01 Works, RELIGIOUS ART - Today, December 8, is the day of Conception by St. Anna, With Footnotes - 140

Forefeast of the Conception by St. Anna of the Most Holy Theotokos (Mary)

Joachim and Anna had lived together in marriage for fifty years, and yet had remained barren. They lived devoutly and quietly, and of all their income they spent one third on themselves, distributed one third to the poor and gave the other third to the Temple, and they were well provided for. Once when in their old age they came to Jerusalem to offer a sacrifice to God, the high priest Issachar reprimanded Joachim, saying: “You are not worthy that a gift be accepted from your hands, for you are childless.” Others, who had children, pushed Joachim behind them as one unworthy. This greatly grieved these two aged souls and they returned home in great sorrow. Then the two of them fell down before God in prayer, that He work a miracle with them as He once had with Abraham and Sarah, and give them a child as a comfort in their old age. Then God sent His angel, who announced to them the birth of “a daughter most-blessed, by whom all nations on earth will be blessed and through whom the salvation of the world will come.” Anna straightway conceived, and in nine month gave birth to the Holy Virgin Mary.  More on the Conception by St. Anna of the Most Holy Theotokos

Theotokos is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are "Mother of God" or "God-bearer".

The title has been in use since the 3rd century, in the Syriac tradition. The Council of Ephesus in AD 431 decreed that Mary is the Theotokos because her son Jesus is both God and man: one divine person with two natures (divine and human) intimately and hypostatically united. More on Theotokos

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