Part I: The Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos
On September 21, we celebrate the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos: the birth of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is the first of the Twelve Great Feasts after the Church New Year on September 14.
Only a few weeks have passed since the Dormition. Having commemorated the completion of the Mother of God’s earthly life, we now turn to its beginning. The Church invites us to look at her whole life in the light of Christ: her birth, her faithful service, and her entrance into the life of the age to come.
Why Does the Church Celebrate Her Birth?
Archbishop Nathaniel (Lvov), in a sermon published by the ROCOR Synod, compares the birth of the Mother of God to the dawn before sunrise. When we have been waiting through the darkness, the first light already brings joy. The sun has yet to appear, but its coming is near. Mary’s birth has this meaning for the Church. The Child born to Joachim and Anna will become the Mother of the Savior. Through her, the eternal Son of God will enter our world as man. The importance of this birth was hidden from most of the world. Yet the Church, knowing Who would be born of her, recognizes in this quiet beginning the approach of the world’s salvation.
Who Were Saints Joachim and Anna?
The account of the Mother of God’s birth comes to us through Holy Tradition. The Gospels tell us of her place in the life of Christ; they do not narrate her own birth. Her parents, the righteous Joachim and Anna, had reached old age without children. Their sorrow was deepened by the reproach of others. According to Holy Tradition, Joachim was turned away when he brought his offering to the Temple because he had no children. He withdrew to pray, while Anna also poured out her grief before God. An angel announced to each of them that their prayer had been heard and that they would have a child. In time, Anna gave birth to a daughter, Mary. Their joy extended beyond their household: their daughter would become the Mother of the Savior.
What Can Their Long Waiting Teach Us?
Joachim and Anna remained faithful through years when their circumstances gave them little encouragement. In a sermon delivered at ROCOR’s New Kursk Root Hermitage, Archpriest Serge Lukianov emphasizes their prayer and almsgiving. Their sorrow did not close their hearts to God or to the needs of others. Through their faithfulness, their love for God continued to grow.
Speaking on this feast in 2022, Bishop Theodosy, then Bishop of Seattle and now Bishop of Manhattan, observed: “Sometimes, we lack the patience to pray, or forget to pray for our sick relatives, for ourselves, for those who have passed away.” Their example gives us a way to pray through our own disappointments. We can bring a grief to God repeatedly, continue to show mercy, and remain within the life of the Church while an answer is still hidden from us. The feast should also deepen our compassion for those who long for children. Joachim and Anna were righteous even while others reproached them. We should be careful never to measure someone’s faith by the outward circumstances of their life, or assume that every faithful person will receive the same earthly answer.
Why Do We Call Mary “Theotokos”?
The Greek title Theotokos means “Birth-giver of God,” commonly expressed in English as “Mother of God.” It tells us Who her Son is.
As Bishop Alexander (Mileant) explains, the One born of her is truly God. The eternal Son took flesh from her and became truly man. Calling Mary the Mother of God confesses the reality of the Incarnation: Jesus Christ is one and the same Lord, divine and human.
Mary herself belongs to our human family. We honor her as the woman who freely received God’s calling and gave her life to His service. At the Annunciation, her willing response to the Archangel Gabriel would become a decisive moment in the history of our salvation. Bishop Alexander draws attention to this freedom: God sought her consent. Her obedience was personal and loving. The feast of her birth invites us to consider how we, too, might become more ready to receive and follow the will of God.
Why Do the Hymns Speak of Joy for the Whole World?
The troparion, the short hymn that expresses the feast’s meaning, declares that the birth of the Theotokos has brought “joy to all the world.” It immediately directs our attention to Christ, born of her, Who overcomes the curse and death and grants eternal life.
The kontakion, another principal hymn, joins two deliverances: Joachim and Anna’s release from the sorrow of childlessness, and Adam and Eve’s release from the corruption of death through the Savior. The Church therefore sings about much more than one family’s happiness. In the birth of Mary, it celebrates the preparation for Christ’s coming and all that He will accomplish for us. This is why the feast has such a deep and lasting joy. Its promise reaches beyond a happy moment in earthly life to the healing of our separation from God.
