On the 21st of November, Our Holy Orthodox Church Commemorates the Entrance Presentation of Our Most Holy Lady, and Ever-Virgin Mary into the Temple.

The Feast of the Entrance (Presentation) of the Ever-Virgin Mary into the Temple is not among the most ancient festivals of the Church. Nonetheless, it must have been instituted earlier than the 7th century, since Saint Andrew of Crete [660-740 A.D.] had known about it. Saint Tarasios (806 A.D.), the Patriarch, introduced it at Constantinople a century later. The festival blossomed forth from the Holy Tradition of the Church, which made use of the Apocryphal source, the Protoevangelion, in order to emphasize the fulfilment of the oeconomy of the Creator and the self-consecration of the chosen Virgin to a life in the service of God. The Church breaks the silence of the canonical Gospels that we may behold the incomprehensible ways of Providence which prepared Mary, the Receptacle of the Logos/Word and the Mother predetermined before the ages. She who was preached by the Prophets is now introduced into the Holy of Holies, like a hidden treasure of the Glory of God. God has sanctified all things by HER ENTRY AND HAS MADE GODLIKE THE FALLEN NATURE OF MORTAL MEN.

The Virgin Mary’s Parents, the Righteous Ioachim and Anna

The Righteous Ioachim and Anna, the Virgin’s parents, had been married fifty years when they produced their much-desired offspring. Moreover, the elderly couple fully intended to dedicate and consecrate their offspring, male or female, to the Temple and service of God. Thus, when the child reached two years of age, Joachim said to Anna. "Let us take her up to the Temple of the Lord, that we may pay the vow that we have made, lest the Lord should depart from us or, perchance, the Lord send us someone to warn us that we have been too long in paying our vow because our ‘offering’ has not yet been received." But Anna said, "Lent us wait for her THIRD YEAR, so that our daughter might not be at a loss to know her father, and also that she might not look for us." Therefore, Ioachim conceded and said, "So let us wait."

Much of both the poetic imagery and iconography of this feast, which are used liturgically, are derived from the following passage of the Protoevangelion: "When the child reached her third birthday, Ioachim said, "Let us invite the daughters of the Hebrews that are virgins. Let each maiden take a lamp and stand with the lamps burning, that the child might not turn back and then her mind would be set against the Temple of the Lord."

The Entrance into the Temple (Presentation)

Thus, her parents departed their home and went up to the Temple with an escort of young maidens. Upon arriving, they then put off Mary’s traveling clothes and arrayed her with garments that were neater and cleaner–indeed, clothes befitting a queen. Now there were fifteen ste119:ps at the Temple that led from the Court of the Women to that of the men. The significance of the number fifteen, to the Jews, was that it corresponded to the fifteen Psalms of Degrees [Psalm.  119-133]. The Temple had been built on a mountain, so that the Altar of burnt offering could not be reached except by steps. On one of these steps, they placed the little maiden Mary. Then the whole company ascended into the Temple of the Lord; the maidens bearing lamps and singing psalms. And Mary, without anyone leading her or lifting her, ascended the steps one after the other.

The Virgin’s father, Ioachim, was bright with joy and kept feast with Anna. Now, Anna, truly blessed by God’s grace, led with gladness, into the Temple of the Lord, the pure and Ever-Virgin who is full of grace. And Anna called the young maidens to go before her, lamps in hand. "Go, child," she said, "to Him Who gave thee unto me; be unto Hima an offering and a sweet smelling incense. Go into the place that none may enter: Learn its mysteries and prepare thyself to become the pleasing and beautiful dwelling place of Jesus Who grants the world great mercy."

Entering the Temple with virginal glory, she is compared to that area of the Temple known AS THE HOLY OF HOLIES. Thus, in hymns we can hear Saint Andrew of Crete chant, "Thy wise parents, O Undefiled one, brought thee, who art the ‘Holy of Holies,’ as an Offering to the House of the Lord, there to be reared in Holiness and made ready to become His Mother."

