When the holy and most pure child Mary (Mariam or Miriam in Hebrew) reached the age of three, her parents, the righteous Joachim and Anna, fulfilled the vow they had made to dedicate her to God. Going in procession with a company of maidens carrying torches, they presented their child at the Temple in Jerusalem, where Zecharias the High Priest took her under his care, blessing her with these words: "The Lord has glorified thy name in every generation; it is in thee that He will reveal the Redemption that he has prepared for his people in the last days." He then brought the child into the Holy of Holies — something completely unheard-of, for under the Law only the High Priest was allowed to enter the Holy Place, and he only once a year on the Day of Atonement.   (In the icon of the feast, the maidens who accompany the Theotokos are shown bare-headed, as was customary for unmarried girls; but the Theotokos herself, though only three years old, wears the head-covering of a married woman to show her consecration to God.)   The holy Virgin lived in the Temple for the next nine years, devoting herself entirely to prayer. In this time she attained the utter purity of heart befitting the destined Bearer of the Most High; she became in her own person the fulfilment and condensation of all of Israel's faithfulness. Saint Gregory Palamas says that, when the Theotokos entered the Holy of Holies, the time of preparation and testing of the Old Covenant came to an end for Israel, which was now ready, in the blessed Virgin, to bring forth the Savior.   When Mary approached marriageable age, she was entrusted to the chaste widower Joseph to guard her. (The Prologue says that a life of intentional virginity was unknown among the Hebrews, so the righteous Joseph undertook the forms of marriage so as not to cause scandal among the people.)   "Wherefore the Church rejoices and exhorts all the friends of God for their part to enter into the temple of their heart, there to make ready for the coming of the Lord by silence and prayer, withdrawing from the pleasures and cares of this world." (Synaxarion)

When the holy and most pure child Mary (Mariam or Miriam in Hebrew) reached the age of three, her parents, the righteous Joachim and Anna, fulfilled the vow they had made to dedicate her to God. Going in procession with a company of maidens carrying torches, they presented their child at the Temple in Jerusalem, where Zecharias the High Priest took her under his care, blessing her with these words: "The Lord has glorified thy name in every generation; it is in thee that He will reveal the Redemption that he has prepared for his people in the last days." He then brought the child into the Holy of Holies — something completely unheard-of, for under the Law only the High Priest was allowed to enter the Holy Place, and he only once a year on the Day of Atonement.   (In the icon of the feast, the maidens who accompany the Theotokos are shown bare-headed, as was customary for unmarried girls; but the Theotokos herself, though only three years old, wears the head-covering of a married woman to show her consecration to God.)   The holy Virgin lived in the Temple for the next nine years, devoting herself entirely to prayer. In this time she attained the utter purity of heart befitting the destined Bearer of the Most High; she became in her own person the fulfilment and condensation of all of Israel's faithfulness. Saint Gregory Palamas says that, when the Theotokos entered the Holy of Holies, the time of preparation and testing of the Old Covenant came to an end for Israel, which was now ready, in the blessed Virgin, to bring forth the Savior.   When Mary approached marriageable age, she was entrusted to the chaste widower Joseph to guard her. (The Prologue says that a life of intentional virginity was unknown among the Hebrews, so the righteous Joseph undertook the forms of marriage so as not to cause scandal among the people.)   "Wherefore the Church rejoices and exhorts all the friends of God for their part to enter into the temple of their heart, there to make ready for the coming of the Lord by silence and prayer, withdrawing from the pleasures and cares of this world." (Synaxarion)

Mother Maria was born in Latvia in 1891. Like many of the pre-Revolutionary Russian intelligenstia, she was an atheist and a political radical in her youth, but gradually came to accept the truths of the Faith. After the Revolution, she became part of the large Russian emigre population of Paris. There she was tonsured as a nun by Metropolitan Evlogy, and devoted herself to a life of service to the poor. With a small community of fellow-believers, she established 'houses of hospitality' for the poor, the homeless, and the alcoholic, and visited Russian emigres in mental hospitals. In 1939 Metropolitan Evlogy sent the young priest Fr Dimitry to serve Mother Maria's community; he proved to be a partner, committed even unto death, in the community's work among the poor. When the Nazis took Paris in 1940, Mother Maria, Fr Dimitry, and others of the community chose to remain in the city to care for those who had come to count on them. As Nazi persecution of Jews in France increased, the Orthodox community's work naturally expanded to include protection and care of these most helpless ones. Father Dimitri was asked to provide forged certificates of baptism to preserve the lives of Jews, and always complied. Eventually, this work led to the arrest of Mother Maria, Fr Dimitri, and their associates. A fragment survives of the Gestapo's interrogation of Fr Dimitri:   Hoffman: If we release you, will you give your word never again to aid Jews?   Klepinin: I can say no such thing. I am a Christian and must act as I must. (Hoffman struck Klepinin across the face.)   Hoffman: Jew lover! How dare you talk of helping those swine as being a Christian duty! (Klepinin, recovering his balance, held up the cross from his cassock.)   Klepinin: Do you know this Jew? (For this, Father Dimitri was knocked to the floor.)   "Your priest did himself in," Hoffman said afterward to Sophia Pilenko. "He insists that if he were to be freed, he would act exactly as before."   Mother Maria, Fr Dimitri, and several of their colleages, were sent to the Nazi concentration camps (Mother Maria to Ravensbruck, Fr Dimitri to Buchenwald) where, after great sufferings, they perished. It is believed that Mother Maria's last act was to take the place of a Jew being sent to death, voluntarily dying in his place.   A full account of their life and death is given on the site of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship.   Mother Maria and her companions were glorified by the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 2004.

