The Temple of God
According to the story of the Entry (and the hymns of the Church), the Virgin Mary not only entered the Holy of Holies, but also remained there for twelve years, being fed by an angel: 1
Led by the Holy Spirit, the holy and immaculate maiden is taken to dwell in the holy temple. She who is in truth the most holy temple of our holy God is nourished by an angel.2 He has sanctified all things by her entry and has made godlike the fallen nature of mortal man. (Vespers of the Entry, fourth hymn of the Stichera)
Today, let us the faithful dance for joy, singing to the Lord with psalms and hymns, venerating His consecrated tabernacle, the living Ark which contains the Word which cannot be contained. For she, a young child, in the flesh is offered in wondrous fashion to the Lord, and Zachariah the priest receives her with rejoicing as the dwelling place of God. (Vespers of the Entry, first hymn of the Stichera)
The holy of holies is fittingly brought to dwell in the sanctuary as a sacrifice pleasing to God; and virgins, well adorned with the virtues, bearing candles before her, escort her to the Lord,3 as a most hallowed vessel. (Little Vespers of the Entry, second hymn of the Stichera)
This is all predicted with poetic beauty in Psalm 44(45):10-18:
There are daughters of kings in Your honor; The queen stood at Your right hand in apparel interwoven with gold, And adorned and embroidered with various colors.
Listen, O daughter, behold and incline your ear, And forget your people and your father’s house;
For the King desired your beauty, For He is your Lord. And the daughters of Tyre shall worship Him with gifts; The rich among the people shall entreat your favor.
All her glory as the King’s daughter is within, Adorned and embroidered with golden tassels. The virgins behind her shall be brought to the King;
Her neighbors shall be brought to You; They shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing;
They shall be led into the temple of the King. In place of your fathers, sons shall be born to you;
You shall make them rulers over all the earth. They shall remember your name from generation to generation.
Whatever the details of the story, 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,4 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 who 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 Kg. [1 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 mortal woman.
The Mother of God always points us to her Son, to our God and Savior. Thus the Feast of her Entry prepares us for Christmas by directing us to the great mystery of the Incarnation. And our response is not mere theological contemplation, but wonder, awe, and adoration: “Christ is born! Give glory!”
All of this reminds us that God’s true temple is the human being. Every one of us is, as St. Paul says, a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6). “The hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father … the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:21, 23).
From the moment we celebrate the Mother of God’s preparation to become the true Ark of the Word of God, we are reminded of the preparation of our own bodies as temples of God. This is one of the purposes of our fasting during Advent. We must prepare the temple of the soul to receive Jesus: “Christ comes from heaven, go to meet Him.”
~ Adapted from Vassilios Papavassiliou, Meditations for Advent: Preparing for Christ’s Birth
1 In the Theotokion of the Stichera of Vespers for the Entry, the angel is identified as the Archangel Gabriel.
2 Infancy Gospel of James 8:2.
3 Infancy Gospel of James 7:4-6.
4 This is the theological significance of Luke 23:4-5: “The veil of the temple was torn in two.” By His Crucifixion, Jesus tore down the wall of partition that separated God and man.
