According to Holy Tradition, the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the
Temple took place in the following manner. The parents of the Virgin Mary, Sts Joachim and Anna, praying for an end to their
childlessness, vowed that if a child were born to them, they would dedicate it to the service of God.
When the Most Holy Virgin reached the age of three, the holy parents decided to
fulfill their vow. They gathered together their relatives and acquaintances, and dressed the All-Pure Virgin in Her finest
clothes. Singing sacred songs and with lighted candles in their hands, virgins escorted Her to the Temple (Ps. 44/45:14-15).
There the High Priest and several priests met the handmaiden of God. In the Temple, fifteen high steps led to the sanctuary,
which only the priests and High Priest could enter. (Because they recited a Psalm on each step, Psalms 119/120-133/134 are
called “Psalms of Ascent.”) The child Mary, so it seemed, could not make it up this stairway. But just as they
placed Her on the first step, strengthened by the power of God, She quickly went up the remaining steps and ascended to the
highest one. Then the High Priest, through inspiration from above, led the Most Holy Virgin into the Holy of Holies, where
only the High Priest entered once a year to offer a purifying sacrifice of blood. Therefore, all those present in the Temple
were astonished at this most unusual occurrence.
After entrusting
their child to the Heavenly Father, Joachim and Anna returned home. The All-Holy Virgin remained in the quarters for virgins
near the Temple. According to the testimony of Holy Scripture (Exodus 38; 1 Kings 1: 28; Luke 2: 37), and also the historian
Josephus Flavius, there were many living quarters around the Temple, in which those who were dedicated to the service of God
dwelt.
The earthly life of the Most Holy Theotokos from Her infancy
until She was taken up to Heaven is shrouded in deep mystery. Her life at the Jerusalem Temple was also a secret. “If
anyone were to ask me,” said St Jerome, “how the Most Holy Virgin spent the time of Her youth, I would answer
that that is known to God Himself and the Archangel Gabriel, Her constant guardian.”
But there are accounts in Church Tradition, that during the All-Pure Virgin’s stay at the
Temple, She grew up in a community of pious virgins, diligently read the Holy Scripture, occupied Herself with handicrafts,
prayed constantly, and grew in love for God. From ancient times, the Church has celebrated the Feast of the Entry of the Most
Holy Theotokos into the Temple. Indications that the Feast was observed in the first centuries of Christianity are found in
the traditions of Palestinian Christians, which say that the holy Empress Helen (May 21) built a church in honor of the Entry
of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple.
St Gregory of Nyssa,
in the fourth century, also mentions this Feast. In the eighth century Sts Germanus and Tarasius, Patriarchs of Constantinople,
delivered sermons on the Feast of the Entry.
The Feast of
the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple foretells God’s blessing for the human race, the preaching of salvation,
the promise of the coming of Christ.
