Entrance of Theokotos into Temple 2020 Fr. James Jorgenson

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.