Understanding the Icon
The icon presents the birth within a human household. Saint Anna rests after childbirth. Attendants care for her and for the newborn Mary; many icons include the washing of the infant. Saint Joachim is also present. These details can be seen in the festal icon shared by ROCOR’s Saint Sophia parish.There is tenderness in this scene: a mother recovering, a child being held and cared for, people attending to one another’s needs.
Looking at the icon, we can remember that the woman who would hold Christ was herself once held. The Mother of God entered the world as a dependent infant, receiving the care of others. The ordinary work of caring for a child belongs within this holy story. Feeding, washing, comforting, and watching over someone can become acts of love offered to God.
What Do We Hear in the Services?
The feast’s Scripture readings deepen our understanding of its meaning. At Matins, we hear of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth and her praise of God in the Magnificat: Luke 1:39–49, 56.
At the Divine Liturgy, the festal Epistle, Philippians 2:5–11, speaks of Christ’s humility, His taking the form of a servant, and His obedience even to death on the Cross.
The festal Gospel, Luke 10:38–42 and 11:27–28, first brings us into the home of Martha and Mary of Bethany, where Mary listens at the Lord’s feet. It then records Christ’s blessing upon those who hear God’s word and keep it. Together, these readings show us how to honor the Theotokos. We contemplate the humility of her Son and learn to listen to His word. Her own faithful obedience gives us an example of the life to which the Gospel calls every Christian.
Making Room for the Feast
The Church celebrates with the festal Vigil and Divine Liturgy.[1] In his sermon for the feast in 2020, Metropolitan Nikolai, then Bishop of Manhattan, expressed this beautifully: “On such days, the greatest thanksgiving we can give to God is the celebration of the Divine Liturgy.”
We can begin preparing by setting aside time for the services and reading the feast’s Gospel beforehand. Listening to the hymns with their meaning already in mind can help us pray them more attentively. At home, we might place the icon where the family gathers for prayer and explain the story to children in simple language. It is also a fitting occasion to pray for parents and grandparents, for children, and for those carrying the sorrow of childlessness. We can offer a practical kindness in their honor: help an exhausted parent, visit someone who is lonely, remember a grieving family, or give quietly to someone in need. Such acts bring the feast into the relationships entrusted to us.
Carrying Its Joy into Daily Life
A reflection from Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville draws attention to the Mother of God’s silence and her dedication to her Son. In a world filled with distraction and constant conversation, her example invites us to give more room to prayer and attentive remembrance of God.
On September 21, 2023, Metropolitan Nikolai asked the faithful: “Where are we in our spiritual lives? We can consider this today and be spiritually reborn.” After celebrating her birth, we can carry that invitation into the ordinary rhythm of our days. A few minutes of undistracted prayer, patience with someone who needs us, or the decision to keep a harsh word unspoken can be a real beginning. We may not see immediately what will grow from such faithfulness. Joachim and Anna’s story teaches us to keep praying; the Mother of God’s life teaches us to keep listening and responding. On September 21, we give thanks for her birth and ask her prayers, that we may welcome Christ more fully into our own lives.
Part II: Also Commemorated Sept 21 — The Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God
September 21, is also a day of commemoration of the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God “of the Sign.” Its connection to the Nativity of the Theotokos begins with the account of its discovery on this feast in 1295. For the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, this commemoration has a particular closeness. The icon is revered as the Protectress of the Russian Diaspora and has accompanied generations of Orthodox faithful far from their homeland.
Why Is It Called the Kursk Root Icon?
According to the history preserved by the Church and published by the ROCOR Synod, a hunter found a small icon lying face down at the root of a tree near Kursk. When he lifted it, a spring of water appeared where it had rested. The hunters built a small chapel for the icon, and people began coming to venerate it.Its name remembers that discovery: “Kursk” identifies the region, and “Root” recalls the tree at whose roots it was found.