When the holy and most pure child Mary (Mariam or Miriam in Hebrew) reached the age of three, her parents, the righteous Joachim and Anna, fulfilled the vow they had made to dedicate her to God. Going in procession with a company of maidens carrying torches, they presented their child at the Temple in Jerusalem, where Zecharias the High Priest took her under his care, blessing her with these words: "The Lord has glorified thy name in every generation; it is in thee that He will reveal the Redemption that he has prepared for his people in the last days." He then brought the child into the Holy of Holies — something completely unheard-of, for under the Law only the High Priest was allowed to enter the Holy Place, and he only once a year on the Day of Atonement.   (In the icon of the feast, the maidens who accompany the Theotokos are shown bare-headed, as was customary for unmarried girls; but the Theotokos herself, though only three years old, wears the head-covering of a married woman to show her consecration to God.)   The holy Virgin lived in the Temple for the next nine years, devoting herself entirely to prayer. In this time she attained the utter purity of heart befitting the destined Bearer of the Most High; she became in her own person the fulfilment and condensation of all of Israel's faithfulness. Saint Gregory Palamas says that, when the Theotokos entered the Holy of Holies, the time of preparation and testing of the Old Covenant came to an end for Israel, which was now ready, in the blessed Virgin, to bring forth the Savior.   When Mary approached marriageable age, she was entrusted to the chaste widower Joseph to guard her. (The Prologue says that a life of intentional virginity was unknown among the Hebrews, so the righteous Joseph undertook the forms of marriage so as not to cause scandal among the people.)   "Wherefore the Church rejoices and exhorts all the friends of God for their part to enter into the temple of their heart, there to make ready for the coming of the Lord by silence and prayer, withdrawing from the pleasures and cares of this world." (Synaxarion)

Mother Maria was born in Latvia in 1891. Like many of the pre-Revolutionary Russian intelligenstia, she was an atheist and a political radical in her youth, but gradually came to accept the truths of the Faith. After the Revolution, she became part of the large Russian emigre population of Paris. There she was tonsured as a nun by Metropolitan Evlogy, and devoted herself to a life of service to the poor. With a small community of fellow-believers, she established 'houses of hospitality' for the poor, the homeless, and the alcoholic, and visited Russian emigres in mental hospitals. In 1939 Metropolitan Evlogy sent the young priest Fr Dimitry to serve Mother Maria's community; he proved to be a partner, committed even unto death, in the community's work among the poor. When the Nazis took Paris in 1940, Mother Maria, Fr Dimitry, and others of the community chose to remain in the city to care for those who had come to count on them. As Nazi persecution of Jews in France increased, the Orthodox community's work naturally expanded to include protection and care of these most helpless ones. Father Dimitri was asked to provide forged certificates of baptism to preserve the lives of Jews, and always complied. Eventually, this work led to the arrest of Mother Maria, Fr Dimitri, and their associates. A fragment survives of the Gestapo's interrogation of Fr Dimitri:   Hoffman: If we release you, will you give your word never again to aid Jews?   Klepinin: I can say no such thing. I am a Christian and must act as I must. (Hoffman struck Klepinin across the face.)   Hoffman: Jew lover! How dare you talk of helping those swine as being a Christian duty! (Klepinin, recovering his balance, held up the cross from his cassock.)   Klepinin: Do you know this Jew? (For this, Father Dimitri was knocked to the floor.)   "Your priest did himself in," Hoffman said afterward to Sophia Pilenko. "He insists that if he were to be freed, he would act exactly as before."   Mother Maria, Fr Dimitri, and several of their colleages, were sent to the Nazi concentration camps (Mother Maria to Ravensbruck, Fr Dimitri to Buchenwald) where, after great sufferings, they perished. It is believed that Mother Maria's last act was to take the place of a Jew being sent to death, voluntarily dying in his place.   A full account of their life and death is given on the site of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship.   Mother Maria and her companions were glorified by the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 2004.

