“Let us join chorus today, O ye faithful, chanting to the Lord in psalms and hymns, and honoring His sacred tabernacle, the animate ark, who contained the uncontainable Word”
(Stichera I from Vespers). 

On November 21, we commemorate the Entrance of the Virgin Mary into the temple at Jerusalem. This feast is a foreshadowing of the good news of the Incarnation of the Savior of the world. The bringing of the Virgin to the temple reveals to us God’s goodwill toward His creation, even before the fulfillment of this goodwill at the Annunciation. Joachim and Anna’s gesture of offering the Holy Virgin for service in the temple makes possible the fulfillment of the Creator’s economy of redemption for the human race.

This economy of God was prefigured in the Old Testament, as the stichera says, by the tabernacle, also called the tent of the witness (Exodus 29:44). This was a movable tent built by Moses at the command of God so that the Hebrews could serve God during their wandering in the Egyptian desert. In the Epistle reading for the feast, Saint Paul describes this tent: “For a tent was prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence; it is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain stood a tent called the Holy of Holies, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, which contained a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant” (Hebrews 9:2–4). This tent represents the witness, the proof of God’s presence in the midst of the Hebrew people even during their wandering in the desert, when they did not have a permanent altar. In the tent, in the Holy of Holies, there was the ark of the covenant which contained holy objects of the chosen people, all of which were signs of God’s care for His people: a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant, representing the miraculous nourishing of the people in the desert and its special election through the Laws of God.

The stichera from Vespers encourages us to honor the sacred tabernacle and the animate ark. That which was the prefigurement of God’s care in the Old Testament is now revealed in the person of the Mother of God. The ark contained the tablets of the Law, whereas the Mother of God will bear in her womb the Giver of the Law Himself. The ark contained the manna, the nourishment from heaven, whereas the Mother of God bears the Bread of Life (John 6:48), the eternal nourishment that God offers to the human race as a gift for our salvation. The ark was covered with gold, whereas the Mother of God was overshadowed by the grace of the Holy Spirit (Luke 2:28).

For this economy revealed by God in the bringing to the temple of the Mother of God, it is right for us to give thanks to the Lord alongside the Holy Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna. It is right for us to give thanks, we who appreciate the revelation of this divine plan for the salvation of the human race. It is right for us to give thanks in these days, during which we prepare for the national holiday of Thanksgiving. It is right for us to give ourselves a moment to reflect and cultivate gratitude. To reflect upon the history of American colonists who searched for a land of freedom and well-being. To reflect also upon the events that followed, which strengthened the desire of the first colonists for religious freedom. Yet it is right that our reflection be made complete by our gratitude. We thank God for His blessings, which have been poured out upon our ancestors and are poured out upon us as well, when we gather together with our family for this holiday.

Let us give glory to God and thank Him for all things!

† Metropolitan NICOLAE