The Holy Prophetess Anna (Hannah)

Commemorated on December 9

The Holy Prophetess Anna (Hannah) dwelt in marriage with Elkanah, but she was childless. Elkanah took to himself another wife, Phennana, who bore him children. Anna grieved strongly over her misfortune, and every day she prayed for a solution to her childlessness, and she made a vow to dedicate the child to God. One time, when she prayed fervently in the Temple, the priest Elias decided that she was drunk, and he began to reproach her. But the saint poured out her grief, and having received a blessing, she returned home. After this Anna conceived and gave birth to a son, whom she named Samuel (which means "Besoughten of God"). When the child reached the age of boyhood, the mother herself presented him to the priest Elias, and with him Samuel remained to serve before the Tabernacle (1 Kings (1 Samuel) 1; 2: 1-21).