Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Righteous Anna

The miraculous conception of the Mother of God by righteous Anna is celebrated by the Orthodox Church on December 22 Anna and her husband Joachim lived in Nazareth They were a worthy married couple of advanced age with an ancient pedigree The origin of Joachim was traced back to King David himself, the tribe of Judah, and the clergyman’s daughter Anna was a descendant of the clan of Aaron, the tribe of Levi They were destined to unite the branches of their families, but during their long marriage the couple never had children Passionately wanting to find offspring, the couple, without giving up hope, constantly prayed to the Lord and donated two parts out of three of their own incomes to support the poor One day, on the day of a great Jewish holiday, the high priest rejected Joachim’s offering, deciding that childlessness was a reflection of family sin Righteous Joachim, with a stone in his soul, went into the desert, where for 40 days he offered prayers to the creator Anna, not knowing about her husband’s asceticism and feeling her own guilt for his disappearance, also turned to God with prayers Her desperate request gave way to a vow that the baby given to her would be given to the service of the Lord After pronouncing the oath, an angel appeared to Anna and told her the happy news The woman learned that she would not remain a lonely widow, but, on the contrary, would become the mother of the beautiful girl Mary, through whom all people received the Lord’s blessing Inspired by the news, Anna hurried to the Holy Land to the Jerusalem temple, where her husband’s donation had recently been rejected But this time the high priest accepted the gifts of the righteous woman God's messenger also appeared in the desert, where the kneeling Joachim indulged in prayer The angel told the man the will of the Almighty and ordered him to go towards Jerusalem, where a meeting with his wife awaited him Joachim and Anna saw each other at the Golden Gate of Jerusalem and on the same day conceived the desired child The Holy Family lived in love and harmony At a tender age, Mary, as was bequeathed, was given to the temple Anna lived to the ripe old age of 79, slightly outliving Joachim, whose death occurred at the age of 80 People have different names for the holiday: “Dark Anna”, “Winter Anna” From this shortest winter day, the New Year holidays begin, in its depths a new sun is born, which will be added every day The belief warns that wolves gather in packs and will hunt together until Epiphany An interesting custom associated with the feast of the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary existed among beekeepers After the solemn liturgy, it was necessary to visit the hives and read a prayer over them for the increase of bee families Married women, asking for a desired pregnancy and easy childbirth, according to custom on December 22, turn to their righteous spouses with prayers