The Theme of the Feast of the Birth of the All-holy Lady and ever-virgin Mother of God (commemorated on September 8th) points us to understand something about holiness and family holiness in particular. 

    The unique role of the Theotokos must first be recognized as a miracle:  For we hear in today’s Megalynarion the words:  Verily, virginity, O Theotokos, is impossible for a mother, as birth-giving is impossible for virgins.  Yet in thee hath the dispensation of both been accomplished.  Wherefore all we families on earth ceaselessly bless thee.

    While the Holy Virgin was the mother of the Lord our God and her obedience to God’s will is celebrated in all of her feasts, today’s Feast however, and the icon of her birth in particular, includes the role that her parents: Joachim and Anna (commemorated on September 9th) played in her birth.  They were, we are told, barren, meaning that their mature marriage was without any conception for many years (over 50 to be exact).  In fact, we are told that their barrenness was considered a curse in their day.  They were ridiculed and their union regarded as having no blessing, according to Judaic belief.  There are many times that I have had to remind families that as Christians we do not function by Judaic beliefs.  Our Christian teaching and practice has surpassed Judaic beliefs.  Joachim and Anna were ridiculed in their time not only for not having children.  They were also ridiculed after the birth of their daughter, for not having a son.  Having a boy meant eternal life to many in their day.  It meant that the linage would continue through a male child. 

    More importantly, there are, many challenges that the life of the Holy Virgin presents to us who live in our present day.  While it would be easy to say that we now live in a day that is very different than it was in first century Palestine, and while it would be easy to dismiss much about the choices that shaped and governed the life of parents and women in particular during the early period, we still need to recognize that there are some things that have not changed.

    First of all, being a mother is something that directly involves the body of women; and while the role of men are very important as biological fathers, and men today have tended to play a more active role in parenting, there still are many fathers who are absent and uninvolved in raising their children.  There are also many more single parents that comprise our society.  Moreover, there are some families of our society today that are defined as having two parents of the same gender.  Generally speaking, families today are also much smaller, and it is not uncommon to find both parents working, if there are in fact two parents in the homes of children.

    Yes, it is frightening to consider the challenges that the life of the Holy Virgin, and her parents, Joachim and Anna present to us today.  We should also recognize that there are a number of assumptions in what we pray and believe as Orthodox Christians.  It would help to list some of them:

1.  Marriage is consummated with the procreation of children.  We hear it clearly in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony:  ...and that He would make them glad with the sight of sons and daughters, Let us pray to the Lord...

2.  Marriage, and the institution of a family begin with a husband and wife (a man and a woman) and do not marry with an agreement to avoid having children.

3.  Marriage is an eternal bond of love and does not end with death.  While the church recognizes legal divorces, there is no blessing for a divorce, but a provision that regards one's personal salvation as more important to the survival of a marriage.

4.  Children of the faith are expected to be educated in the faith.  Parents and Godparents - who share in the Sacrament of Holy Communion, are held responsible by the church to see that their children are nurtured and taught by the church and its faithful.

    This last point is where we face great challenges.  First, because raising a child in the faith is enhanced and supported when parents are believers in the faith, and who practice their faith.  It is not uncommon to find some parents today who expect the religious education of their children to be done by someone else, and who themselves may be still struggling with what they actually believe concerning a faith that they may have been raised with.  Sadly, some parents do not regard the necessity for any religious education.  And so the challenge for all of us pertains to helping young and old, married, unmarried, educated, uneducated, rich and poor, to first believe, and second to practice what they believe.  If we don't get past the believing part, the practice will be of no consequence, for we all live what we believe.