As the holy icon of the Feast depicts, the Righteous Ioachim and Anna, rejoicing in spirit, offered their daughter in the Temple of the Law that she might make her dwelling therein. "The virgins that follow after her shall be brought unto the King; those near her shall be brought unto Thee. They shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing, they shall be brought into the Temple of the King" [Psalm 44:14-15].

The Words of the Prophets are Fulfilled

The High Priest Zacharias, the husband of Anna’s niece Elisabeth, was the future father of Saint John the Baptist and Forenner. When he beheld the Virgin’s approach, he rejoiced in the Spirit, and said, "Mary, the Lord God has magnified thy name to all generations and, by thee, to the ve16:32-33]ry end of time, the Lord will show his Redemption to the children of Israel." The High Priest Zacharias UNITES IN HIS PERSON TWO TRADITIONS-PRIESTLY AND PROPHETIC. Rejoice, Mary, preaching of the Prophets and THE FULFILLMENT OF THEIR WORDS! The Prophets prophesied of thee and have thee as their boast.

Jacob foresaw thee as the "ladder" : "Behold A LADDER fixed on the earth whose top reached to heaven, and the Angels of God ascended and descended on it" [Genesis 28:12]. The golden urn of MANNA, that Moses gave command to be laid up so that future generations might see the bread with which the Hebrews were fed in the wilderness [Exodos 16:32-33], also Prefigured thee. The fleece of Gedeon Prefigured thee, for as rain came down upon the fleece, without anyone’s knowledge [Judges 6:37-38], thus does God desire to condescend to put on flesh of thee–and not even the Angels will understand how He would become INCARNATE. Let us, therefore, magnify the radiant cloud [Isaiah 19:1].

The Prophet David wrote: "He shall come down like rain upon a fleece, and like rain-drops that fall upon the earth" [Psalm 71:6]. The same Prophet and king called thee "Queen," and uttered: "At Thy Right hand stood the Queen, arrayed, in a vesture of inwoven gold, adorned in varied colors {Psalm 44:8]. David the Prophet, who is of thine own Tribe, clearly foresaw and uttered: "Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear; and forget thine own people and thy father’s house, and the King shall greatly desire thy beauty" [Psalm 44:9-10].

The Temple at Jerusalem

In the words of Saint Gregory Palamas (1296-1359 A.D.): "The Temple of Jerusalem was the ‘TYPE’ of Mary, for she is the ‘True place of God." The Prophet Ezekiel was told, "Thou hast seen the place of My throne, and the place of the soles of My feet, in which My name shall dwell in the midst of the House of Israel forever" [Ezekiel 43:7].

The Virgin Enters the Holy of Holies

Then Zacharias, the Priest of God, received her into the Temple with rejoicing and established her there; that is, he then took Mary to the Vema. This she abode in the Holy of Holies for more than nine years, though some Apocryphal manuscripts record her say as being as long as twelve years. The Holy of Holies, was a place that none dared to enter, EXCEPT THE HIGH PRIEST–and then, only at his appointed time; and this happened but once a year.

The Holy of Holies was that place in the Temple, THE DWELLING PLACE OF GOD, in which God came into contact with man through the intermediary of the High Priest. Now God, Who will condescend to become man, foreordained the Holy Virgin to become the Supreme "Holy of Holies" through which He would come into PERMANENT CONTACT WITH MAN IN THE HOLY CHURCH, BECOMING Man Himself, Christ Jesus, the Great High Priest and INTERMEDIARY. As the Holy of Holies was filled with the glory of God’s presence–SO MUCH THAT THE PRIESTS COULD NOT BEAR THE GLORY OF IT–SO THE WOMB OF THE ALL-HOLY VIRGIN WAS TO BE FILLED WITH THE GLORY OF GOD’S PRESENCE. [Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church]

(To be continued)

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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (MInistry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George