Presentation of Theotokos into the temple – Father Gavril Galev
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“The angels beheld the entrance of the Most-Pure One and were amazed, how has the Virgin entered into the Holy of Holies “
(sticheron from the feast of the Great Supper)
Thus, when She was three years old, Her holy righteous parents, Joachim and Anna, decided to present her to the service of God according to their promise. They summoned all their relatives from the royal and ecclesial lineage, as well as a choir of impeccable virgins. On behalf of the righteous Anne, St. Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople, says: “I have fulfilled before the Lord the covenant that my mouth made in my sorrow, and because of this I have gathered a choir of virgins with candles, I have called priests, I have gathered my relatives, saying to all, ‘Rejoice with me all, for today I have manifested myself as a mother and as a parent, bringing forth my daughter, not unto the king of the earth, but unto God, the King of Heaven. ‘”
So they departed on a three-day journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem. And when they arrived in Jerusalem, they solemnly entered into the temple – and into the temple, they introduced another temple full of the Holy Spirit, the three-year-old girl, the Most-Pure Virgin Mary. The holy parents, the father on one side and the mother on the other, gently led their God-given Daughter. Saint Theophylact, Archbishop of Ochrid, describes this event in this way: “The daughter forgets her father’s house and is brought to the Emperor, Who yearns for Her beauty. She is brought not without honour and glory, but with an honourable retinue … All Jerusalem gathered to see this miraculous send-off, and sees the three-year-old Virgin, surrounded by so much glory and honoured by such a retinue. “Not only the inhabitants of the earthly Jerusalem, but also of the heavenly Jerusalem, the holy angels, came to see the glorious presentation of the Most-Pure Virgin Mary.”
Joining the visible choir of pure virgins, a choir of Incorporeal Minds was invisibly present, leading the Most-Pure Virgin Mary to the Holy of Holies, and by the command of the Lord, they surrounded her as the chosen vessel of God. St. Gregory, Archbishop of Nicomedia, says about this: “Her parents had already led Her to the doors of the temple, surrounded by angels, with the common joy of all the Heavenly Powers. For the angels, although they did not know the power of the mystery, yet, as servants, by the command of the Lord, they served at Her entry into the temple. So they were at first amazed to see that She was a precious vessel of virtue, that she bore the marks of eternal purity, and that she had such a body to which no sinful defilement would ever approach; and secondly, fulfilling the will of the Lord, they performed the service entrusted to them. ”
At the entrance of the Old Testament Ark into the temple of the Lord, an earthly king walked ahead, who then reigned over Israel, the Holy-father David, and at the entrance to the temple of God of this full with the Holy Spirit vessel, Most-Pure Virgin, before her walked not an ordinary earthly king, but the Heavenly King to whom we pray: “The King of Heaven, Comforter, Spirit of truth …” The Holy Church also testifies to this: “In the Holy of Holies together with the Holy Spirit is introduced the Holy and the All-Pure One.” The holy righteous parents Joachim and Anna themselves, according to the testimony of St. Tarasius, sang the song of the ancestor David: “Listen, daughter, and see, and incline your ear. And forget your people and the house of your father. For the King coveted Your beauty ”(Ps. 44: 11–12).
According to Blessed Jerome, there were fifteen steps in front of the temple. The righteous parents raised the Virgin to the first step, and She quickly reached the top, strengthened by the invisible power of God. At the top, she was welcomed by the great high priest Zacharias, the father of St. John the Forerunner. As a prophet, by the revelation of God, he foresaw the future of this Virgin and, as Saint Theophylact of Ochrid says, he was “taken over by the Spirit.” According to St. German, Zacharias said to her: “Go, most divine and newest gift! Enter into the temple of Your Lord in joy: in the lower part of the temple, accessible to men, and in a short time even into the part inaccessible to them! ”
And the Virgin Mary, being merry and rejoicing, entered the house of the Lord like in a palace: even though She was small in age, She was only three years old, yet She was perfect by the grace of God, as foreknown and chosen by God before the creation of the world. The Virgin Mary’s parents, on the other hand, following the law offered sacrifices to God, received a blessing from the priest, and returned home.
Thus the Most-Pure and Blessed Virgin Mary was introduced into the temple of the Lord. In doing so, the high priest Zacharias did an unusual and miraculous thing: he introduced the Virgin into the tabernacle itself, that is, into the Holy of Holies, which was behind the second curtain, in which was the Ark of the Covenant, completely immersed with gold, and cherubim of glory overshadowed the altar, where not only women but also priests were not allowed to enter, and only the high priest could enter once a year. There the high priest Zacharias assigned a place for prayer to the Most-Pure Virgin.
The other virgins, who lived in the temple until a certain age, according to the testimony of St. Cyril of Alexandria and St. Gregory of Nyssa, were given a place of prayer between the church and the altar. None of these virgins were allowed to enter the altar, for it was strictly forbidden by the high priest. The Most-Holy Virgin, on the other hand, was not forbidden at any moment from Her presentation to enter the inner altar behind the second curtain and pray there.
The Blessed Virgin since Her childhood, when She was in the temple with the other virgins, Her peers, lived her life in strict order: from early morning until nine o’clock She stood in prayer; from nine to three o’clock in the afternoon She was engaged in handicraft or reading books, and from three o’clock in the afternoon She resumed her prayer, and did not stop praying until an angel appeared to her, from whose hands She was accustomed to receive food.
St. Gregory Palamas in the Sermon on the Presentation of Theotokos in the temple says: “The Most-Holy Virgin, while staying in the temple, freed herself from all material shackles of bondage and rejected all bonds, at the same time rising above compassion for Her own body and gathering Her mind in focus towards God, with attention and in incessant divine prayer. And through prayer, whole of Her became Her own and ascended above the diverse multitude of thoughts, established a new and inexpressible path to Heaven, which I will call “the silence of the mind”. And by surrendering Her mind to this silence, She overcame all creation, and She saw better than Moses the glory of God, and She was devoted to the divine grace, which is by no means subject only to the power of the senses, but is a wonderful and sacred contemplation, inherent to innocent souls and minds. Because She partook of this contemplation, the Most-Holy Theotokos – as the Church hymns are sung – became a shining cloud of truly living water, the dawn of the mysterious day, and the chariot of fire of the Logos.”
According to Blessed Jerome, “She was visited every day by angels. And if anyone were to ask me how the Most-Pure Virgin spent Her time in Her youth, I would answer: it is known only to God, and is inaccessible even to Her guardian, the Holy Archangel Gabriel, who often came with other angels and with love talked to Her. “Living thus with the angels in the Holy of Holies, the Most-Pure Virgin wished to live forever in angelic purity and chastity.” She vowed Her virginity to God, because in the Old Testament it was unusual for girls not to marry, because marriage was more respected than virginity. But the Most-Pure Virgin was the first to prefer virginity before marriage, and by promising Herself to God, She served Him day and night in pure virginity, and the Most Holy Spirit, by the will of God the Father, prepared in Her abode for God the Word.
Fr. Gavril Galev
Abbot of the monastery “St. Clement of Ohrid”,
Kinglake, Melbourne, Australia
4 / 12 / 2021
1) Sticheron on the feast of the Great Vespers.
2) At that time everyone wanted to have offspring so that his memory would be preserved on earth as long as possible, so that if not himself, at least his descendants could become partakers of the Kingdom of the expected Messiah – the Saviour.
