On September 21, the Church will celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary 2026translated

The Great Twelfth Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary will be celebrated by the Orthodox Church on September 21.

The Nativity of the Mother of God and Her parents are known from the apocryphal Proto-Gospel of James (2nd century).

It tells that a pious married couple from Jerusalem, Joachim and Anna, did not have children for a long time, because of which they suffered greatly. And then one day, when they separately prayed for the gift of a child, both had a vision of an angel who announced that the Lord had heeded their prayers, and their offspring would be talked about all over the world.

After this gospel, Anna conceived. The couple made a vow to dedicate their child to God and, as was the custom then, to give him to the Jerusalem Temple for service and education until adulthood. Nine months later, Anna gave birth to a daughter, who was named Maria.

The very name “Mary” translated from Hebrew means “lady”, “hope”. In the future, Mary was to become the Lady and Hope of all who believed in the Savior, since it was She who became the Mother of the Lord Jesus Christ.

According to her father, Mary came from the tribe of Judah, from the family of King David, and according to her mother, from the family of the high priest Aaron. Thus, the Old Testament prophecies came true...