The Catalog of Good Deeds

Anna was to be the mother of the Virgin Mother of God, and hence nature did not dare to anticipate the flowering of grace. Thus nature remained sterile, until grace produced its fruit. For she who was to be born had to be a first born daughter, since she would be the mother of the first-born of all creation, in whom all things are held together.

Joachim and Anna, how blessed a couple! All creation is indebted to you. For at your hands the Creator was offered a gift excelling all other gifts: a chaste mother, who alone was worthy of him.

And so rejoice, Anna, that you were sterile and have not borne children; break forth into shouts, you who have not given birth. Rejoice, Joachim, because from your daughter a child is born for us, a son is given us, whose name is Messenger of great counsel and universal salvation, mighty God. For this child is God.

Joachim and Anna, how blessed and spotless a couple! You will be known by the fruit you have born, as the Lord says: By their fruits you will know them. The conduct of your life pleased God and was worthy of your daughter. For by the chaste and holy life you led together, you have fashioned a jewel of virginity: she who remained a virgin before, during and after giving birth. She alone for all time would maintain her virginity in mind and soul as well as in body.

Joachim and Anna, how chaste a couple! While safeguarding the chastity prescribed by the law of nature, you achieved with God’s help something which transcends nature in giving the world the Virgin Mother of God as your daughter. While leading a devout and holy life in your human nature, you gave birth to a daughter nobler than the angels, whose queen she now is. Girl of utter beauty and delight, daughter of Adam and mother of God, blessed the loins and blessed the womb from which you come! Blessed the arms that carried you, and blessed your parents’ lips, which you were allowed to cover with chaste kisses, ever maintaining your virginity. Rejoice in God, all the earth. Sing, exult and sing hymns. Raise your voice, raise it and do not be afraid.

Source: johnsanidopoulos.com/2010/09/st-john-damascene-on-chaste-couple.html

Kontakion 1

To the holy and righteous Joachim and Anna, forbears of Christ and elect among the human race, who gave birth to the holy Maiden of whom the Son of God was born in the flesh. Since you have great boldness before Christ our God and stand before His heavenly Throne, earnestly entreat Him that we may be delivered from all misfortune and thus may unceasingly cry aloud to you:

Rejoice, holy and righteous Joachim and Anna, Ancestors of God.

Ikos 1

An angelic messenger was sent to you by God, O holy and righteous Ancestors of God, when you both expressed your sorrow — you Joachim in the wilderness, and you Anna in the garden — offering up supplication to God. Thus, the incorporeal one brought the joyful tidings that you would give birth to an all-blessed daughter in whom the whole human race would be blessed, and with the angel we also offer you joyful praise:

Rejoice, branches of the vine of life who blossomed forth holiness from the root of David.

Rejoice, for you gave birth to a daughter more blessed than all generations of men.

Rejoice, most honored forbears of the Incarnate Son of God.

Rejoice, most excellent disclosers of the mystery hidden from before time began.

Rejoice, closest relatives in the flesh to the Consolation of Israel.

Rejoice, blood relatives of the Redeemer Who was promised to the world.

Rejoice, holy and righteous Joachim and Anna, Ancestors of God.

Kontakion 2

Seeing himself belittled by the high priest in the Temple of Jerusalem because of his lack of children, the holy Joachim was sorely distressed. In bitterness of soul he withdrew to his flocks in the wilderness. There he offered fervent supplication with tears, that the Lord would grant him to be called “father” by a child of his own. He therefore added fasting to prayer, and in the contrition of his heart cried aloud to God Almighty: Alleluia.

Ikos 2

Knowing the extent of her husband’s grief, the holy Anna wept bitterly in her house and prayed that the Lord would remove from her the reproach of barrenness. Rightfully remembering the patience of the righteous ones, we humbly cry out thus:

Rejoice, divinely chosen pair who gave birth to the one who would become the Mother of One of the Trinity.

Rejoice, for you brought forth an immaculate Mother for your Creator.

Rejoice, blessed pair who raised a daughter who is most blessed among women.

Rejoice, for God heard your petitions amid your barrenness.

