the already visible fruiting. The sublime and the sinful stood on the same scales in her imagination. A most difficult drama was brewing in the soul of an earthly man. And what was the state of Joseph, who was in awe of Mary, but saw changes in Her figure and suffered from the questions that tormented him?! Of course, the Virgin Mary could tell Joseph everything as it was ... But will he believe that the Divine fruit is hidden in Her womb? And how to say about Yourself, as about Holiness? To all such supposed explanations, questions and answers, the Virgin Mary preferred silent suffering. After all, She was aware of the fact of the ascension of a mortal man to an unattainable height.

Righteous Joseph, not knowing the secret of the incarnation of the Lord, showed unusual kindness. After much torment, various assumptions and hesitation, he decides to secretly give the Virgin Mary a letter of divorce without indicating the reason for the divorce. St. John Chrysostom explains this act in the following way: "Joseph showed amazing wisdom in this case: he did not blame or reproach the Virgin, but thought only of letting her go." He really wanted to preserve the honor of the Virgin and save Her from the persecution of the law, thereby satisfying the demand of his conscience. And as soon as he decided to carry out his plan with a letter, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. All contradictions and omissions were resolved instantly by the Lord's revelation.

The most complete and diverse representation in spiritual literature, in icon painting is the Nativity of Christ and all of His further earthly life. For two millennia, such a number of books have been written about her that cannot be calculated with the usual circulations. There was no other similar life on Earth that would attract human souls with such unshakable force. Throughout a gigantic period of time (in the usual human sense) in honor of Jesus Christ on Earth, the burning of lamps and candles did not stop. If black forces blew up the temple of God, then a candle burned in some hut. If it went out in one part of the world, then it invariably shone with a flame before a pure image - in another. At all times, the great spiritual feat of Christ, which all people in the world must know about, remained the highest ideal of serving God the Father and serving God the Son to humanity. The life of Jesus Christ was a living example of the fulfillment of the two first biblical commandments: to love God and to love your neighbor.

Non-observance of these commandments by mankind leads him to destruction. Life has proven this many times. Evil, as it were, migrates across the planet in time. History records: the obscurantism of pagans of various stripes, the ferocity of the Herod dynasty, the cruelty of Nero, the fanaticism of the Jesuits, the harmful consequences of the doctrines of philosophers like Nietzsche, the deceit of false prophets and the fatal temptations of the new "kings" and the so-called democracy. Where the commandments of the Lord are not kept, evil invades, falsehood flourishes, and faith in God becomes false; where the commandments of Christ the Savior are not observed, bloodshed is constant, and love for one's neighbor is manifested only in words; where the commandments of the Almighty are not observed, there the power is in luxury, and the people are poor. Such a society is doomed to perish.

If we imagine that Jesus Christ would not have come to earth, then there would be no force at all in opposition to evil, and humanity would have ended its existence long ago. The Savior appeared on earth during the reign of King Herod. What people associate with this name is clear. At all times and to this day, the most vile rulers are called Herods. Whoever opposes them follows the precepts of Christ.

At all stages of the spiritual feat of Jesus Christ himself in the name of saving people, His Mother, the Most Holy Theotokos, stood next to Him. She carried Her cross with the greatest earthly dignity. On a cold night, She, having given birth to a son, could not shelter Him in Her house ("She bore Her firstborn son, and swaddled Him, and put Him in a manger, because there was no place for them in an inn) Luke 2:7". King Herod, who unjustly commanded the people, was very afraid of the coming of the Messiah, he in every possible way prevented the fulfillment of God's intentions. Having found out about the birth of Christ, he went on a terrible, barbaric atrocity - he ordered to kill all the babies in Bethlehem and its environs, hoping that among the dead would be the newborn King of the Jews - the Savior. 14,000 innocent children - boys - fell victim for Christ at the behest of King Herod. What fear did the Mother of God experience for the life of her Son?!

