Dear Friends,

Feast of the Conception of the Holy Mother of God from Anna

On the ninth of December the Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates the feast of the conception of the Virgin Mary by her parents Joachim and Anna. On this major festival which finds its place in the Church’s preparation for Christmas, the faithful rejoice in the event by which Mary is conceived in fulfillment of her parents’ prayers and nurtured in holiness to become by God’s grace the mother of His Son the Messiah.

While the Roman Church celebrates this event as the “Immaculate Conception,” the Eastern Churches refer to it merely as the “Conception.” Roman Catholic theology claims that Mary “from the moment of her conception…was by grace and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ…immune from all stain of original sin.”

On the other hand, the Eastern Churches teach that “when Christ was conceived in her of the Holy Spirit, and not of human seed (at the Annunciation), she was cleansed of original sin and continued after His birth to live a sinless, stainless life.”

sources: Domar and Frequently Asked Questions about the Armenian Church by Very Rev. Fr, Krikor Maksoudian

Through the prayers of the Holy Mother of God, may the Lord accept our prayers and save us. Amen.

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With prayers.
Hayr Simeon
December 9, 2007