December 8 (December 9) THE MATERNITY OF THE HOLY ANNA
The conception of the all-holy virgin Mary in the womb of Anna is celebrated on December 9 in the Byzantine tradition, for a natural reason, that the Eastern ancients thought a girl was in the womb one day less than a boy. The [Ukrainian Catholic Church in America celebrates the feast on December 8] Ruthenian Church in America, celebrates the feast together with the Roman Church because she is the patron of the United States.
It is clear that this is a preparation for the birth of Christ on Christmas, for the first sticheron of the feast begins: “The barren Anna leaped for joy when she gave birth to Mary the Virgin who in turn will give birth in the flesh to God the Word.” Mary, the daughter of Anna and Joachim by way of natural birth is to be the temple of the Word of God incarnate for our sake and for our salvation.
The Eastern and Western Churches put the accent on different aspects of the feast. In the East, we celebrate the miracle of God taking away the barrenness of Anna’s womb. The Protoevangelium of James portrays the sadness of Joachim and Anna. Joachim lamented, “I have searched whether I am the only one who has not begotten offspring in Israel, and I have found of all the righteous that they had raised up offspring in Israel.” Anna wept, “I will bewail my widowhood, and bewail my childlessness.” (1,3 and 2,1) Two angels came, one to Joachim and another to Anna with a divine message that they would bear a child, even in their old age. When God takes away an emptiness, he fills us more than our faith can grasp, and they gave birth not only a child, but to the new Ark of God’s covenant with us.
The Western Church, on the other hand, puts the accent on Mary’s purity from all sin from her conception, defined by Pope Bl. Pius IX in 1848 as the Immaculate Conception. The theology behind this is that the incarnation of the sinless Word of God must come from a sinless temple, the womb of Mary which was never touched by sin, even from her conception.
One can easily say that the greatest saint of the Byzantine Church is Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia. Yet the only thing we know of him for certain is his name, and that a holy man named Nicholas was the bishop in Myra in the fourth century. He has become essentially connected with the feast of Christmas. While the details of his life are certainly legendary, the first appearance is the Vita per Michaelem, in the ninth century, and then by Simeon Metaphrastes in the tenth century, yet we cannot help but suspect that there is a tradition of the goodness of his character that prompted such stories. He is the a golden example of all that is good in a true Christian, following the Lord in love for the poor, in joy of salvation, and in greatness of heart. Where, then, the stories written to fit his character. Certainly, the human race is hungry for such a saint, explaining his embrace by Greece and Russia as their patron saint. He gave a dowry to the poor girls, he saved sailors from storms, he obtained the liberation of those falsely accused. When his body was taken from Myra to Bari, the goodness of his life made him a favored saint throughout all the West.
There is little doubt that the legendary story of the Holy Martyr Barbara was embellished a bit by early hagiographers. There is no reason for this, since the mere fact that someone who comes to faith in Christ is willing to lay down their life for him. For this reason, the more plausible facts of her life are a beacon for us who struggle in and for the faith. Her story tells us that she was a philosopher, a “lover of wisdom.” It was her love of wisdom, guided by grace that brought her to faith in the one true God in the Holy Trinity. It is a reminder that our faith is not blind, it is rational, based on an authentic consideration of reality. Clement of Alexandria was one of the first Christians to see the value of Greek philosophy for the Christian faith, and on this same day, December 4, we celebrate the memory of Our Holy Father John Damascene, who wrote a massive work, the Fount of Wisdom, reasoning about our faith.
Ivan Sleziuk is one of the Ukrainian martyrs from the Soviet era persecution of the Church. He was born January 14, 1896, ordained priest in 1923 and ordained bishop in April 1945. Arrested in June 1945 and sentenced to 10 years in a labor camp and then after a release was arrested a second time and sent to a prison camp for another 5 years being released in 1968. Bishop Ivan died on December 2, 1973.
Habakkuk prophesied in Judah during the last half of the 7th century BC. He was one of the temple prophets — that is, his oracles were composed to be sung in temple worship; thus, they took the form of lamentations and canticles. Their liturgical character has persisted in out monastic office where the third chapter of his book is used as the fourth canticle of the traditional matins canon.