- Holy Ancestors of God Joachim and Anna
- St Joachim was of the tribe of Judah and a descendant of King David.
St Anna was of the tribe of Levi, the daughter of a priest named
Matthan. Matthan's three daughters were Mary, Zoia and Anna. Mary
became the mother of Salome the Myrrhbearer; Zoia bore Elizabeth, mother
of St John the Baptist; and Anna married Joachim in Nazareth. Joachim
and Anna, to their great sorrow, were barren for fifty years. They
lived prayerfully and kept only a third of their income for themselves,
giving a third to the poor and a third to the Temple. Once when they
had come to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice at the Temple, Joachim was
publicly scorned by the High Priest Issachar for his childlessness.
Joachim and Anna, greatly grieved, prayed fervently that God would grant
them the miracle that he had wrought for Abraham and Sarah, and give
them a child in their old age. Once, as each was praying separately in a
secluded place, angels appeared to each of them and revealed to them
that they would be given a blessed daughter, `by whom all nations will
be blessed, and through whom will come the salvation of the world.'
They both rushed home to tell one another the joyous news, and embraced
when they met. (This is the moment depicted in their icon.) Anna
conceived and gave birth to the Most Holy Theotokos. Both reposed in
peace, not long after they had sent her to live in the Temple.
- Holy Martyr Severian of Sebaste (320)
- He was a prominent citizen of Sebaste during the reign of Licinius.
When the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (March 9) were in prison, he
encouraged and comforted them. For this, and for his Christian example
which had converted many pagans in the region, the Provincial Governor
Lysias ordered his arrest. But before the soldiers could find him, he
presented himself before the Governor and openly proclaimed his faith.
For this he was subjected to many days of horrible tortures, during
which he constantly exhorted the believers who followed him to stand
firm in their confession of Christ. After astonishing endurance of his
torments, he gave up his spirit to God.
-
At the Saint's burial, the husband of one of his servants was
miraculously raised from the dead, living for another fifteen years.
The Christians could not decide where to bury Severian, so they wove a
crown of flowers and laid it on his body to await a sign from heaven.
An eagle took up the crown and dropped it in a nearby forest. The
Christians buried the Martyr where the crown fell; his tomb became a
fount of miracles, and the man who had been raised from the dead tended
it for the rest of his life.
source: http://www.abbamoses.com
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