The Feast of the Ark

👉🏾👉🏾👉🏾The Feast of the #Ark of #Zion (#Hidar 21) (Part 1) Dear followers of the Orthodox teachings , we greet you all with the peace of God. Today, according to the topic mentioned above, we present to you this important spiritual lesson. May it be read with understanding and kept with faith. ✍🏾The Meaning of Zion The Ark of Zion is symbolically represented by our Mother, the Holy Virgin Mary. Every year on hidar 21, the Church celebrates the feast of our mother. ✍🏾 “Zion” means tower and refuge. Concerning this, the psalmist David said, “Man calls Zion our mother, and man was born in her.” (Ps. 86:5). This reveals the mystery prepared for the salvation of Adam and his children, who had been held under the condemnation of sin for five thousand five hundred years. In order to free humanity from the prison of Sheol, God the Son chose to take flesh from the Holy Virgin Mary, who was descended from the lineage of David. ✍🏾 He dwelt in her holy womb, and after nine months and five days, He was born for the salvation of the world. Therefore, we, the faithful of the Orthodox Church, honor, glorify, and give thanks to the Holy Virgin Mary. She is the dwelling place of God, the tower of refuge, and the foundation of our salvation. ✍🏾The Ark of Zion as a Type of the Virgin Mary 👉🏾The Ark of Zion is symbolized by the Virgin Mary. We celebrate her annual feast on Hidar 21st. Among the many reasons for this celebration, the most important is that the Ark of Zion shattered the idol Dagon and performed miracles during its captivity among the Philistines. 👉🏾The great prophet Moses carved two tablets of stone, built a wooden ark, and ascended the mountain as God commanded him. 👉🏾“And I made an ark of acacia wood, and hewed two tables of stone like the first, and went up into the mount, and the two tables were in my hand: and he wrote upon the tables the ten commandments, which the LORD spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire, as they were written at the first: and the LORD gave them unto me.” (Deuteronomy 10:1-4) They carried the ark of the covenant with them and entered the land of their possession. 👉🏾While Zion is a symbol of our Lady, the Virgin Mary, the tablets of the law contained within her symbolize our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 👉🏾The ark was made of acacia wood, a sign of the purity of the Mother of God. ✍🏾It was covered with pure gold, both inside and out, showing her holiness and purity in conscience and body. When the Israelites carried the Ark of Zion before them, they overcame all who opposed them. ✍🏾The Ark Among the Philistines The Philistines rose up against Israel for war and gathered together to fight. The Israelites were defeated, and the ark of the covenant was taken. The elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD struck us today before the Philistines? Let us bring back the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh, that it may go before us and save us from the hand of our enemies.” But the children of Israel had sinned, and God delivered the ark into the hands of the Philistines. (1 Samuel 4:1-11) Continues 👇🏾