She lived every second of Jesus' life, from birth to crucifixion and ascension. And one must imagine Her grief, how it shuddered the soul when the ignorant crowd mocked Holiness, when the blood congealed on the forehead of Her Son from the crown of thorns, and when the most pure body of Jesus had to be taken down from the cross...

After the Ascension of Christ, the earthly path of the Mother of God was still quite long and fruitful.

She was destined, together with the apostles, to carry the teachings of Christ around the world. Rejoicing at the success of the disciples of the Son, the Mother of God herself almost never spoke before the people. However, there is one wonderful exception in the legends... More on that later. The Mother of God sought the essence of the Christian teaching not in words, but in life itself. By the way, this is the most effective method of teaching children by parents: you can say little and do a lot, then the children will definitely understand how to do and what to do. The Virgin Mary diligently served the poor, gave to the poor, cared for the sick, helped orphans and widows. She devoted a lot of time to prayers at the tomb of the Son. The Virgin Mary buried the betrothed Joseph when Jesus was a teenager. Joseph, too, modestly and nobly fulfilled his feat of life. It is a feat that should be the life of each of us, the essence of life lies in this, in order to fulfill with dignity the God-given destiny for each person. How to perform? Follow your conscience. Conscience should be the guide of life - presupposed by God, preserved by man. With her being, material and spiritual efforts, the Mother of God taught people to live, awakening Conscience in a person - the voice of God. Mother of God - the Mother of God, standing in front of the icon - Her image, a person opens his soul, trusts secrets, sends repentance for sins, hoping for Her mercy and mediation before God. And the Mother of God unites a particle of this Divine principle in man with the Almighty.

The laconic Virgin Mary once nevertheless had to speak to people with a most wonderful sermon, the legend of which has come down to our days. The Mother of God intended to visit Cyprus.

The ship crossed the Mediterranean Sea, and the desired island was about to appear. But suddenly a storm hit the ship, and it became uncontrollable, it was carried to the other side of the world, as if by the will of the heavenly Pilot. The ship ended up in the Aegean Sea, rushed between numerous islands and, by the will of the Almighty, stopped at the foot of Mount Athos. That area was literally teeming with idol temples with a huge temple of Apollo in the center, where various divination and pagan sorcery.

But then the Mother of God descended from the ship to earth, and from everywhere people began to flock to Her with questions: who is Christ and what did He bring to Earth? And then She had to tell people for a long time about the mystery of the incarnation of Jesus Christ, about the suffering that fell to His lot for the sins of people, about execution, death, resurrection and ascension to heaven.

She revealed to people the essence of the teachings of Jesus Christ - about repentance, forgiveness, love for God and neighbor - as about great values ​​that affirm goodness, justice and prosperity in the world.

After such a heartfelt sermon Mother of God an extraordinary event took place. All who heard Her desired to be baptized. Leaving Athos, the Mother of God blessed the newly converted Christians and uttered a prophecy: “Let this place be my lot, given to me from My Son and My God. May My grace rest on those who live here with faith and piety and keep the commandments of My Son and God. in abundance and with little labor all that is necessary for earthly life, and the mercy of my Son will not fail to them.

The further history of Athos confirms to this day that Divine patronage has been felt and materialized over that place in all ages.

The blessings of the Mother of God, like those of Athos, are so endless that a whole chronicle can be made out of them. This is what many icons of the Mother of God are dedicated to. About them the story ahead. Toward the end of her earthly life, the Mother of God strove for Heaven with all her being. And one day, during a prayer, the archangel Gabriel appeared to Her again with a joyful and radiant face, just like decades ago, when he brought the Good News from the Almighty. This time, the news was that the Mother of God had only three days left to stay on Earth. She accepted this message with the same great joy, for there could be no greater happiness for Her than to forever contemplate the image of Her Divine Son. Archangel Gabriel gave Her a heavenly date branch, which radiated extraordinary light day and night. The Mother of God first told the Apostle John about the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel, who was almost never separated from the Mother of God.