Rejoice, for your tearful entreaties passed up to Heaven and reached the ear of the God of Israel.

Rejoice, for your temporal reproach has been transformed into eternal glory in Heaven and on earth.

Rejoice, holy and righteous Joachim and Anna, Ancestors of God.

Kontakion 3

Filled with the power of God, the angel of the Lord appeared to the holy Joachim in the wilderness and spoke to him. “God has heard your prayer and has been pleased to grant you His grace. Behold, Anna your wife will conceive and bear you a daughter who will be the joy of the whole world.” Having said these things, the incorporeal one commanded Joachim to return to the Temple of Jerusalem. There he would find his spouse praying, that with her he might also chant the hymn of praise to the God of Israel: Alleluia.

Ikos 3

Having great sorrow in your heart, O holy Anna, you entered the garden of your home where your eye saw little chicks lying in a bird’s nest in a tree. You immediately added supplications to your prayers, that the Lord might permit you to become the mother of a child. And, lo, the angel of the Lord appeared and spoke to you. “Your prayer has been heard, your sighs have passed beyond the clouds and your tears have come before God. Behold, you will conceive and bear an all-blessed daughter in whom all the peoples of the earth will be blessed, and through whom salvation will be given to all the world. Her name will be Mary.” Mindful of these most angelic tidings, let us chant these things to the Ancestors of God:

Rejoice, for you were chosen for ineffable glory.

Rejoice, for you walked blamelessly in all the Commandments of the Lord.

Rejoice, for you received eternal consolation amid your fleeting sorrow.

Rejoice, for you were exalted beyond expectation by the Right Hand of God.

Rejoice, for you showed humility in your tribulation, and the Lord God remembered you.

Rejoice, for you were chosen to become the forbearers of the Son of God.

Rejoice, holy and righteous Joachim and Anna, Ancestors of God.

Kontakion 4

Beset by a storm of doubt and perplexed by the angel’s tidings to him, the righteous Joachim immediately set out for the city of Jerusalem. There he found before the gates of the Temple the holy Anna, greatly glorifying the Lord. She declared to Joachim the joy of the angelic appearance and the prediction of childbirth. After Joachim had told his spouse of his own vision, he then cried with her to the Lord: Alleluia.

Ikos 4

When Anna’s relatives and friends heard of her all-glorious conceiving, they glorified the God of Israel. The divinely wise Anna promised the fruit of her womb to the service of God, and offered up fervent thanks to the Lord. In the same manner, earnestly singing the most glorious conception of the holy Maiden Mary, we say to her blessed parents:

Rejoice, joyous heralds announcing the Redeemer Who is come into the world.

Rejoice, grandparents of God Who in His mercy assumed our form.

Rejoice, through your blessed daughter, you provided flesh for the Word of God.

Rejoice, for you called the Incarnate God your grandson.

Rejoice, worthy servants of the great mystery of piety.

Rejoice, most excellent means of God’s condescension to men.

Rejoice, holy and righteous Joachim and Anna, Ancestors of God.

Kontakion 5

You were chosen to give birth in the flesh to the all-holy Birthgiver of God, the divinely radiant star who showed forth Christ God, the Sun of Righteousness. O most blessed Joachim and Anna, you have thereby received the enviable title of Ancestors of God. Upon her holy birth, Heaven and earth rejoiced and the entire human race was sanctified, crying to the God of Israel Who is wondrous in His saints: Alleluia.

Ikos 5

As parents, O righteous Joachim and Anna, you gazed tenderly at the Mother of the Creator, the holy Maiden Mary who was born of you, and you reverently ministered to her as the ark of God. We therefore beseech you not to turn away from us who fall down before you in prayer, but also attend to us who say:

Rejoice, for you were filled with radiant jubilation at the birth of the holy Maiden Mary.

Rejoice, for you were filled with delight at the sight of your most blessed daughter.

Rejoice, for you were moved to compunction at the sound of her voice.

Rejoice, for after these things, you were blessed by the high priest of God.

Rejoice, for you nurtured the unblemished ewe-lamb in your pious home.

