On December 9 the Orthodox Church celebrates the Conception of the Most Holly Theotokos by Saint Anne who is regarded as patron saint of marriage, family, young girls, widows and motherhood.
St. Anne and her Husband St. Joachim were married for 20 years, but did not have any children. They prayed to God for a child and promised that if He granted their wish, they would dedicate this child to God. One day, an angel came to St. Joachim and said: “Your wife will bear a daughter and you will call her Mary. She will be filled with the Holy Spirit from her mother’s womb.” An angel appeared to St. Anna at the same time and told her the same happy news. Folk beliefs have it that the labor pain of the Mother of God began on this day. That is why, pregnant women do not work on this day, in order to give birth easily.
Holy Tuesday is a day for teachings and final moral instructions. On this day the priests and the Jews listen for the last time to the teaching words of the Son of God in the temple. There, Jesus Christ gives an example of how to give charity –..
Passion Week is the last week before Easter. It is also the most austere week of fasting at the end of the long Great Lent, which prepares the faithful for Christ's Resurrection. It begins after the Sunday on which Christians celebrate the Lord's entry..
The Zograf Monastery on Mount Athos has a new abbot. Hieromonk Gavriil has been elected as the new abbot of the monastery, reported the website of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. "On Lazarus Saturday, the Zograf Monastery on Mount Athos held elections to..
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