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“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
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(Romans
8:2)
Anna
the Prophetess – Wikipedia
Anna the Prophetess
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Saint
Anna the Prophetess
Prophetess
Born 1st century BC
Died 1st century
Venerated in Catholic
Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
Oriental Orthodox Church
Feast 3 February
1 September and 16 February on some calendars
Anna (Hebrew: חַנָּה, Ḥana;
Ancient Greek: Ἄννα, Ánna), distinguished as Anna the
Prophetess, is a woman mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. According to that
Gospel, she was an elderly woman of the Tribe of Asher who prophesied about
Jesus at the Temple of Jerusalem. She appears in Luke 2:36–38 during the
presentation of Jesus at the Temple.
New Testament
The passage mentioning Anna is as follows:
Luke 2:36–38 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter
of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her
husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was
eighty-four.[*] She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting
and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and
spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of
Jerusalem.
Footnote: Or then had been a widow for eighty-four years.
(New International Version)
From these three verses in Luke, the following is known of
Anna:
She was a prophetess.
She was a daughter of Phanuel.
She was a member of the tribe of Asher.
She was widowed after seven years of marriage (her husband
is not named).
She was a devout Asherite Hebrew who regularly practiced
prayer and fasting.
Luke describes Anna as "very old". Many Bibles
and older commentaries interpret the New Testament text to state that she was
84 years old.[1][2]
The Greek text states καὶ αὐτὴ
χήρα ὡς ἐτῶν ὀγδοηκοντατεσσάρων,
generally translated as "she was a widow of eighty four years".[3]
The passage is ambiguous: it could mean that she was 84 years old, or that she
had been a widow for 84 years.[4][5] Some scholars consider the latter to be
the more likely option, in which case she would likely have been around 105
years old.[6][7]
Church traditions and veneration
The Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church commemorate
Anna as a saint, Anna the Prophetess. The Eastern Orthodox Church considers
Anna and Simeon the God-Receiver as the last prophets of Old Testament and
observes their feast on February 3/February 16 as the synaxis (afterfeast)
following the Presentation of Christ, which Orthodox tradition calls "The
Meeting of Our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ".[8] Along with
Simeon, the prophetess Anna is commemorated on February 3 in the Byzantine rite
of the Catholic Church.[9]
She is also depicted in icons of the Presentation of
Christ, together with the Holy Child and the Virgin Mary, Joseph and Simeon the
God-Receiver. Orthodox tradition considers that Christ met his people, Israel,
in the persons of Simeon and Anna.[10]