Today is the feast of the Assumption of Saint Anne, mother of the Most Holy Theotokos. Saint Anne was the daughter of the priest Matthan, of the tribe of Levi, and Mary of Bethlehem. Her parents had two more daughters: Mary, who married in Bethlehem and gave birth to Salome, and Sobia, who also married in Bethlehem and gave birth to Elizabeth, the mother of Saint John the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord. She lived with her husband Joachim for 50 years without children. And then God heard their fervent prayers and sent them the archangel Gabriel, who announced to Saint Anne that she would give birth to a daughter. And Anna, although old, immediately conceived and indeed gave birth to a daughter, and what a daughter she was – the Most Holy Virgin Mary. She reposed in the Lord at the age of 79.

Saint Olympias and Eupraxia.