Dormition of
the Righteous Anna, the Mother of the Most Holy Theotokos
Troparion in Tone 4
Divinely-wise Anna, you carried in your womb the pure Mother
of God, who gave life to our Life.
Therefore, you are now carried joyfully to the inheritance of heaven,
to the abode of those who rejoice in glory,
where you seek forgiveness of sins for those who faithfully honor you,
ever blessed one.
Kontakion in Tone 2
We celebrate the memory of the progenitors of Christ,
and with faith we ask their help,
that deliverance from every affliction be granted to those who cry out:
"Be with us, O God, who in Your good pleasure glorified them."
Saint Anna was the daughter of the priest
Matthan and his wife Mary. She was of the tribe of Levi and the lineage
of Aaron. According to Tradition, she died peacefully in Jerusalem at
age 79, before the Annunciation to the Most Holy Theotokos.
During the reign of St Justinian the Emperor
(527-565), a church was built in her honor at Deutera. Emperor Justinian
II (685-695; 705-711) restored her church, since St Anna had appeared to
his pregnant wife. It was at this time that her body and maphorion
(veil) were transferred to Constantinople.
St Anna is also commemorated on September 9.