Rejoice, for you received the Mother of the Lamb and Shepherd as your daughter.

Rejoice, holy and righteous Joachim and Anna, Ancestors of God.

Kontakion 6

You were shown to be proclaimers of the wonders of God, O Saints, when you fulfilled your vow to God and with glory brought the three-year old holy Maiden Mary to the Temple of God, so that she might abide in the Holy of Holies. Because of these things, you hastened with joy to chant to the God of your fathers this glorification: Alleluia.

Ikos 6

The divine Maiden shone forth like the full moon at her honored entry into the Temple of the Lord, and the angels marveled at her beauty. Taking her from your hands, O holy Joachim and Anna, the high priest Zachariah led her into the Holy of Holies with honor, for she was truly the living ark of God, and he blessed you as is proper with such praises as these:

Rejoice, for you have given birth to the universal joy of the human race.

Rejoice, for you have nurtured the cause of the restoration of mankind.

Rejoice, for you brought the living ark of God to the Temple of the Lord.

Rejoice, for you gave your holy daughter to dwell in the Holy of Holies.

Rejoice, for you are revealed as the relatives of God Who will become incarnate.

Rejoice, for you conversed with the angels.

Rejoice, holy and righteous Joachim and Anna, Ancestors of God.

Kontakion 7

Having fulfilled the desire of your soul and given your promise to God, O all-blessed Joachim, you departed this earthly life in holiness and righteousness, passing on to the Lord. We therefore ask you to petition Him that we also may be counted worthy to receive a peaceful and unashamed end, crying to Him: Alleluia.

Ikos 7

You led a new and God-pleasing life in your widowhood, O holy Anna, abiding in the Temple of God and ministering to your all-blessed daughter. For this reason, we praise you as a true and God-pleasing widow and the grandmother of Christ. With love we fervently honor you and your husband, Joachim the grandfather of God, and offer you such hymns as these:

Rejoice, just ones whose righteousness shines like the sun forever.

Rejoice, friends of the angels, who truly dwell with the saints in the presence of God.

Rejoice, for you stand near the Throne of Heaven.

Rejoice, for you have great boldness before Christ God.

Rejoice, adornment of the Church Triumphant in Heaven.

Rejoice, good support of the Church militant on earth.

Rejoice, holy and righteous Joachim and Anna, Ancestors of God.

Kontakion 8

Holy and righteous Anna, having reached the end of your earthly journey in the arms of your holy daughter, the Birthgiver of God Mary, you slept the sleep of death and were transported to God with hope. Glorifying your holy dormition, we entreat you, O most honored grandmother of God: When we also begin to fall into the sleep of death, beseech Christ the Savior that our soul may part gently from our body and escape the power of the demons, that we may be granted eternal salvation and may cry to Him in the joy of the saints: Alleluia.

Ikos 8

The whole Christian world blesses you as is proper, O holy and righteous Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna, and in prayer glorifies your honored names. The Church of Christ celebrates your memory with splendor and offers hymns of praise to you.

Rejoice, beacons who graciously illumine the darkness of our soul.

Rejoice, for you mercifully look down upon mortals from the heavenly heights of your glory.

Rejoice, for you ever pray with Mary the Birthgiver of God.

Rejoice, for you thereby move Christ God to great mercy.

Rejoice, for you save from all misfortune those who cherish the Faith and who love one another because of you.

Rejoice, for you deliver those who call on your help in prayer from a violent and sudden death.

Rejoice, holy and righteous Joachim and Anna, Ancestors of God.

Kontakion 9

All the angels of God and the choirs of the saints of God in Heaven greet you, O holy and righteous Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna, and on earth the generations of men praise you with prayerful hymns and cry to God in thanksgiving for your intercession: Alleluia.

Ikos 9

Our eloquence does not suffice to praise you fittingly, O holy forbears of Christ. Yet, knowing that you are merciful, we trust that you will not reject our inadequate praises. Rather, be fervent intercessors and advocates for us before the Lord, fulfilling the deficiency of our soul with your holy supplication, that we may cry to you this hymn of thanksgiving:

Rejoice, mediators who win for us the joy and eternal glory we desire.

