Eastern Rite ~ Feasts of 9 September AM 7533

Today is the Afterfeast of the Nativity of the Mother of God and the Feasts of the Holy and Righteous Forebears of God Joachim and Anna and of the Holy Martyr Severian.

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Troparion — Tone 4

Your Nativity, O Virgin, / has proclaimed joy to the whole universe! / The Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God, / has shone from You, O Theotokos! / By annulling the curse, / He bestowed a blessing. / By destroying death, He has granted us eternal Life.

Kontakion — Tone 4

By Your Nativity, O Most-Pure Virgin, / Joachim and Anna are freed from barrenness; / Adam and Eve, from the corruption of death. / And we, your people, freed from the guilt of sin, celebrate and sing to you: / The barren woman gives birth to the Theotokos, the nourisher of our life!

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Saint Joachim, the son of Barpathir, was of the tribe of Judah, and was a descendant of King David, to whom God had revealed that the Savior of the world would be born from his seed. Saint Anna was the daughter of Matthan the priest, who was of the tribe of Levi. Saint Anna’s family came from Bethlehem.

The couple lived at Nazareth in Galilee. They were childless into their old age and all their life they grieved over this. They had to endure derision and scorn, since at that time childlessness was considered a disgrace. They never grumbled, but fervently prayed to God, humbly trusting in Him.

When Saint Anna learned what humiliation her husband had endured, she sorrowfully entreated God with prayer and fasting to grant her a child. In his desolate solitude, the righteous Joachim also asked God for this. The prayer of the saintly couple was heard. An angel told them that a daughter would be born to them, Who would be blessed above all other women. He also told them that She would remain a virgin, would be dedicated to the Lord and live in the Temple, and would give birth to the Savior. Obeying the instructions of the heavenly messenger, Saints Joachim and Anna met at the Golden Gate in Jerusalem. Then, as God promised, a daughter was born to them and they named her Mary. Once, during a great feast, the gifts which Joachim took to Jerusalem as an offering to God were not accepted by the priest Reuben, who considered that a childless man was not worthy to offer sacrifice to God. This pained the old man very much, and he, regarding himself the most sinful of people, decided not to return home, but to settle in solitude in a desolate place.

Saint Joachim died a few years later at the age of 80 after his daughter went to live in the Temple. Saint Anna died at the age of 70, two years after her husband.

Saints Joachim and Anna are often invoked by couples trying to have children.

Troparion — Tone 1

Since you were righteous under the law of grace, O Joachim and Anna, / you gave birth to the God-given infant for our sake. / Therefore, the divine Church radiantly keeps feast today, / joyfully celebrating your honourable memory and giving glory to God / who has raised up a horn of salvation from the house of David.

Kontakion — Tone 2

(Podoben: “Seeking the highest...”)
Anna is now no longer barren / and nurses the All-Pure One! / She rejoices and calls us all to sing a hymn of praise to Christ, / she who from her womb gave mankind the only Ever-Virgin Mother.

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The Holy Martyr Severian (+ 320) suffered for Christ in Armenian Sebaste during the governorship of Licius, when Christians were persecuted under the emperor Licinius. Even before his martyr’s deed, Saint Severian had shown sincere compassion for 40 Christian soldiers, suffering for confessing the Name of Christ. He visited the captives in prison, raised their spirits, and appealed to their valour and stoic strength. These martyrs met their death at Lake Sebaste (March 9).

Half a year later, Severian was also brought to trial for confessing the Christian Faith, and he was subjected to cruel tortures. Deeply devoted to the will of God, Saint Severian called out to the Lord during his torment, imploring Him for the strength to endure the suffering and to complete his deed of martyrdom.

After intense torture, and unbroken in his faith, the holy martyr was suspended from the city wall with one stone chained around his neck, and another chained to his feet, and so he died. His body was carried by Christians of Sebaste to his home, where the local inhabitants thronged to take their leave of him and to ask for his holy prayers. Amidst all this, a dead man who had not yet been buried arose, a servant of Saint Severian, who got up from his deathbed to follow his master’s final path. He continued to live another fifteen years, never leaving the burial place of the holy martyr.

Troparion — Tone 3

Your holy martyr Severian, O Lord, / through his sufferings has received an incorruptible crown from You, our God. / For having Your strength, he laid low his adversaries, / and shattered the powerless boldness of demons. / Through his intercessions, save our souls!

Kontakion — Tone 2

(Podoben: “You sought the heights...”)
You appeared as a bright star announcing Christ with your radiance, / which is repulsive to this world, O Martyr Severian; / extinguishing the allure of false gods, / you enlighten the faithful, / always interceding for us all.