ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY Orthodox Calendar
Orthodox Calendar 2023
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Введение во храм Пресвятой Богородицы
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November 21
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December 4
27th Week after Pentecost. Tone 1.
Nativity Fast.
Fish, wine and oil allowed.

Совершается служба великому праздникуThe Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple.

New Hieromartyr Alexander Khotovitsky, protopresbyter, of New York and Moscow (1937).

Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Everlasting Hope.”

St. Columbanus, abbot, and founder of the monasteries of Luxeuil (Gaul) and Bobbio (Italy) (615).

Repose of Blessed Pasha of Birsk, fool-for-Christ (1891).

Thoughts for Each Day of the Year
According to the Daily Church Readings from the Word of God
By St. Theophan the Recluse

St. Theophan the Recluse

Twenty Seventh Sunday After Pentecost. [Eph. 6:10-17; Luke 13:10-17]

   On the feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Mother of God into the Temple, “Christ is born” is first sung, preparing believers for a worthy meeting of the feast of Christ’s Nativity. Having understood this inspiration, act according to it. Delve deeply into the mystery of the incarnation of the Only-Begotten Son of God, ascend to its beginning in the pre-eternal counsel of God concerning the existence of the world and man in it, see its reflection in the creation of man, meet joyfully the first tidings of it immediately after the fall, trace rationally its gradual revelation in Old Testament prophesies and prefigurations. Understand how and who prepared to receive God incarnate, under the influence of Divine educational institutions and activities within Israel—pass, if you want, across the borders to God’s people and gather there rays of God’s light, shining in the darkness—and ponder to what degree those chosen from among all nations reached the presentiment of the unusual manifestation of God’s providence for people. This will be a mental preparation. But now the fast has begun—collect yourself in order to prepare for Communion, go to confession and take Communion with the Holy Mysteries of Christ: this will be an active and living preparation. If, on account of all this, the Lord grants you to feel the power of His coming in the flesh—then, when the holiday comes, you will celebrate it not out of a joy foreign to you, but one of your own flesh and blood.

Articles

Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple

St. Gregory Palamas

Therefore, the High Priest, seeing that this child, more than anyone else, had divine grace within Her, wished to set Her within the Holy of Holies. He convinced everyone present to welcome this, since God had advanced it and approved it. Through His angel, God assisted the Virgin and sent Her mystical food, with which She was strengthened in nature, while in body She was brought to maturity and was made purer and more exalted than the angels, having the Heavenly spirits as servants.

Did the Mother of God Enter the Temple? Confession of a Doubter

Deacon George Maximov

Only standing upon the above-mentioned axioms is it possible, without noticing the entire absurdity of such a combination, to consider ourselves believing Christians and yet suppose that we know better what the Virgin Mary did and didn't do than the Christians of the second century, than Sts. Herman and Tarasius of Constantinople, St. Gregory Palamas, and others who wrote about these events as facts; and finally, better than the Church herself, which instituted this feast.

The Presentation of the Mother of God

Like the festival of the Nativity of the Mother of God, that of Her Presentation in the Temple was created by the Tradition of the Church, which made use of the apocrypha in order to emphasize—this time in the person of the chosen Virgin consecrating Herself :to the service of God—“the fulfillment of the economy of the Creator”.

The Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple

Feast of the Entrance into The Temple of Our Most Holy Lady The Theotokos

The holy Virgin ran toward the Temple, overtaking her attendant maidens and threw herself into the arms of the High Priest Zacharias, who was waiting for her at the gate of the Temple with the elders. Zacharias blessed her saying, "It is in you that He has glorified your name in every generation. It is in you that He will reveal the Redemption that He has prepared for His people in the last days."

Entry of the Virgin Mary the Theotokos into the Temple

The temple was built on a mountain so many steps were required to reach the altar. Mary managed these steps without any difficulty and the whole company ascended into the temple. She relied on God’s help showing how we too should make our own effort and rely on God”s help to take the steps necessary for our entry into heaven.

The Entry of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary into the Temple

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh

Since early days the Church has given to the Mother of God titles of holiness greater than those which are given to any saint. She is called the All-holy, Panagia. We venerate Her as One who is greater and holier than the Cherubim and the Seraphim, greater than the angels of God who, endowed with vision, can see, contemplate and adore, greater than the angels of God who are, as it were, the throne of the Most High.

The Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple

Fr. Panagiotes Carras

Throughout the whole service the hymns proclaim the exalted place which the Entry has in the history of Salvation. The Entry marks the closing of the Old Covenant, whereas the Annunciation marks the beginn­ing of the New. With the Entry the most Holy Virgin is passing from the Old Covenant to the New, and this transition in the person of the Mother of God shows us how the New Covenant is the fulfillment of the Old.

Entry of the Holy Theotokos Into the Temple

Archpriest Alexander Shargunov

What Joachim and Anna have done, offering to God the fruit of their prayers, far exceeds any spiritual labors that we could set up as an example. But let us ponder the following: often we find ourselves in a situation similar to these people – Joachim and Anna, – when misfortune befalls us, when we are in need, when we are ready to promise the Lord everything, say all kinds of words of love, just so He would help us, would deliver us from such a state. And then sorrow passes, need passes. But when the time comes to fulfill our promise, we begin to vacillate.

Let It Be

Fr. John Behr

As we present the Theotokos into the temple today, saying to God “Let it be,” let us not misunderstand what it demands of us as ourselves temples of God. May we have the strength to say with her: “Let it be!”

The Entry of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-virgin Mary into the Temple

When the Most Holy Virgin became three years old, her parents, true to their vow to the Lord to dedicate their child to Him, in procession with young maidens "adorned with the beauty of virtues" "with lamps in their hands" and accompanied by relatives and acquaintenances, "with gladness" solemnly led their Most-pure Daughter into the Jerusalem Temple "to be brought up in divine grace" "before the Lord."

Homily on the Day of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple

St. Philaret of Moscow

And first of all, Christian soul, recognize here your eternal right by which you belong the King of kings, and be led unto Him in submission and love. And the King shall greatly desire thy beauty, for He Himself is thy Lord.
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