Righteous Anna the Prophetess, Daughter of Phanuel (I)

Righteous Anna the prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, was of the tribe of Asher. She lived with her husband only seven years, and then, widowed, she lived a strict and pious life and “departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day” (Luke 2:37). When Anna was eighty-four, she was made worthy to see the infant Jesus, whom Joseph and the Virgin Mary brought into the temple “after the custom of the law”. Righteous Anna heard the prophetic words with which the elder Symeon addressed the Mother of God; together with Symeon she too recognised the incarnate Saviour, and she brought the good news of His coming to the people of Jerusalem who were living in expectation of redemption.