In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Glory be to Jesus Christ.
Today is the feast day of the entrance of the
Theotokos into the temple. In our Orthodox liturgical
tradition, there are three of the great feasts
which are Marian. In other words, they focus
on the Virgin Mary. The first one is her birth
on September 8th, her nativity. This is the second
one, which is her entrance into the temple, when
as a three -year -old girl she was brought by
her parents, Joachim and Anna, to be taken into
the temple, to be in God's presence, and to be
offered to God for his pleasure, his goodwill.
All of these feasts focus on the role of Mary
in our salvation. In the history of this feast,
historically it's one of the latest of the feasts
to be introduced into our liturgical calendar.
It began probably in the year 543. when the Byzantine
emperor Justinian came to Jerusalem and was present
at the dedication of the basilica. It's called
the Basilica of St. Mary the New. And this basilica
was located right next to the place where the
Jewish temple stood. So therefore, because of
the proximity, of this church to the temple,
the meditation upon the importance of Mary found
its expression in these liturgical hymns. It
is, as I said, one of the latest to be introduced.
Hymns are absolutely magnificent which surround
this feast. The Virgin Mary, as I said, always
has to be seen as the one who had a unique position
in the bringing of Jesus Christ into this world.
So therefore, all of the feasts of the Theotokos
in one way or another we can call them Christocentric
because they are focused upon her role in our
salvation. The liturgical texts say that she
is the new ark, the new temple. The temple was
the symbol of God's presence with his people
in the Old Testament period. She now becomes
physically the temple of God's presence, when
the only begotten Son is incarnate in her womb
and she brings him into this world. And then
we, by virtue of our baptism and our faith in
Christ, we are all temples, symbols of God's
presence in this world. I have already always
considered this feast day to be a feast day for
children because Mary is three years old. And
for me personally, it was on this feast day 10
years ago when I baptized my grandson. And then
my granddaughter's birthday is just a few days
after this feast. So it is... personally and
for family, a significant child's feast. But
also I think it reminds us as parents how important
it is for us to do our best to bring up our children
in the love and service of God and in the church.
This is our primary vocation as parents. Doesn't
always work out that way. Sometimes children
fall away from the faith. Sometimes they stop
to attend services. But at least we can stand
before God and say we've done our best. We've
tried to bring our children up in the faith.
As I said, the texts of our service are absolutely
magnificent. If you were at the Vesper service,
or if you happened to listen to it and watch
it over live streaming, this comes out very clearly.
And I would say whether or not you happened to
read and pray along with this service last night,
to do it either for the first time or refresh
your memory. about this beautiful liturgical
poetry, the importance and the significance of
Mary. That, of course, is found on the OCA website,
oca .org, and then just go to liturgical texts.
During the service last night, it came to my
mind, I remembered... an ecumenical dialogue
that I was participating in. And Protestants
brought up the question of the Orthodox liturgical
texts. Now, of course, the texts about the birth
of the Virgin Mary and about her entrance into
the temple are not recorded in the canonical
scriptures. We get them... from another early
Christian document called the Proto -Evangelium,
or the First Gospel, which is attributed to James,
the same James who wrote the epistle in the New
Testament, and the same James who was the first
bishop of Jerusalem. And in this discussion,
it came up about these texts. And what we as
Orthodox Christians believe is not so much in
the historical accuracy of what we are praying,
but in the spiritual significance of this feast.
And our liturgical services, which are difficult
for non -Orthodox to understand, have to be seen
in this context. They're meditations on the importance
of this feast. And our liturgical texts are actually
infallible, which means not historical accuracy
of something, but of the truth behind the feast
day. And the texts are filled with... Byzantine
poetry. Sure, a lot of it is hyperbole. Maybe
it's exaggeration. But they're just magnificent
contributions to the theology, the rich theology
we have in the Orthodox Church. So that is why
the liturgical texts are so nourishing and enriching
for us, whether we read them on our own. or whether
we pray them together in church. So I urge you
once again to read these over, either for the
first time or reread them. And I'll just close
with the Toparian and the Kentuckian, which show
the kernel, the truth of this text. And even
the epistle itself, the epistle to the Hebrews,
meditates on the importance of the temple in
the life of the Jewish people in the Old Testament
period. And symbolically, in this New Testament
text, this represents Mary as the new temple,
even though it doesn't say that explicitly. So
the hymns are the Troparion. Today is the preview
of the goodwill of God. of the preaching of the
salvation of mankind. It's one of these important
events which finds fulfillment in the coming
of Jesus. The Virgin appears in the temple of
God in anticipation, proclaiming Christ to all.
Let us rejoice and sing to her. Rejoice, O divine
fulfillment. of the Creator's dispensation. And
the Kentuckian, the most pure temple of the Savior,
the precious chamber and virgin, the sacred treasure
of the glory of God, is presented today in the
house of the Lord. She brings with her the grace
of the Spirit, which the angel of God do praise.
Truly, she is the dwelling place of heaven. Jesus,
now heaven on earth. We ask for the intercession
of the Theotokos on her feast day, and we ascribe
glory to her Son and the Father and the Holy
Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.