When the holy and most pure child Mary (Mariam or Miriam in Hebrew) reached the age of three, her parents, the righteous Joachim and Anna, fulfilled the vow they had made to dedicate her to God. Going in procession with a company of maidens carrying torches, they presented their child at the Temple in Jerusalem, where Zecharias the High Priest took her under his care, blessing her with these words: "The Lord has glorified thy name in every generation; it is in thee that He will reveal the Redemption that he has prepared for his people in the last days." He then brought the child into the Holy of Holies — something completely unheard-of, for under the Law only the High Priest was allowed to enter the Holy Place, and he only once a year on the Day of Atonement.   (In the icon of the feast, the maidens who accompany the Theotokos are shown bare-headed, as was customary for unmarried girls; but the Theotokos herself, though only three years old, wears the head-covering of a married woman to show her consecration to God.)   The holy Virgin lived in the Temple for the next nine years, devoting herself entirely to prayer. In this time she attained the utter purity of heart befitting the destined Bearer of the Most High; she became in her own person the fulfilment and condensation of all of Israel's faithfulness. Saint Gregory Palamas says that, when the Theotokos entered the Holy of Holies, the time of preparation and testing of the Old Covenant came to an end for Israel, which was now ready, in the blessed Virgin, to bring forth the Savior.   When Mary approached marriageable age, she was entrusted to the chaste widower Joseph to guard her. (The Prologue says that a life of intentional virginity was unknown among the Hebrews, so the righteous Joseph undertook the forms of marriage so as not to cause scandal among the people.)   "Wherefore the Church rejoices and exhorts all the friends of God for their part to enter into the temple of their heart, there to make ready for the coming of the Lord by silence and prayer, withdrawing from the pleasures and cares of this world." (Synaxarion)

When the holy and most pure child Mary (Mariam or Miriam in Hebrew) reached the age of three, her parents, the righteous Joachim and Anna, fulfilled the vow they had made to dedicate her to God. Going in procession with a company of maidens carrying torches, they presented their child at the Temple in Jerusalem, where Zecharias the High Priest took her under his care, blessing her with these words: "The Lord has glorified thy name in every generation; it is in thee that He will reveal the Redemption that he has prepared for his people in the last days." He then brought the child into the Holy of Holies — something completely unheard-of, for under the Law only the High Priest was allowed to enter the Holy Place, and he only once a year on the Day of Atonement.   (In the icon of the feast, the maidens who accompany the Theotokos are shown bare-headed, as was customary for unmarried girls; but the Theotokos herself, though only three years old, wears the head-covering of a married woman to show her consecration to God.)   The holy Virgin lived in the Temple for the next nine years, devoting herself entirely to prayer. In this time she attained the utter purity of heart befitting the destined Bearer of the Most High; she became in her own person the fulfilment and condensation of all of Israel's faithfulness. Saint Gregory Palamas says that, when the Theotokos entered the Holy of Holies, the time of preparation and testing of the Old Covenant came to an end for Israel, which was now ready, in the blessed Virgin, to bring forth the Savior.   When Mary approached marriageable age, she was entrusted to the chaste widower Joseph to guard her. (The Prologue says that a life of intentional virginity was unknown among the Hebrews, so the righteous Joseph undertook the forms of marriage so as not to cause scandal among the people.)   "Wherefore the Church rejoices and exhorts all the friends of God for their part to enter into the temple of their heart, there to make ready for the coming of the Lord by silence and prayer, withdrawing from the pleasures and cares of this world." (Synaxarion)

Una entrevista inspiradora con el Padre Jesús Ruiz Munilla, un sacerdote con la Iglesia Ortodoxa de Antioquia en México. Padre Jesús también comparte con nosotros algo de la historia y el trabajo de la Iglesia Ortodoxa en México y América Latina. An inspirational interview with Fr. Jesús Ruiz Munilla, a Priest with the Antiochian Orthodox Church in Mexico. Fr. Jesús also shares with us about the history and work of the Orthodox Church in Mexico and Latin America.

Fr. Andrew speaks on Zacchaeus Sunday, combining the themes of Zacchaeus and the blessing of houses, concerning the preparation needed for the entry of Christ into our homes.

Jesus enters triumphantly into the Holy City of Jerusalem, as celebrated on Palm Sunday. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick relates that to His entry into the Jerusalem that is our hearts and talks about what happens when that occurs.

Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick points out that the woman bent over by a 'spirit of infirmity' was under demonic attack and addresses the place of angels and demons in the life of the Christian, insisting that exorcism is actually a key component of the gospel.

Fr. John Oliver considers the mystery of the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, that is known most fully in the heart.

Like the Theotokos, we are called to welcome Christ into our own lives and become the Temple of God.

We must never think that the vocation to holiness is reserved exclusively for some people, perhaps the clergy, the monastics, or only the great saints.

