DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Galatians 4:22-27
(12/09)
Epistle for the Feast of the Conception of the Theotokos
Thy Kingdom Come: Galatians 4:22-27, especially vs. 27:
“For it is written: ‘Rejoice,
O barren, You who do not bear! Break forth and shout, You who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children Than she who has a husband.’” The Feast
celebrating the conception of the Theotokos by
righteous Anna derives from Holy Tradition rather than from Holy Scripture, but
draws from the same well of Salvation as the message of the sacred records:
“God Who sitteth
on noetic thrones prepared Himself a holy throne on
earth. He Who
hath established the heavens in wisdom hath, by His love to mankind, made a
living heaven; for...He hath brought forth His Mother, a life-bearing
branch. And she alone admitted
Christ into the universe for the salvation of our souls.” (First and Second idiomelon
on the Vesperal Psalm for the Feast of the Nativity
of the Theotokos, September 9th).
In the present passage,
When God promised an
“...everlasting covenant...” (Gen. 17:7) to Abraham and his
descendants, the Lord overcame the limitations of nature so that the barren
Sarah conceived and bore the promised son to Abraham in his old age - Yizaakh, or Isaac, meaning laughter. The child’s very name expresses
all the joy of God’s People that Sarah expressed at his birth:
“...'God has made me laugh; all who hear will laugh with me'” (Gen.
21:6).
Let us observe with wonder the record of Holy Tradition
reporting the conception of the Virgin, the completion of that which gives joy
to God’s people; for, in time, she bore Him Who inaugurated the fullness
of the promise to Abraham. In and
through the Son of the Theotokos, our Lord Jesus, the
promise of “the re-creation of mankind” is achieved. Hence, both at the giving of the promise
of “...the
re-creation of the nations” and at its fulfillment, God overrode the laws
of nature to make clear to men that “Our God is the God of salvation, and
the pathways leading forth from death are those of the Lord’s Lord”
(Ps. 67:21).
Tradition records that “Saint Joachim was of the
tribe of Judah and a descendant of King David,” and that Anna was of the
tribe of Levi, as were the High Priests of Israel, all of whom were descendants
of Aaron (Ex. 29:29). Living
devoutly and quietly, the couple used “...only one third of their income
for themselves and [gave] a third to the poor and a third to the
In grief, Joachim and Anna sought the Lord through intense
prayer. In turn, “God sent
them His angel, who gave them tidings of the birth of a daughter most blessed,
by whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed, and through whom will
come the salvation of the world.”
That child was the Virgin, whose birthgiving
would bring “...the salvation of the world.” The blessing of a child for Joachim and
Anna manifested the glory of the coming
As we celebrate the remembrance of Thy righteous
grandparents, Joachim and Anna, O our Savior, through them we beseech Thee, to
save our souls.
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