Blessed Feast!
“On December 9 in the Holy Orthodox Church we commemorate Saint Anna’s Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Verse: Not like Eve dost thou bring forth children in sorrow, For within thy womb thou bearest joy, O Anna. On the ninth Anna conceived Mary, God’s Mother.
After many years of childlessness and fervent prayer, an angel of the Lord announced to Joachim and Anna that that they would be the parents of a daughter, the Virgin Mary, who would bring blessings to the whole human race. The Conception took place at Jerusalem. The Orthodox Church does not accept the teaching that the Mother of God was exempted from the consequences of ancestral sin (death, corruption, sin, etc.) at the moment of her conception by virtue of the future merits of her Son. Only Christ was born perfectly holy and sinless. The Holy Virgin was like everyone else in her mortality and in being subject to temptation, although she committed no personal sins. She was not a deified creature removed from the rest of humanity. If this were the case, she would not have been truly human, and the nature that Christ took from her would not have been truly human either. If Christ does not truly share our human nature, then the possibility of our salvation is in doubt.” – THE SYNAXARION
“Today have the bonds of barrenness been loosened; God, having heard the prayers of Joachim and Anna, promised them openly that they should give birth, beyond hope, to the Maiden of God, from whom He, the infinite One was to be born, becoming man, commanding the angel to shout to her: Rejoice, O full of grace, the Lord is with thee.” – APOLYTIKION OF CONCEPTION OF THE THEOTOKOS BY ST. ANNA IN TONE FOUR
St. Anna Orthodox Christian Church 