Every year, the thresholds of expensive paid clinics are studded with couples who cannot conceive children. Often their efforts are not rewarded, and on the contrary, a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness appears. The icon of Anna and Joachim is able to help just such couples. It is known that the parents of the Virgin Mary have been waiting for a wonderful conception for almost 50 years.
Miraculous icon
In order not to despair, it is recommended that young couples have before their eyes the example of Saints Anne and Joachim. The couple lived in Nazareth, led a righteous life, but for some reason could not have children. Only in 70 years they were able to become parents.
For many centuries, their icon has had a miraculous effect. The righteous Joachim and Anna, according to parishioners, give spouses healing from such a terrible ailment as infertility.
There are several options for a Christian plot. On some icons, the spouses are depicted frontally, on others we see their profile. In some images, an elderly couple gently hugs each other. There are paintings where Anna and her husband are already nursing the virgin Mary.
Moreover, almost always elderly spouses look at each other with tenderness and love. The clothes are accentuated in red, which indicates the approaching joy. Often the halo of a holy husband is greater than that of a beloved. This symbol indicates that Joachim is the head of their family.
The icon of Anna and Joachim is an image of conjugal love. Love capable of working miracles.
Why did society condemn the Godfathers?
Parents of the Virgin Mary lived in Nazareth. Both were from good families. Two-thirds of the income was given to the poor and to the temple. Despite this, the Nazarenes condemned the couple. It was believed that if people in a legal marriage have no children, then they are not blessed by God. Infertility was punishment and grave misfortune.
By law, Joachim could divorce his childless wife and marry again. However, the righteous loved Anna too much and could not reject her.
But the residents of the city calmly turned away from their family. On one holiday, a man brought gifts to the Jerusalem temple, but the priest refused to take them. The servant of God was sure that since the Most High did not give a pair of children, it means that they have hidden grave sins.
On the same day, one of the inhabitants of Nazareth declared to the righteous that a childless person cannot offer sacrifices to God.
Then no one knew yet that it was precisely the saints Joachim and Anna who would bring the Savior to the sinful earth . The icon of the spouses, probably, therefore, has such wonderful healing properties.
Joachim's fasting in the desert
The grandfather of Jesus Christ was very upset that he was denied in the church on this holiday. He remembered his family tree and realized that all worthy men in her had children. True, forefather Abraham was able to pick up a newborn son only at an advanced age.
Joachim that day could not return to his wife, but went into the wilderness. He spent 40 days in prayer and fasting. The righteous asked the Almighty to give him a child. He was ready to stay in the wilderness until God fulfilled his request.
On the 40th day an angel appeared to him and ordered him to go to Jerusalem. There his wife should have been waiting for him. Thus, the icon of the Theotokos of Joachim and Anna, shows the world that faith in God and true love can be higher than the opinions of others.
Anna's Prayers
Anna was born in the family of the priest Matthan. All her brothers and sisters had children. The venerable lady believed that it was her grave sins that did not allow her to become a mother.
All her life a woman was supported only by her husband, when Joachim went into the desert, Anna decided that now the whole world had certainly turned her back on her.
Once, while walking in the garden, she saw a nest with chicks. This sight even more upset the righteous. She thought she was the only woman whose womb could never raise a child.
Then Anna began to pray tearfully, promising to bring her child as a gift to the Almighty. After the prayer, an Angel came down to her and said that God had heard her request. And now she should have a daughter named Maria. The angel also told the woman to urgently go to the Jerusalem temple to thank God.
It is the conception of Mary that depicts the most famous icon of the righteous God-Father Joachim and Anna. On it, the saints stand on the threshold of the temple.
Wonderful birth
After visiting the temple, the elderly spouses finally had a long-awaited daughter. According to legend, when the baby was six months old, Anna let her go to the ground. Little Maria walked exactly 7 steps and returned to her mother. Then the woman decided that until the girl went to the temple, she should not walk on the ground.
The icon of Anna and Joachim is often supplemented by a third character - the infant Mary. True, the girl lived in the family for only three years. After, as promised, she was sent to the temple. Joachim himself thought to do this a year earlier, but Anna was afraid that the little girl would be very homesick for her parents. Perhaps she just wanted to stay longer with her long-awaited daughter.
The miraculous birth of Mary made the inhabitants of Nazareth change their anger to mercy. True, they did not yet know that the New Testament story was beginning before their very eyes.
Shortly after the parents gave their daughter to serve God, they left this sinful land.
How to pray the icon?
According to numerous reviews, the icon of Anna and Joachim is able not only to help childless couples, but also strengthens marriage and helps restore women's health. Lonely parishioners can turn to the faces of the saints to help them find a legitimate life partner. Pregnant women ask St. Anne to give birth easier and the baby to be born healthy.
There are special prayers that can be addressed to the patrons of the family:
- troparia to the righteous;
- kondak;
- first and second prayer to the God-Fathers.
As well as the personal appeal of Anna herself to the Almighty about the giving of a baby.
It’s hard to say how to pray more correctly. You can learn famous words, but then you need to understand their meaning and ask from the heart. And you can try to ask the saints in your own words. As they themselves did in due time. The main thing is that prayer comes from the heart.
Where can I worship the saints?
Many churches of East and West have the icon of Joachim and Anna. Its value is difficult to overestimate. A holy couple is revered by Christians around the world, including Catholics.
The first temple to the righteous was built back in the 4th-5th centuries AD in Jerusalem. It has survived to the present day. According to legend, the tomb of the Godfathers is also located there.
In Russia, Joachim and Anna began to be read almost immediately after the adoption of the Orthodox faith. To this day, the names of the righteous are remembered during divine services. And the day of saints falls on September 9 (22), coinciding with the birth of Mary.
Nowadays, you can bow to the relics of the righteous in Athos and Greek monasteries. In Russia, a particle of the relics of the holy wife is in the Valaam Monastery.
The icon of the righteous Godfathers is located in the Moscow church of John the Warrior on Yakimanka. You can also order a copy of yourself. Small images sell between 500-700 rubles. Bigger icons already cost from 1,500 rubles. It is best to acquire an image of saints in temples. This is especially true for spouses dreaming of children.