The Protectress of the Russian Diaspora
The icon departed Russia with the final evacuation from Crimea in 1920 and accompanied the Church through exile. It arrived in America in 1951. New Kursk Root Hermitage in Mahopac, New York, became its first home in America, and its journeys soon brought it to parishes and the homes of the faithful. These visits became a source of consolation for people rebuilding their lives far from the places they had known.
Its history helps explain the affection with which ROCOR faithful receive it. Families separated by distance and communities scattered across countries have gathered before the same holy icon to pray.
Metropolitan Hilarion on the Mother of God’s Intercession
In a message read at the feast’s celebrations in 2016, Metropolitan Hilarion called the Mother of God “our Protectress and Guide.” He connected the joy of the feast with the discovery of the Kursk Root Icon and the Mother of God’s continuing intercession for the faithful. His words give this commemoration a personal meaning. We remember the people who prayed before the icon through upheaval, displacement, illness, and uncertainty, and we bring our own needs before the Mother of God with the same hope.
Keeping the Commemoration
On this day, we can give thanks for the help of the Mother of God and ask her prayers for our families, our parish, the sick, and those who have been separated from their homes or loved ones. The two commemorations belong together in the Church’s prayer. We rejoice in the birth of the Mother of our Savior, and we remember the consolation her intercession has brought to the faithful through the Kursk Root Icon.
Sources
- Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, “The Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos”. Calendar placement, worship, and the Mother of God’s prayerful silence.
- Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, “Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos”. The relationship between the Nativity and Dormition in the Church year.
- Archbishop Nathaniel (Lvov), Sermon on the Nativity of the Most-Holy Mother of God, The Official Website of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. The image of dawn preceding Christ’s coming.
- Eastern American Diocese, “Mahopac, NY: Parish Festivities in New Kursk Root Hermitage”. Bishop Theodosy’s account of Saints Joachim and Anna and his quoted words on prayer, September 21, 2022. The English source uses the spelling “Theodosius.”
- Eastern American Diocese, “The First Hierarch of ROCOR led the Celebration of the Nativity of the Mother of God in the New Kursk Root Hermitage”. Archpriest Serge Lukianov’s sermon on prayer, almsgiving, and faithfulness.
- Bishop Alexander (Mileant), material reproduced by ROCOR’s Saint Sophia Orthodox Church in “Nativity of the Theotokos”. The title Theotokos, the Incarnation, and Mary’s willing consent.
- Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church, “Troparia and Kontakia for the Great Feasts”, Nativity of the Theotokos. Hymn meanings; only a brief phrase is quoted.
- Saint Sophia Orthodox Church, Photograph of the Nativity icon. Visual reference for the icon description.
- Saint Jonah Orthodox Church, “Rubrics: The Nativity of the Theotokos”. The feast’s fixed Scripture readings; the page’s additional Sunday readings are not used here.
- “Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God, Protectress of the Russian Diaspora”, The Official Website of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.
- Eastern American Diocese, “Mahopac, NY: Patronal Feast Day Celebrations held at New Kursk Root Hermitage”. Metropolitan Nikolai’s words on spiritual renewal, September 21, 2023. The English source uses the name “Nicholas.”
- Eastern American Diocese, “New York City: On Feast of Nativity of Most Holy Theotokos, Bishop Nicholas celebrates Liturgy in Synodal Cathedral”. Metropolitan Nikolai’s words on thanksgiving through Divine Liturgy, September 21, 2020, when he was Bishop of Manhattan; the same-day commemoration of the Kursk Root Icon.
- Eastern American Diocese, “Mahopac, NY: Nativity of the Theotokos Celebrations held at New Kursk Root Hermitage”. Metropolitan Hilarion’s message read at the celebrations on September 25, 2016.
- Eastern American Diocese, “Bishop Theodosius”. His current title as Bishop of Manhattan and former title as Bishop of Seattle.
- Eastern American Diocese, “The Wanderer Icon” — An Interview with Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan. The icon’s name, arrival in America, journeys, and consolation for the diaspora.