Notifying all households of her forthcoming departure from the sinful Earth, the Mother of God commanded to prepare Her chambers accordingly: decorate the walls and bed, burn incense, light candles. She exhorted her loved ones not to cry, but rather to rejoice that, talking with Her Son, She would direct His goodness to all living on Earth, would visit and protect the distressed.

The apostles and disciples, alerted by the Holy Spirit, gathered miraculously from all over the world to see the Mother of God on her last journey. There were about seventy of them - the most devoted preachers of the teachings of Christ. On the blessed 15th day of August and the third hour from noon, everyone gathered in the church, which had been specially prepared for the sacred unprecedented action. Many candles were burning, the Mother of God reclined on a magnificently decorated bed and prayed selflessly in anticipation of her exodus and the coming of her Son and Lord. According to legend, you can imagine an extraordinary picture.

At the appointed time, the entire temple was shone by no one and never before seen heavenly solemn light. It was as if the walls were parted and the King of Glory Christ Himself ascended over the heads of people, surrounded by a host of angels, archangels and others. disembodied forces, with the righteous souls of the forefathers and prophets.

Rising from the bed, the Theotokos bowed to her Son and the Lord with the words: "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, as if looking at the humility of my servant! .. My heart is ready; wake me according to your word ..."

Looking at the bright face of the Lord, Her dearest Son, without the slightest bodily suffering, as if falling asleep sweetly, the Mother of God handed over Her bright and pure soul into His hands.

Metropolitan Saint Philaret of Moscow, in his letters on the veneration of the Most Holy Theotokos (M. 1844), explains to his compatriots this solemn moment of transition from earthly life to the life of the eternal Virgin Mary: “And since the Ever-Virgin carried the Son of God in Her arms during His earthly infancy, then in recompense for this, the Son of God carries Her soul in His arms, at the beginning of Her heavenly life.

On the ground, the burial of the body of the Virgin Mary took place. Saints Peter and Paul with the Lord's brother Saint James and other apostles lifted the bed on their shoulders and carried it from Zion through Jerusalem to the village of Gethsemane. St. John the Theologian carried in front of the bed a heavenly date branch, handed over to the Virgin Mary by the archangel Gabriel. The branch shone with heavenly light. Over the entire crowded procession and the most pure body of the Mother of God, a certain cloudy circle suddenly appeared - a kind of crown. And the joyful singing of heavenly forces spilled into space. Radiance and Divine hymns accompanied the procession until the very burial.

Tradition testifies how the unbelieving inhabitants of Jerusalem, struck by the extraordinary grandeur of the funeral procession and embittered by the honors given to the Mother of Jesus Christ, reported what they had seen to the Pharisees. Their order followed: destroy the entire procession, and burn the coffin with the body of Mary! But a miracle happened: a shining crown - the Divine sphere, as a protective cap hid the procession. The soldiers heard the steps of people seeing off the Mother of God, they heard singing, but they could not see anyone. They bumped into each other, into houses and fences, they felt as if they were blind. Nothing could interfere with the solemn burial.

AT Holy Scripture we will not find anywhere the story of the death of the Virgin Mary. Death did not happen. Of course, in the same sense as it happens with an ordinary person, when the body is committed to the earth, and the soul to God. The Holy Orthodox Church calls the departure from the earthly life of the Mother of God the Dormition. And he sings of the Dormition of the Theotokos thus: “The laws of nature are defeated in Thee, Virgin Mary, virginity is preserved in birth and life is combined with death: remaining a Virgin after birth and living after death, You will always save, Mother of God, Your inheritance.”

Assumption means that the Virgin Mary, after many years of heavy wakefulness, fell asleep with a sweet sleep, reposed at the eternal source of life, becoming the Mother of Life, delivering mortal souls from the torment and death of mortal souls with her prayers, instilling in them with her Assumption a living foreboding of eternal life.

