Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary: what is the meaning of the holidaytranslated

With the blessing of Metropolitan John of Belgorod and Stary Oskol, on September 21, Orthodox Christians celebrate the Nativity of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. This is the first twelfth feast of the church year, which began on September 14. But behind a seemingly simple event - the birth of a girl in a family of pious Jews - lies the beginning of the entire New Testament history. Mary's birth was not ordinary. Long before this event, the Old Testament prophets spoke of the Savior being born from the Virgin. The book of the prophet Isaiah says: “Behold, a virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel” (Is. 7:14). In the book of the prophet Ezekiel, there are closed gates through which the Lord will pass, but they will remain closed (Ezekiel 44:1-3). This is an image of Mary's ever-virginity. There are other prototypes. Patriarch Jacob saw in a dream a ladder connecting heaven and earth - it is interpreted as a symbol of the Mother of God, through which the Son of God descended to earth. The book of Proverbs speaks of Wisdom who built herself a house - this is also an image of Mary who became a “home” for the incarnate God.

Saint Andrew of Crete called the Nativity of the Virgin Mary “the beginning of the holidays.” It begins a chain of events that will lead to Christmas...