The new church year opens with the twelfth feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God

Orthodox Christians on September 21 will celebrate the first twelfth feast of the church year – the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God and the Virgin Mary. This event, which is not mentioned in the New Testament, but the Church keeps it in Tradition, opens the history of salvation of mankind anew from its very beginning. In the Orthodox tradition, the holiday is not transient: it is always celebrated on September 21 (September 8 according to the old style). One day before the celebration - pre-holiday, four days after - holiday, until September 25. This day opens a series of twelfth holidays following the Church New Year, and therefore its place in the calendar is deeply symbolic, draws the attention of the clergyman of the Holy Trinity Cathedral Slonim priest Nikolai Savitsky.

From the apocrypha to the feast of the whole Church, the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos is based on the Church Tradition and is described in detail in the “Protoevangelia of Jacob” – a monument of Christian writing in the middle of the II century. The pious Joachim and Anna of Jerusalem had no children for a long time. Infertility in the Old Testament world was considered a sign of abandonment by God, and spouses suffered from this, including spiritually. One day, when they were praying separately, an angel appeared to them with the good news. He said to Anna, “Anna, the Lord has answered your prayer, you will conceive and give birth, and all the world will speak of your offspring.” Saint Joachim was in the wilderness at that time and heard, “Joachim, the Lord God has answered your prayer.” Go away, for your wife Anna will conceive in her womb.

A happy husband and wife met at the Golden Gate in Jerusalem and told each other about the signs. At the appointed time, their child was born. In gratitude to the Lord, Joachim and Anna, as promised, consecrated their daughter to God. From the age of three, Prisnodev was brought up in the Jerusalem temple.

- As a separate church holiday, the Nativity of the Virgin was established by the VI-VII centuries, although the first indications for its celebration belong to the fifth century. His appearance in Jerusalem is associated with the construction of a church in the name of the Virgin Mary next to the font of Bethesda - on the place where, according to legend, the house of Joachim and Anna was located, Father Nicholas emphasizes. The theological meaning of the holiday is revealed through one of the ancient images: before coming to earth, the Lord prepared for Himself a “chamber” – the Most Pure Mother. In the Old Testament, King Solomon built a temple of precious stones and cedar, but God does not live in man-made temples. The Nativity of the Virgin is the beginning of the creation of a “non-created temple” in which the Incarnation was to be performed.

The Christmas of the Most Holy Mother of God is not just the birthday of the Virgin Mary. This is the day when God’s promise to mankind was fulfilled. In the person of the Mother of God, the world received hope for salvation, the priest said.

On the day of celebration, a solemn service is performed in the temples. Priests wear blue clothes, symbolizing the purity and purity of the Virgin Mary. At the Vespers, three paremias are read (excerpts from the Holy Scriptures, which are read for a deeper understanding of the essence of the holiday), and at the morning the troparion is sung three times: “Thy Nativity to the Virgin Mother of God, the joy of raising up the whole universe: from Thee the sun of truth Christ our God, and having destroyed the oath, gave blessing, and abolishing death, has given us eternal life.”.

Priest Nikolai Savitsky. Folk tradition in the countryside has preserved the custom of baking a special bread with the image of the letters "R" and "B", symbolizing the name of the holiday - the Nativity of the Virgin. This bread is distributed to loved ones, and part is carried to the temple. Believers on this day pray to the Most Holy Virgin, most often asking for help in conceiving children and thanking for the harvest year.

- We often look for miracles in high-profile events, but the real miracle is in silence and humility. The righteous Joachim and Anna prayed for decades and their prayers were heard. It reminds us: God hears everyone who waits with faith and a pure heart, says Priest Nikolai Savitsky.

The feast of the Nativity of the Virgin lasts six days, from 20 to 25 September. In these days, the Church calls on believers not only to remember the event, but also to feel its joy – the very same one that the Mother of God announced to “the whole universe.”.

The Nativity of the Virgin is a holiday that reminds us that the path of salvation does not begin with loud sermons and great deeds, but with quiet loyalty and long waiting. From that first stage, with which the ascent of humanity to God began, Father Nicholas emphasizes.

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The Orthodox Church year begins on September 14 (old style – September 1) – the day of the Church New Year. The holiday is also called the beginning of the indict (from the Latin indictio - announcement). In the Roman and Byzantine empires, it was the day of the beginning of the collection of taxes and the countdown of financial and civil cycles. On this day in the temples read a passage from the Gospel about the preaching of Jesus Christ in the synagogue of Nazareth, where he proclaimed “the summer of the Lord favorable.” Believers thank God for the past time and ask for blessings for the new year. According to tradition, the new liturgical circle opens with the feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God (September 21), and ends with the Assumption of the Most Holy Mother of God (August 28). Any idea? Offer it! The new season of the republican contest “Youth of Belarus for Life, Morality and Family Values” is open

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