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Melkite Greek Catholic Church Information Center

Theotokos Minor Feast Days - Conception of Ancester of Christ Ann of the Theotokos

9 December - The Feast of Conception of The Ancester of Christ, Ann is celebrated. The soul of the The Theotokos whom God had chosen from all eternity to be the Mother in the flesh of the Incarnate Word, Holy God the Son within the Holy Trinity / Our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ, was created full of grace and free from original sin, united to a body formed according to the laws of nature through the operation of love of her parents, Jochim and Ann.

This feast celebrates the great gift of God to The Ancesters of Christ, Joachim and Ann in their old age--they thought they would never have a child. Ann and Joachim had been unable to have children so they were amazed and happy to learn that Ann would have a baby. An angel announced to them that they would conceive a child who would play a very special part in God's plan for human salvation. This baby, Their daughter Mary, would be chosen to bear Christ -- God in the flesh, thus fulfilling God's plan for human salvation. Mary would give birth to the Messiah, the Son of God, the Incarnate Word of God, the Savior of the world.

This feast shows the power of Holy God to involve people in His divine Plan of Salvation. The Conception of Ancester of Christ, Ann shows us how Holy God uses even the most unlikely-seeming people in His Plan of Salvation. The Ancesters of Christ Joachim and Ann felt cursed because they were old and had no children. Instead Holy God blessed them with a child whose own Child would be Holy God the Son within the Holy Trinity / Our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ..

Date

The time between The Feast of the Conception of Ann on 9 December and The Great Feast of the Nativity of The Theotokoson September 8 is one day less than nine months. The decision was made that the time between the two feasts would not be exactly, perfectly 9 months, that the time would be one day less than perfect. The reason is because only Holy God is perfect.
The only feast of a conception and a birth that are exactly, perfectly nine months apart is the Great Feast of The Annunciation (Al Bisharah) of The Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary (25 March) and the Great Feast of Nativity According to the Flesh of Holy God the Son within the Holy Trinity / Our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ (25 December).
December 8 is the historical date of the feast.
The Latin Catholic Church moved the date from 9 December to 8 December .

Name

This feast is also called the "Maternity of Ann".

This feast is not a Great Feast.

This feast is not one of the 12 Great Feasts.
We truly believe in that the Theotokos is "pure, spotless, stainless, immaculate". But, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church does not make this event dogma because it is not essential for salvation, that is this event is not seen as specifically bearing on the life and mission of Holy God the Son within the Holy Trinity / Our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Latin Catholic Church

This privilege of the Theotokos, accepted throughout the centuries, was officially proclaimed as a dogma by Pope Pius IX in the year 1854. In the West, this Feast is called the Immaculate Conception and is celebrated on 8 Dec.
Pius IX's unilateral declaration of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was considered imprudent by Byzantine Catholics.

• Since the Byzantine Catholics and the Orthodox do not understand Original Sin in the same way as the Latins, the concept of the Immaculate Conception makes no sense in Eastern theology
• The Byzantine Catholics and the Orthodox believe that only an Ecumenical Council can declare dogma.

Kontakion, Troparion, Exapostilarion, and Vespers Sticheron

26 Nov. - 24 Dec., at every Sunday and feast-day liturgy.

Kontakion of the Preparation (Tone 3)
Today the Virgin is on her way to the cave where she will give birth to the Eternal Word of God in an ineffable manner. Rejoice, therefore, O universe, when you hear this news, and glorify with the angels and the shepherds Him who shall appear as a newborn Babe, being God from all eternity.

Conception of Ancester of Christ Ann

TROPARION (TONE4)
Today the bonds of barrenness are loosed: God has heard the prayers of Joachim and Anne, and has promised against all hope the birth of the Maiden of God; from whom the Infinite Himself is to be born as a man, He who had ordered the Angel to cry out to her, "Hail! O full of grace, the Lord is with you!"

KONTAKION (TONE 4)
Today the universe rejoices, for Anne has conceived the Mother of God in a manner provided by God Himself: for Anne has borne the one who will bear the Word in a manner beyond all telling.

More Information

The Maternity of St. Anna Saint Joseph Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Lawrence, Massachusetts, Click on Feasts of Our Lady the Theotokos

Ikon

The Maternity of St. Anna Saint Joseph Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Lawrence, Massachusetts, Click on Feasts of Our Lady the Theotokos

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Melkite Greek Catholic Church Information Center is dedicated to my cousins: Bucky (Richard C. Liles), Shirley (Shirley Jean Liles Buck), and Donna (Donna Bertha Liles Campbell). Bucky fell asleep in the Lord on Dec. 12, 2000, Shirley fell asleep in the Lord on Nov. 8, 2001, and Donna fell asleep in the Lord on March 9, 2020.
O God of all spirits and of all flesh, who have destroyed death, overcome the devil, and given life to the world: grant, O Lord, to the souls of your servants Bucky and Shirley, who has departed from this life, that it may rest in a place of light, in a place of happiness, in a place of peace, where there is no pain, no grief, no sighing. And since You are a gracious God and the Lover of Mankind, forgive him/her every sin he/she has committed by thought, or word, or deed, for there is not a man who lives and does not sin : You alone are without sin, your righteousness is everlasting, and your word is true. You are the Resurrection and the Life, and the repose of your departed servants Bucky and Shirley. O Christ our God, and we send up glory to You, together with your eternal Father and your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and always and for ages upon ages. Amen.

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