My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
On the 21st of November, Our Holy Orthodox Church
Commemorates the Entrance of the EVER-VIRGIN MARY
into the Temple.
Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn. Fourth Tone
TODAY is the prelude of God’s good will and the heralding of the
salvation of mankind. In the temple of God, the Virgin is presented
openly, and she proclaimeth Christ unto all. To her, then, with a great
voice let us cry aloud: Rejoice, O thou fulfilment of the Creator ‘s
dispensation.
Kontakion Hymn. Fourth Tone
THE sacred treasury of God’s holy glory, the greatly precious bridal
chamber and Virgin, the Savior’s Most Pure Temple, free of stain
and undefiled, into the House of the Lord on this day is brought
forward and bringeth with herself the grace of the Most Divine Spirit;
her do God’s Angels hymn with songs of praise, for she is truly the
Heavenly Tabernacle.
+
"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah [Jeremiah 38:31-32].
In the hymns at Vespers (Esperinos] of the feast, we chant: "Thou , O Virgin Mother
of God, art she whom the Prophets proclaimed. Thou art the glory of the Apostles
and the pride of Martyrs, the restoration of all who dwell on earth:
for through thee we are reconciled to God."
The Holy Feast of the Entrance 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 froth from the Holy Tradition of the Church, which made use of the Apocryphal source, the PROTOEVANGELIUM, in order to emphasize the fulfillment of the economy 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 for 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, Ioachim 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, "Let 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 Protoevangelium: "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 ENTRACE INTO THE TEMPLE
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 nearer and cleaner–indeed, clothes befitting a queen. Now there were fifteen steps 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 15 Psalm 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 Him 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 joy, she is compared to that area of the Temple known as the Holy of Holies. Thus, in hymns we can hear Saint Adrew 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 VIRGIN GROWING UP IN THE TEMPLE
Saint John Maximovitch (1896-1966] writes that Mary was settled in the quarters for virgins which existed in the Temple. She spent so much time in prayer in the Holy of Holies that one might say that she lived in it. She desired to fulfill the Commandment of God, "Ye shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am Holy" [Leviticus 19:2].
Thus, she became more and more perfect in the work of God. Far from the turmoil of everyday life, the All-Holy one meditated and nourished her soul on Holy Scripture day and night. She ate once daily and occupied herself with prayer and wool work. When the older virgins rested from the praises of God, she did not rest. None exceeded her in the praises and vigils of God, and no one was more learned in the wisdom of the law of God. No one was more lowly in humility, more elegant in singing, and more perfect in all virtue.
Saint Ambrose comments, in Concerning the Ever-virginity of the Virgin Mary, that she was adorned with all virtue and manifested an example of an extraordinary pure life. Being submissive and obedient to all, she offended no one and was cordial to all. She never spoke a crude word and id not allow any unclean thought. Mary blessed God without interruption and, lest perchance even in greeting others she should cease from her praises to the Lord, she even answered then, praising God, in her salutation, saying: "Thanks be to God" or "Glory be to God."
The young Mary gave herself up entirely to God and repulsed from herself every impulse to sin, yet still she felt the weakness of human nature more powerfully than others. Therefore, she greatly desired the coming of the Savior.
Saint Gregory of Palamas praises Mary in superlative terms, writing: "Today a new world and a wonderful Paradise have appeared. In it and from it a new Adam is born to reform the old Adam and renew the whole world… God has kept this Virgin for Himself before all ages. He chose her from among all generations and bestowed on her grace higher than that given to all others, making her, before her wondrous childbirth, the Saint of saints, giving her the honor of His own house in the Holy of Holies… Wishing to created an image of absolute beauty and to manifest clearly, to Angels and to men, the power of His art, God made Mary truly ALL BEAUTIFUL… He made of her A BLEND OF ALL DIVINE, ANGELIC, AND HUMAN PERFECTION, A SUBLIME BEAUTY EMBELISHING THE TWO WORLDS, RISING FROM EARTH TO HEAVEN AND SURPASSING EVEN THIS LATTER."
Saint Joseph the Hymnographer writes: "The Holy Spirit wholly sanctified thee in the temple, therefore thou has become the fair spouse of the Father and Mother of the Son. [Resources: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church]
Through the intercession of the Theotokos,
O Christ God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
Let us pray to the Lord
Kyrie eleison
+ In the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A PRAYER TO THE ALL-HOLY THEOTOKOS
(Saint Gregory of Neocaesaria)
All-holy Mother of God, we humans cannot offer to You the hymn and the praise that is
appropriate to You, for Your proper praise is superior to any human melody. From You
God Himself received flesh and was born as a human being. The totality of nature in
heaven and on earth offers to You its boundless respect. For You have become an Angelic
Throne of Cherubim. As a reflection of light, You shine brightly in the imperceptible world
and in all the ends of heaven and earth and in the whole universe, where the Unoriginate
Father is praised, Whose power always overshadowed You; where the Son is worshipped,
the Son to Whom You gave birth; where the Holy Spirit is glorified, the Spirit which enacted
in Your womb the birth of the Great King. Through You, who are full of grace, the Holy and
consubstantial Trinity is revealed in the world to become known by human beings. We pray
to You and beseech You, Most Blessed Theotokos, to make us also worthy of Your perfect
grace that we too may partake of it with You in Christ Jesus, our Lord, in Whom the glory
and the power abides unto the ages of ages. Amen.
An Extemporaneous Prayer of
Doxology to the Theotokos
O Mary, Mother of God, we too send up a doxology and a hymn of praise to You, who are
the Most Revered Treasure of the whole world, the ever-burning lamp, the crown of virginity,
the scepter of Orthodox Christianity, the space in which He Who is altogether Uncontainable
was contained within You, who are both Mother and Virgin. You are the person for whom
heaven rejoices, the Angels delight. Through You, O Theotokos, man, who had fallen into the
depths of the abyss, is now able to once again rise to heaven. Through You all of the nations
can be guided to salvation. Through You the Only begotten Son of God and our Savior
Jesus Christ has shown a great light upon us who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death.
O Virgin Mary and Mother of God, who are full of grace, intercede for us now and ever and
unto ages of ages. Amen.
___________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +
With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 