Rejoice, fervent advocates before the Lord who acquire temporal and eternal blessings for us.

Rejoice, by your intercession, you preserve the faithful from deadly pestilence.

Rejoice, by your supplication, you dispel deadly plagues.

Rejoice, by your mediation, you cause earthquakes and violent storms to cease and you restore calm.

Rejoice, for amid all tribulation and misfortune, you hasten to our aid.

Rejoice, holy and righteous Joachim and Anna, Ancestors of God.

Kontakion 10

Holy and righteous Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna, you have shown yourselves to be beneficial helpers of those who desire salvation of soul and diligently strive for this. O holy forebears, you are the guardians of monks and nuns, and you likewise offer supplication to God for all the faithful. For this cause, in thanksgiving to Christ the King of Glory, Who has glorified you throughout the world, all people may cry out: Alleluia.

Ikos 10

With the bulwark of your prayers, O holy and righteous Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna, preserve and protect us from the temptations of the diabolical one that seeks the destruction of our soul. We know that your petition before the face of Christ our God, your Grandson according to the flesh, is able to accomplish much. Never cease to make supplication to Him in behalf of all who lovingly honor you and cry aloud:

Rejoice, fruitful olive trees pouring forth the oil of the mercy of God upon us in abundance.

Rejoice, cypress trees of excellent foliage who turn the burning heat of our passions into the stillness of dispassion.

Rejoice, purple and fine linen of which the tabernacle of God’s dwelling place was wrought.

Rejoice, turtle doves mated for life, who brought forth the immaculate dove.

Rejoice, for you reign eternally with your daughter, the Queen of all.

Rejoice, for you celebrate with her in splendor in her heavenly mansion in Zion on high.

Rejoice, holy and righteous Joachim and Anna, Ancestors of God.

Kontakion 11

Mercifully accept our hymns of praise and do not deprive us of your compassion, O holy Joachim and Anna, Ancestors of God. We are unworthy of your holy intercession because of our sins. Knowing that you are good and full of pity, however, we implore you to grant us mediation and to help us cleanse ourselves from defilement of sin through repentance. Thus, in purity of heart we may chant to our Creator the hymn of praise: Alleluia.

Ikos 11

Brethren, let us recognize the holy Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna, as two radiant candles which lit the universal lamp. Mercifully illumined with the brightness of their heavenly glory, let us endeavor to become worthy by singing to them such words as these:

Rejoice, for you were counted worthy to raise her who is beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim.

Rejoice, for you were resplendent with heavenly brightness.

Rejoice, for you were filled with the sweet fragrance of the Spirit.

Rejoice, for you bear to God the incense of your prayers for the whole Christian world.

Rejoice, for you ever stand before the Throne of Christ with Mary the God-bearer and John the Baptist.

Rejoice, for we fall before you and honor the power of God in you.

Rejoice, holy and righteous Joachim and Anna, Ancestors of God.

Kontakion 12

Holy Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna, ask the Lord to grant us divine grace and mercy, forgiveness of sins and correction of life. Never cease to entreat the countenance of Almighty God in our behalf, for you have acquired great boldness before Him. Falling down before you with fervor for this purpose, we beseech you as our true intercessors and helpers, and with real compunction we cry to the Creator of all: Alleluia.

Ikos 12

Singing of the great might of your intercession before God, O righteous Joachim and Anna, we sing also the praises of His all-immaculate Mother who was born of you. In our zeal we offer you these right-fitting praises:

Rejoice, for you are glorified from the East even to the West.

Rejoice, our protectors whose vigilance in intercession is never-waning.

Rejoice, for you grant your gracious help to every Christian soul.

Rejoice, most excellent healers who attend to those in pain and sorrow.

Rejoice, for you fulfill the entreaties and petitions of the pious.

Rejoice, most diligent and pleasing mediators who obtain for us temporal and eternal good things.

Rejoice, holy and righteous Joachim and Anna, Ancestors of God.

