Orthodox believers are celebrating the Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary into the Temple today.
Orthodox believers are celebrating the Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary into the Temple today.
This great Christian feast is one of the twelve Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church, which do not change dates. It is based on church tradition concerning how, at the age of three, Mary, the future Mother of God, was solemnly brought into the Jerusalem Temple by her parents. The feast of the Entrance was established in the early days of Christianity.
The parents of the Virgin Mary, the righteous Joachim and Anna, praying for the resolution of their barrenness, vowed that if a child were born, they would dedicate it to the service of God. When the Most Holy Virgin turned three years old, her righteous parents decided to fulfill their promise. Gathering relatives and friends, dressing the Purest Mary in her finest clothes, and with hymns and lit candles, they brought her to the Jerusalem Temple for dedication to God. There, the high priest met Mary with many priests.
A staircase of fifteen high steps led to the Temple. The infant Mary, as soon as she was placed on the first step, strengthened by the power of God, quickly ascended the remaining steps and reached the top. Then, the high priest Zechariah led the Most Holy Virgin into the Holy of Holies, a place that only the high priest entered once a year with sacrificial blood for purification. All those present in the Temple marvelled at this extraordinary event. The righteous Joachim and Anna, entrusting their child to the will of the Heavenly Father, returned home.
Mary remained in the Temple for her upbringing until she came of age, i.e., until the age of 15, after which she was married to the elderly widower, Joseph the carpenter.
The earthly life of the Theotokos from infancy to her Ascension into heaven is shrouded in deep mystery. Her life in the Jerusalem Temple was also hidden. However, church tradition preserves information that during her time in the Jerusalem Temple, the Purest Virgin was raised among pious virgins, diligently read the Holy Scriptures, engaged in needlework, and prayed constantly.
The Church holds up the act of Mary's parents as an example to all believers, indicating that true Christians should foster a love for the Almighty in their children from the earliest age, as soon as a child begins to understand the world around them.