Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary (08/01)

The day after the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, January 8, new style, the Orthodox world celebrates the important holiday – Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

On this day, the Orthodox Church addresses the Mother of God, who has become the chosen instrument of Providence, who gave birth to the Savior, with songs of praise and gratitude. Precisely because the Blessed Virgin is the One from whom our Savior Jesus Christ was born, incarnated, and this holiday of honoring her was established immediately after His Nativity.

This day is called a cathedral because, unlike individual holidays in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary (for example, Her Conception, Nativity, Annunciation, etc.), on this day a general (cathedral) celebration of other persons close to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Lord Jesus is celebrated Christ.

Thus, together with the Mother of God, in the celebration of the Council, the memory of those who were close in flesh to the Savior is also celebrated: St. Joseph the Betrothed, King David (ancestor in the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ) and St. James (brother of the Lord, son from the first marriage of St. Joseph the Betrothed), who accompanied the Mother of God and the Infant God Jesus with his father when fleeing to Egypt.

Joseph the Betrothed, being an 80-year-old old man, with the blessing of the high priest, received the Virgin Mary to preserve her virginity and purity. And although he was betrothed to the Most Pure One, his entire ministry was to protect the Mother of God. The Prophet David was the ancestor of the Lord and Savior in the flesh, because, as it should have been, the Savior, the Messiah, came into the world from the family of David. And the Apostle James is called the brother of God because he was the eldest son of the Betrothed Joseph – from his first marriage. Jacob was a very pious man and, on the Resurrection of Christ, was elected primate of the Jerusalem Church.

The Feast of the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary is of ancient origin, its establishment dates back to the early times of the Christian Church. Already in the 4th century, Epiphanius of Cyprus, as well as Saint Ambrose of Milan and Blessed Augustine, in their teachings on the feast of the Nativity of Christ, combined the praise of the born God-man with the praise of the Virgin who gave birth to Him. An official indication of the celebration of the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary the day after the Nativity of Christ can be found in Rule 79 of the VI Ecumenical Council, held in 680-681.

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