Kontakion 13

Holy and righteous Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna, we entreat you with zeal and love, falling down before the footstool of your feet. We ask that you beseech the Lord God to deliver us from the everlasting damnation prepared for sinners. Saved therefore by the loving-kindness of our God and aided by your holy prayers, we may sing in thanksgiving to Him the angelic hymn: Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. (Repeat Kontakion 13 three times.)

Kontakion 1 (repeated)

Rejoice, O holy and righteous Joachim and Anna, Ancestors of God.

Ikos 1 (repeated)

Rejoice, branches of the vine of life who blossomed forth holiness from the root of David.

Rejoice, for you gave birth to a daughter more blessed than all generations of men.

Rejoice, most honored forbears of the Incarnate Son of God.

Rejoice, most excellent disclosers of the mystery hidden from before time began.

Rejoice, closest relatives in the flesh to the Consolation of Israel.

Rejoice, blood relatives of the Redeemer Who was promised to the world.

Rejoice, holy and righteous Joachim and Anna, Ancestors of God.

A Prayer

Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna, your distress and reproach were overcome by the Almighty God, and thereby the Savior of the world came into the world through your holy daughter, Mary. Your prayers were abundantly answered by our merciful God Who rewards patience, humility and compunction. We praise you for your faith and for your commitment to prayer, and we implore your compassion upon our lack of fruitfulness in the Christian virtues. Holy and righteous Joachim and Anna, teach us to be living temples of the grace of God, so that we also may devote ourselves to holiness and bring forth treasures which are pleasing to Him. Growing older with each passing day, we ask your guidance that we might reach a peaceful end on this earth and thereby be united with you forever in the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen.

The Myrrh-Streaming Icon of St. Anna began to spontaneously “weep” myrrh on May 9, 2004 – Mother’s Day – in the Russian Orthodox Church of Our Lady of Joy of All Who Sorrow in Philadelphia. Parishioners noticed that the icon appeared to be perspiring, and upon closer inspection, Fr. Athanasy, who was the rector there at the time, realized that the icon was producing an oily liquid that looked like tear drops, as if the Saint were crying.

The icon is a miracle-working icon. Many women who have had difficulty conceiving a child, or who were told they were infertile, have conceived after praying in the icon’s presence.

***

On July 20, 2007, Khouria Frederica Mathewes-Greene interviewed Archimandrite Athanasy (Mastalski) about the wonder-working icon of St. Anna which was commissioned in Jerusalem and of which he is the owner and guardian. The icon began to stream myrrh several years before the interview and Fr. Athanasy has since then traveled extensively with the icon and St. Anna has worked many miracles. Father had brought the icon to Holy Apostles parish in Beltsville, MD where he was interviewed by Khouria Frederica.

This interview originally appeared in audio format at Khouria Frederica’s Ancient Faith Ministries podcast “Frederica Here and Now” and is posted here in text format by permission.

—I’m talking with Fr. Athanasy who was blessed to have this icon begin to weep in his church. Tell me the story of when this happened and when it was first noticed?

—The icon started to exude myrrh three years ago on American Mother’s Day. It just happened to be that day and I remember it for that reason. A son of Fr. Victor Potapov was visiting our church and he asked if I noticed that the icon was wet around the cuffs, which I hadn’t noticed, and so we went to inspect the icon after church, and indeed it appeared to be wet around the cuffs and around the gold that was all around the icon. So I immediately said to our parishioners “Don’t touch, and we’ll take pictures.” My people were very obedient that time, so three days later when we lifted the icon up off the analoy to take the picture the back of the icon was inundated with myrrh going up the back of it.

—So from the whole surface it was just exuding and coming out? It wasn’t weeping at that point?

—At that point it wasn’t. Whatever it was doing, which we didn’t know and obviously more than just the cuffs, which we didn’t know either, the myrrh traveled. The icon was slanted and it traveled up the back of the icon in the frame. So when we lifted it up we were overwhelmed by that beautiful aroma.

—That fragrance was there right at the start?

—Yes. So we took pictures and sent a report to the local bishop, to the metropolitan, and to the deans, and we waited from May until October for the metropolitan to visit. Metropolitan Laurus visited and venerated the icon and inspected it, and by that time people had already been asking for us to travel. Metropolitan Herman had asked us to visit. And so I asked permission and our metropolitan gave his permission for her to visit wherever, which was a wonderful, wonderful thing.

