About the book: 2012 / The book presented to the reader’s attention unites the story of the earthly life of the Mother of God, the prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John and the apostles of Christ. The Most Holy Theotokos revealed to the world great humility and ineffable devotion to the will of God. The entire Old Testament, in the person of the forefathers who were expecting the Messiah, became only a preparation for the birth of the Virgin, capable and worthy of receiving the Divine Word into Herself. Saint John the Baptist, heralded by the prophets, prepared the people of Israel to hear the word of God, baptized the Savior, accepted martyrdom and is reverently glorified in church hymns as “the world preacher of repentance.” The apostles, called to serve by the Lord Jesus Christ, are called in the hymnography “secular witnesses of the Word of the Incarnation,” that is, witnesses endowed from above with the fullness of the gifts necessary for the preaching of the Gospel and the establishment of the Church on earth. The disciples of Christ, most of them “unlearned and simple people,” spread Christianity throughout the entire breadth of the Roman Empire and beyond, and the spiritual and moral ideal of their life serves as an example for everyone entering the fence of the Orthodox Church.