Leavetaking of the Feast

Image source: legacyicons.com

On this Monday morning, the Leave-taking of the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos Into the Temple, here is a succinct reflection into the meaning of the feast outside of its historical plausibility:

Whatever the details of the [Entrance of the Theotokos in the Temple], the theological significance of the Entry remains the same: the Virgin Mary is taken into the Holy of Holies where only the high priest could go. Why was Mary the exception to the rule? Because she would become the true Holy of Holies, the human Ark that would bear the word of God made flesh.

Now the human body becomes the holiest thing on earth, for the Virgin’s womb will become God’s throne. The middle wall of partition that separated God and man (represented by the veil that divides the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies) will be torn down, for the Word will become flesh and live among us (John 1:14).

This is why in a traditional Orthodox Church, one of the first things you will see on entering is a fresco or mosaic in the apse, above the altar, of the Mother of God enthroned with Christ seated on her lap, with an inscription describing her as “The Container of the Uncontainable,” or “She is wider than the Heavens.” This is reminiscent of the prophetic prayer of Solomon after he built the temple: 

But will God, indeed dwell with men on earth? If the heaven and the heaven of heavens will not be sufficient for You, how much less even this temple I have built in Your name? (3 Kings 8:25) 

God will indeed dwell on earth! He who is greater than all creation, whom the universe is too small to contain, will be contained in the womb of a moral woman.

--Fr Vassilios Papavassiliou