It is worth asking what we want to achieve by practicing our faith. Why do we come to church, pray, fast, give to the needy, forgive our enemies, confess our sins, and otherwise struggle to reorient our lives toward God? Perhaps we do these things because we want to put God in our debt so that He will do our will. Maybe we want to become socially respectable, making ourselves look virtuous in our own eyes and in those of our neighbors. It could also be the case that we want to distinguish ourselves from our neighbors, especially those we do not like, presenting ourselves as more pious and moral than we think they are. Of course, these are all distortions of true Christian faith, but the real test of our faith is not simply in what we generally want from religion, but especially in how we relate to the Lord when we face deep challenges that break our hearts and threaten to lead us into despair.

"The Entrance of the Theotokos," from Feasts of Christ and the Theotokos and Miracles of the Lord by Spiritual Fragrance Publishing (2012)

32. Book 1: The Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple from The Twelve Great Feasts for Children by Mother Melania (Conciliar Press, 2003) Book 2: Halloween Town by Dennis Eugene Engleman (Regina Orthodox Press) part two

54. Book 1: The Entry of Our Lord into Jerusalem from The Twelve Great Feasts for Children by Sister Elayne, now Mother Melania (Conciliar Press, 2005) (duration 3.37) Book 2: Great and Holy Friday from The Three-Day Pascha Series by Mother Melania (Conciliar Press, 2006) (begins at 4:20, duration 5.25) Book 3: Drita: An Albanian Girl Discovers her Ancestor's Faith by Renee Ritsi (Conciliar Press, 2008) (begins at 9:58, duration 13.10)

141. The Entry of Our Lord into Jerusalem from The Twelve Great Feasts for Children by Sister Elayne, now Mother Melania (Conciliar Press, 2005)

With the reading of the Gospel and the homily that often follows it, the Liturgy of the Catechumens is concluded, and we transition to the Liturgy of the Faithful - The Communion Service. The Eucharist has always been the central focus of the life and worship of the Church from the beginning. Here we try to convey, by way of the Cherubic Hymn and the priestly prayers, the meaning of the Great Entrance - the journey of the gifts from the Prothesis table to the Altar. This is the life-journey of Christ in the world on his way to His Life-Giving Death, and the faithful are eyewitnesses to this - as the lines between heaven and earth are blurred in the mysterious and sacred space of the Kingdom.

Padre Nicolás predico sobre la consolación que recibimos en el Espíritu de Dios. Evita los engaños que da el mundo. (Hechos 2:1-11) Fr. Nicholas preached about the consolation we receive in the Spirit of God. Avoid the deception of the world that gives only temporal rewards. (Acts 2:1-11)

Padre Nicholas predico sobre la vida espiritual y el valor tan grande de la salud de tu alma. También cuidado por tanto reglas que crean que tu salvación viene de ellos. La salvación viene de Cristo. (Gálata 2:16-20) Fr. Nicholas preached about the spiritual life and the great value in having a healthy soul. Also be careful for all the rules, believing that salvation comes from them. Salvation comes from Christ. (Galatians 2:16-20)

El Padre Nicolás predicó sobre cómo Cristo conquistó el Paríso para nosotros. Father Nicholas preached on how Christ conquered Paradise for us.

Our kitchens serve many functions; there we prepare celebrations and we heal wounds. We nourish ourselves and others. Today Martha shares some observations about her own kitchen.

Fr. Apostolos helps us understand the centrality of the Cross for salvation.

This is lesson three in Fr. Apostolos' series on Divine Worship; this installment addressing the historical development of the Small Entrance and the significance of the Readings in view of the centrality of Holy Scripture in the lives of Christian believers.

Third Sunday after Pentecost

On the great feast of the Annunciation of the Mother of God, Fr Thomas reminds us that the message given by the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary is the very essence of the gospel message. This same message about the person of Jesus Christ also requires a response from us.

Fr. Gregory uses the example of the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple to instruct on how we should enter church for worship.

In Greek mythology the young man Narcissus who pined away in love with his own image in a pool of water was turned into the flower that bears his name. Anyone can be a narcissist—young or old, male or female. However, Fr. Emmanuel Kahn says there are in fact two types of narcissists, extrovert and introvert.

Bobby Maddex interviews Dr. Edith Humphrey, the William F. Orr Professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and the author of the new Brazos Press book Grand Entrance: Worship on Earth as in Heaven.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos, Ancient Faith Radio podcaster and the parish priest of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Winnipeg, Canada, and Matthew Namee, a Founding Director of The Society for Orthodox Christian History in the Americas, speak about this vexing and all-too-pervasive reality—and obstacle to evangelism—in the Orthodox Church.

I enjoy entrepreneurship, startups, business and the like the same way my brother in law enjoys baseball and basketball. Which is to say, I'm a rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth fan. Rarely a day goes by that I don't read, study, research, observe,...