Homily Two for the Entrance of the Theotokos (St. John of Kronstadt)

 

By St. John of Kronstadt

Let us truly praise Mary the Child of God,
whom long ago the assembly of prophets foretold,
speaking of her as jar of manna and Aaron’s rod,
tablet of the Law and uncut mountain.
For she is led today into the Holy of Holies,
there to be brought up to the Lord. 

(Hymn Of Light, Tone 3)

Recently the Church celebrated the glorious Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary from the righteous barren parents Joachim and Anna. Mary, chosen by God from the whole human race, to be the Mother of the Son of God, as the invaluable Treasure of all virtues, as a ripe ear of life, was destined to give to the world the true bread of life - Christ.

Today we celebrate with the Church the feast of Her glorious Entrance into the Temple of God, in the holy city of Jerusalem. Before Her conception and birth, the holy parents, distressed by barrenness, praying to God for the gift of a child, made a vow to dedicate their child to Him, if one were given to them, and when such was given, they would dedicate them to God and solemnly lead them into the temple, accompanied by pure virgins, with burning lamps. The righteous priest, the elder Zechariah, the parent of the Forerunner, led the Holy Virgin into the Holy of Holies, into which no one could enter except the High Priest, where the Ark of the Covenant of God, the miraculous manna, the tablets of stone, and Aaron's rod that had sprouted were kept. Here, in the rooms arranged in the temple, she was educated under the supervision and guidance of the older virgins in literacy, the law of God, prayer and women's handicrafts. A heavenly angel brought her heavenly food and talked with her about the Creator of all that exists and His wondrous dispensation of human salvation. Her education in the temple continued until she was fourteen years old, when, according to Jewish law, it had to end, and the virgins had to leave the temple and settle in the house of their parents or relatives. So the Most Holy Virgin, at the age of fourteen, was taken to the house of her betrothed, the elder Joseph the Righteous, where the glorious Annunciation of the Archangel took place.

Thus heavenly providence preserved in the Holy of Holies the pure, incorruptible Maiden from all temptations of the world lying in evil, and sealed Her with the seal of purity and holiness; for the Holy Spirit purified Her beforehand into an incorruptible and immaculate temple for the Son of God. The Orthodox Church does not confess Her immaculate conception by Her parents, for conception in original hereditary sin is common to all mortals, not excluding the righteous Joachim and Anna, and even the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, after the conception of the Son of God in the virgin womb, confessed by the Holy Spirit that Her soul rejoiced in God Her Savior, and from this it follows that He was also Her Savior from the original sin common to all; and Her deep humility did not allow Her to consider Herself completely sinless before the conception of the Son of God. Her very humility showed that She was not born of sinless, although righteous, parents.

What edifying lesson does this feast day teach Christians? The lesson, forgotten or being forgotten today by many Christians of all confessions, that the temple of God is a school of true knowledge of God and piety given to us by God, where we learn to recognize the senselessness and destruction of sin, to turn away from it with all our hearts and are taught every virtue, every truth and holiness, the fear of God, love, praise and gratitude to God for all His countless mercies - true repentance, humility, patience, gentleness, mercy, self-denial, obedience, complete devotion to the will of God. Without a temple, without divine service, without the mysteries given by God for our salvation, without instruction in the word of God, it is impossible to be saved; for "the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19), according to the teaching of the word of God, and the world will be condemned by the righteous judgment of God: "But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world" (1 Cor. 11:32).

Our modern atheists preach that we do not need churches, we do not need the law of God in schools, we do not need prayer, we do not need priests. How? You want people to become dumb animals, beasts, so that the earth becomes an arena of slaughter, bloodshed, so that people like beasts rush at each other, and tear each other apart – as if to misfortune, it has already come to this, because of the lack of faith of many, and Russia has already presented itself in various cities as a real slaughterhouse, and as it were an invasion of the enemy and a sea of flames. Is this not what our godless people are leading us to? Let this not be in the time of Orthodox Russia. Leave us the churches - this earthly heaven; this kingdom of God on earth, where the most honorable and magnificent name of God is unceasingly glorified, where we are sanctified through prayer and the mysteries, where we sincerely converse with God, as children with the Father; where we become living temples of God, where we are most closely united with God, partake of God's incorruptibility and become divine ourselves through the communion of the Divine Mysteries. Glory to God, Who has established temples of His name everywhere and who educates in them reverent, faithful Christians into living temples of Himself, as it is written: "Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you" (1 Cor. 3:16, 6:18)?

Only in the temple of God do we learn to sincerely believe in God, to know ourselves, to love both God and one another; only in the temple do we learn that we have a common Father in heaven, who founded there for His faithful and loving children an eternal, incorruptible city, and that from the foundation of the world He has inscribed those devoted to Him among the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem. Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.