The Entrance into the Temple of our Most Holy Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary
Hebrews 9:1-7; Luke 10:38-42, 11:27-28
Feast of the Mother of God. Holy day of obligation. Nativity Fast.
Read Hebrews 9:1-7
Let us all meditate on this verse from the Litiya at Great Vespers for the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos. She is truly our Queen and Mother:
A day of joy has truly dawned. It is a most precious feast for us, because she who was virgin before and after childbirth, today is offered in the temple. The aged Zechariah, father of the Forerunner, cries aloud, rejoicing: The intercessor of those in affliction comes into the holy temple since she herself is holy. She will be sanctified in the abode of the King of all. Let her father, Joachim, be glad and let Anne rejoice exceedingly because they have offered to God the immaculate Queen as a three-year-old child. Rejoice with them, all you women; all you virgins and barren ones, dance for joy and celebrate with them, for the Queen of all has opened the kingdom of heaven for us. Let all people be glad and rejoice.