The Apostle Thomas, as the legend says, arrived in Gethsemane only on the third day after the burial of the Most Holy Theotokos. He mourned and wept a lot about this and was very sorry that he was not awarded Her blessing. And then the other apostles allowed him to open the tomb to make the last farewell. The stone was rolled away, the coffin was opened, but... the body of the Virgin Mary was not there. The apostles began to pray to the Lord that He would reveal His secret to them.

Toward evening the holy apostles sat down to a meal. As was customary between them, they left one place unoccupied, and put a piece of bread in front of it, so that after the meal, giving thanks to the Lord, glorifying the name of the Holy Trinity, everyone could taste this piece of bread as a blessed gift with the prayer: "Lord, Jesus Christ help us!" Everyone thought and talked at the meal only about the miraculous disappearance of the body of the Virgin. The meal was over, everyone got up and, according to custom, raised the bread set aside in honor of the Lord ... Looking up, getting ready for prayer, everyone saw the Most Pure Virgin Mary, surrounded by many angels. And they heard from Her: "Rejoice! I am with you all the days!".

The entire earthly life of the Mother of God fits into a specific 72 years, this is evidenced by the calculations of the ancient holy fathers of the church (St. Andrew, Archbishop of Crete, St. Simeon Metaphrastus), authoritative church historians agree with them. But from all holy life The Orthodox Church singled out four most important spiritual events celebrated by the great holidays of the Blessed Virgin: the Nativity of the Virgin, the Entry into the Temple, the Annunciation and the Assumption. These holidays are ranked among the so-called Twelve and are equated with the great feasts of the Lord. There are twelve of them in total in a year. Behind every holiday there is a great spiritual event, the reflection of which is an infinite number of icons.

But at the same time, the icons of the Most Holy Theotokos themselves have a special life, a special history, they keep miracles and still have a beneficial effect on a person.

Before interpreting the icons of the Most Holy Theotokos, it will be interesting and useful to imagine Her earthly appearance according to the descriptions of eyewitnesses that have come down to us in sacred books. But the main feature of the Blessed Virgin, which determines all of Her spiritual content, was defined by St. Gregory of Neocaesarea in this way: "She has a mind controlled by God and directed towards God alone." The impeccable spiritual qualities of the Mother of God are put to the fore by all Her contemporaries, without exception.

St. Ambrose, in the guise of the Mother of God, notices those features that can serve as the ideal of a person: “She was not long-winded, a lover of reading ... Her rule was not to offend anyone, to be well-disposed to everyone, to honor elders, not to envy equals, to avoid boasting, to be sensible, love virtue. When did She even offend her parents with her expression? When was she at odds with her relatives? When she was proud before a modest person, laughed at the weak, evaded the poor? She had nothing harsh in her eyes, nothing imprudent in words, nothing indecent in actions: modest body movements, quiet tread, even voice; so bodily appearance Her was the expression of the soul, the personification of purity."

Saint Dionysius the Areopagite, three years after his conversion to Christianity, was honored to see the Blessed Virgin Mary face to face in Jerusalem, describes this meeting as follows: and such a wonderful fragrance of various aromas spread around me that neither my feeble body, nor my spirit itself, could bear such great and abundant signs and the beginnings of eternal bliss and glory.

Saint Ignatius the God-bearer amazingly accurately defines the essence of the blessed influence of the Mother of God on ordinary mortal people: "In Her, the nature of the angels was combined with the human."

From the legends and memoirs of the contemporaries of the Blessed Virgin, a completely visible image emerges. The church historian Nicephorus Callistus verbally described him as follows: “She was of medium height, golden-shaped hair, quick eyes, with pupils, as it were, the color of an olive tree, eyebrows arched and moderately black, an oblong nose, blossoming lips, full of sweet speeches; her face is not round and not sharp , but somewhat oblong, arms and fingers long".

At all times, the holy fathers of the Church expressed their genuine admiration for the image of the Most Pure Theotokos of our Ever-Virgin Mary. For example, the great theologian Orthodox Church St. John of Damascus (VII century) says: "God loved Her so much - the highest and purest light, that through the invasion of the Holy Spirit He essentially united with Her, and was born from Her a perfect man, without changing or mixing properties."

