Hidar 11 — November 20

Saint Anna, the Grandmother of Jesus

Today we remember a good and gentle woman named Saint Anna. (Her name is sometimes written Hannah.) She was married to a kind, righteous man named Joachim, and together they loved God very much.

For a long, long time, Anna and Joachim had no children, and this made Anna sad. So she prayed and prayed, and she asked God to give her a child. She trusted that God heard her.

And God did hear her! He gave Anna a baby girl who brought joy to her eyes and to the whole world. Do you know who that baby was? She was the holy Virgin Mary, the one who would grow up to become the mother of our Lord Jesus. That means gentle Anna is the grandmother of Jesus. We thank God for Anna, and we ask her to pray for us.

God gave Anna a baby girl who delighted her eyes and the eyes of all the world — the holy Virgin Mary.

Saint Archelaus and Abba Elisha

We also remember two brave friends of God. The first is Saint Archelaus (say it: ar-keh-LAY-us), who loved Jesus so much that he stayed faithful to Him to the very end of his life. He never let go of God, even when staying true cost him everything.

The second is Abba Elisha, who was a hegumen. That means he was the kind leader of a group of monks, men who spent their days quietly praying together. Abba Elisha loved God with all his heart too. Neither of these men was afraid, because they knew they were going home to live with God forever. We ask them to pray for us, so we can be brave and faithful too.