—So although you were the pastor of a ROCOR church you were able to visit other jurisdictions? [Ed. note: The icon began to exude myrrh a few years before the reunion between ROCOR and the Moscow Patriarchate].

—Yes, we visited other jurisdictions. She was indeed our ambassador of good will. We know that St. Anna is the grandmother of Christ, and she traveled to be everyone’s grandmother.

—She would be the best I think.

—She is the best. The story is that when I was seven years old I fell out the window on the second story of a building, and I had a compound fracture in my arm and the doctors had trouble getting a pulse. I had a very gifted Japanese doctor who told my mother that after they got the pulse he would fix it. He put it in traction and held the bones together with pins, but then took it all out. I was in traction from July until October, if you can believe it. Today you can go for a heart operation and get out immediately. The arm was knitted together and I have a small vaccination mark from where the pin came out, so there’s nothing fake in my arm. I grew up Catholic and my mother’s name is Anna, in fact, and someone gave her oil from St. Anna in a local parish. She made the cross on my arm and by that time the doctors found a pulse, and it had been an hour or so. And indeed I have this arm.

—You have the full use of that arm, so that was miraculous.

—Yes it was. Doctors said I would possibly have arthritis later in life and I do. I have it everywhere but in this arm. And so not wanting to be like one of the ten lepers I remember St. Anna every year. I would go to some church to pray to her and thank her.

—When is her feast, by the way?

—In the Catholic Church it’s July 26. In the Orthodox Church on the new calendar she falls on July 25, and we are thirteen days later. I always went to a Catholic church and prayed and lit candles. Wherever I was stationed I would find St. Anna’s church. And I thought, “You are the priest—you could have an icon made, and you could get blessed oil.” I was stationed in Jerusalem and I served there for years, so I asked the sisters at the Mount of Olives to do an icon. Someone asked me how old is the icon and I said that the icon is very young, but St. Anna is very old. The icon is probably about twelve years old now, that’s all.

The icon was sent to my parish and I told my story and many women were cured by blessed oil. The first year we blessed thirty bottles, last year we blessed one thousand, and this year we're going to bless 1,500. I call it “St. Anna’s Gold.” These beginning miracles were particularly with women problems and people donated silver hearts to thank her for that. After the metropolitan blessed it to travel then we went full-steam. Then the tears came—sometimes more, sometimes less, and finally a stream. I remember one time at the end of choir practice they said “Father, the icon was dry, and by the end of practice it’s full.” So we take her around and everywhere I go there are miracles of St. Anna.

— Can you tell me one of the stories?

—A little boy from Russia was suffering terribly from cancer and we prayed for him. I can’t guarantee anything, I don’t know anything. You pray and your heart goes out to people. He was cured. He came to me about three months ago and he threw his arms around me and he said, “Father, I don’t have cancer anymore,” and I said, “Yes, I know.”

We had a woman who was pregnant and the doctor’s said the baby was dead and they would have to remove her baby. That was on a Friday and she was supposed to go to the hospital on Monday. Archbishop Anthony of the Ukrainian Church counseled the subdeacon and his wife to anoint themselves with the oil, which they did. They were frantic. Then they went to the doctor on Monday and the doctor asked, “Did you come here for an abortion?” And she looked and said, “What do you mean an abortion?” And he said, “You have a perfectly healthy baby.” And the icon went to that baby’s baptism.

There was a matushka and priest that couldn’t have children and they adopted two. After St. Anna’s visit they had their own. I went to Bayonne three weeks ago and some people introduced themselves and said, “Father, we lost two babies. Last year we were here and prayed, and after nine months this is our Anna.” There was another man from Georgia who my heart was going out to. They couldn’t have children and every time I went the wife came and prayed. And I thought, “My God, what can I do?” I was there the day before my birthday and the priest came to me and said, “Father, Mirov and his wife cannot be here today—his wife just gave birth to a baby boy!” I said, “On my birthday!”