It is these properties, specifically defined and named by the venerable chroniclers of the church, the holy fathers and contemporaries of the Virgin Mary, that are present in every icon of the Mother of God, corresponding to one or another event in Her life, this or that feast of the Mother of God, this or that phenomenon associated with Her.

The first icon painter, who left the most accurate image of the Mother of God, was the disciple of the Apostle Paul and his assistant, the holy Evangelist Luke. Pious believers wished to see the face of the Mother of God. Saint Luke paints the image of the Virgin Mary and presents it directly to Her. She, seeing the first icon of the Mother of God, or rather her image, involuntarily said: "The grace of the one who was born from Me and Mine be with this icon!" Her blessing made the icons of the Mother of God graceful - giving the believing person good, deliverance from vice, filling the soul with divine light.

The history of the first icon is unique. She spent many years in Antioch, where believers first called themselves Christians. Further, the holy image moves to Jerusalem, and then ends up in Constantinople to the holy empress Pulcheria (in the middle of the first millennium). Together with their husband, Emperor Marcian, they erect three magnificent churches in Constantinople in honor of the Mother of God - Chalkopratea, Hodegetria and Blachernae. An icon painted by the holy evangelist Luke is placed in the temple of Hodegetria.

The Mother of God in the fate of Russia is like a mother for a baby. There is a special mystery in the veneration of the Mother of God by the Russian people. It lies in the hope of all-powerful maternal intercession before God. After all, the Almighty is not only a great benefactor, but also a formidable judge. Among Russians, who have in their character such a most valuable trait as repentance, God-fearing has always coexisted with God-love. Like a mother, a God-fearing sinful person asks for the protection of the Mother of God, going to the judgment of the Lord. A person knows his sins, for this God has given him a conscience. It is the great Intercessor, Defender, Savior - the Mother of God - who helps to answer to God for sins. It seems to soften the punishment, but it exposes a person's conscience. When the poet says that "Russia cannot be understood with the mind," he means precisely Conscience. This vulnerable and completely non-material "structure" - the divine essence, the Russians entrusted to the Mother of God.

There is no more famous name in Russia than Holy Lady and Ever-Virgin Mary. From the very beginning of Russian history, the main cathedral churches have been dedicated to the Mother of God. Byzantine masters are erecting, at the command of the Mother of God herself, the Assumption Cathedral in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. The desire of the Mother of God to stay in Russia is attested in the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon. And since then, people in Russia began to consider their Fatherland - the House of the Most Holy Theotokos.

The veneration of the Mother of God is accomplished primarily through icons. Only in the church calendar there are about three hundred revered icons of the Mother of God. Each has its own name. There is almost no day in the year that this day is not illuminated by the celebration of one or another icon of the Mother of God.

Exodus of the great historical events associated with the miraculous influence of the icons of the Virgin. The Don Icon helped in the Battle of Kulikovo; in the salvation of Moscow from Tamerlane and during the great standing on the Ugra - Vladimirskaya; in the Time of Troubles, during the expulsion of the Poles from Moscow - Kazanskaya; with the approval of the ruling dynasty of the Romanovs - Feodorovskaya; in the Battle of Poltava - Kaplunovskaya. In 1917, on the day of the abdication of the Tsar-martyr Nicholas II from the throne, it was as if the Mother of God Herself, appearing unexpectedly in the form of a Sovereign, took upon herself the succession of power of the Russian State. But many people have not preserved this holy image, they have not preserved themselves.

For a Russian person, the saving property of the Mother of God has always been revered, as the blessing of his own mother. The people entrusted their souls and all of themselves to the Theotokos. The icons of the Mother of God were treated as a living shrine, and therefore they were often given their own names, like a person.

The first Orthodox radio in the FM band!

You can listen in the car, in the country, wherever you do not have access to Orthodox literature or other materials.