You know, it’s all in God’s time and we have to learn that. In the psalm in the prayer before eating it says, The eyes of all in hope look to You and You open Your hand in due season and satisfy the desire of every living thing (Ps. 145:15-16). And these things are in God’s season, not ours. No matter how much we may entreat and wonder why it doesn’t happen, God is always on time.

—That’s true; in His time.

—People ask me, “Father, does the weeping mean something bad?” I say, “No. God doesn’t need to give us perks from heaven. Read the newspaper, watch the TV, look in your own family life, look in your own soul. You don’t need this type of thing to let you know there’s trouble.”

I see that where she goes she brings peace and love. She is the grandmother of Christ. Russians say “Babushka,” and what Mom and Dad won't give you Baba will give you. Remember the holidays—“Baba made this," ”Baba made that.” I went to a monastery of wonderful nuns up in the Poconos and I asked the abbess, “Do Greeks get the same feeling when you say ‘Yia Yia?’” and the nuns just grinned from ear to ear, and the abbess said, “Father, we never thought of that.” And people don’t.

This is the grandmother of Christ. This is our grandmother. And, in due time. She did her thing. In California the first Greek Orthodox Church has been dedicated in honor of St. Anna, with a relic of part of her foot brought form Mt. Athos, and other people have told me in Athens there’s a parish of St. Anna that’s just been dedicated.

—My neighbor is protestant and I was trying to talk to her about this concept of the saints interceding for us, and she said “I’m going to just keep going straight to Jesus.” Do you have an answer for that? It’s as if we’re being accused of thinking that the Lord is not enough, or you have to twist His arm. But it’s not like that.

—It says in Scripture that the Lord is wonderful in His saints (Ps. 67:35), doesn’t it? And that’s what He says. The saints are God’s holy people. We are called to be saints; we’re not called to be angels. People misunderstand that today. When they lose a child they say, “He’s gone to be an angel.” No. They’re not angels. The angle’s theme song is “I Ain't Got No Body.” We’ve become part of God’ holy people. There are people that we identify with because they’ve fought the good fight and have gone through the things that we’ve suffered, and we identify with the Church Triumphant. The saints went marching in, and they’re not nobodies. They're somebodies. And they’re part of the human race.

When we read the Gospel to the Mother of God we hear Christ say, Yea blessed are they rather who hear the word of God and keep it (Lk. 11:28). Who amongst all humanity has kept the word of God better than the mother of God? She is humanity’s “yes” to God. She is the new Eve. She is “Eva” spelled backward—“Ave”—that’s what she is. She is our “yes.” Wordsworth said it well. He said “Woman of tainted nature’s solitary boast. Woman above all women glorified.” And she leads us. God chose her. He could have just said, “Hey, here I am,” but He chose one of us and He used her, and she’s not to be put aside.

When you’re sick you don’t go to the general doctor. You go to someone who knows or went through it—the patron of teeth, the patron of this or that. And yes, we can always go to Jesus. And these saints heal us through Christ. We say, “Pray for me.” In English we say, “I pray thee.” We say to these people that we know who have gone before us, “I pray thee, speak a good word to Jesus for me.” And they do. And the more people you have on your cause the better you are. You’re afraid to go before men in this world unless you have someone at your back or putting in a good word for you. Why not have more people on our side who have fought the good fight and are trying to help us fight it too?

—I think the wrong impression is to picture it like a bureaucracy. It seems to me that when we seek to the Lord we’re never speaking to Him in isolation from all of creation. And all of the saints and everyone is standing around and we can be speaking and pleading Him and then say, “Mary, help me out here,” and get her to chime in too.

—It says in Scripture we’re surrounded by a choir of witnesses.

—Yes, the great cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 12.

—Where are they? Are they locked up somewhere being nobodies until the last day? No, they are not. Listen, we are rich, because everyone that has fought the good fight is part of us. We have a claim to their friendship if we want it, just as we can walk with angels. All of heaven is ours because we are baptized in the Church.

—It’s a very great gift.

—It is, isn’t it?

—Thank you so much, Father.

Source: http://orthochristian.com/82269.html