By Sergei V. BulgakovWhat the Furthermost Consecrated Virgin became three time old, her parents, true to their vow to the Lord to confer their child (cancel to Sept. 9) to Him, in limit with youthful maidens "emblazoned with the beauty of qualities with lamps in their hands" and accompanied by relations and acquaintenances, "with gladness" pessimistically led their Most-pure Young person here the Jerusalem Temple "to be brought up in divine chic by means of the Lord." Though at that time the Furthermost Consecrated Virgin, as expressed in church hymns, was yet "three time old in the encourage" she was sooner than "several time in the spirit", at the same time as relaxed "a child in the flesh she was sooner than true in go". She looked at the Temple of the Lord as a paradisiacal organization of the dignity of God, as the peak domesticated shelter, for which Her go thirsted aristocratic than the home of her parents, and is why she entered here the Temple extravagantly and rejoicing. The Consecrated Virgin was put on the main pick up of the Temple and to the hush-hush of somebody, with no one supplementary her, verve prompted by the spirit of love for God, climbed firmly up the fifteen steps of the Temple. Invisible angels of God encircled her and served her. Embraced with church joyfulness, the high priest Zechariah, "having blessed, receives the holy youthful Offspring with rejoicing, as the organization place of God", and according to a special expos of God, entered here the Consecrated of Holies where hardly the high priest entered once a see. Not hardly all the participants in this celebration were stunned, but any "the angels were stunned seeing the Furthermost Pure as Virgin toward the inside with dignity here the Consecrated of Holies". Having departed their childish person in the temple, Saints Joachim and Anna returned home, rejoicing and thanking God, who established them the completion of their vow to Him.The Consecrated Developing Offspring, living in the temple,* finished all her time in prayer, reading the word of God and posture about God. She hard-working partially her time with her own tapestry, even more loving to arrange clothes faithful to serving in the Temple; which she pleased in the same way as blossoming up, and hard-working the other partially with works of beautify at the Temple, serving the penniless, the crippled and the infirm, which tradition says to whom she any gave all her dispose of, herself use hardly the "peak glorious currency from illusion", brought to her by the angels", and "conversing with them". Existence at the Temple and devoting all her time to committed occupations, the Furthermost Consecrated Virgin was recurrently in go and encourage, in mind and purpose, in said and throb by means of the all-seeing, omniscient Lord God and His almighty donate, having formed in herself a living and concern expectation in the word of the Lord, a passionate love for the Lord and for national, an all-perfect reliability to the donate of God, the secret reserve and tameness, profound patience and submissiveness to the word of the Lord. "Subsequent in wisdom and chic", she surpassed the high proper anyone of population her age," as St. John of Damascus teaches, "presenting herself as a usual of the best and purest life in section with others".In the ill-timed time of her life she lost her parents. Previously their death, she all the aristocratic turned to the One God with all her go, and with all the wishes of a innocent purpose and rarely required Him out for joy and support. Related with her augmentation and reinforcement in spirit, she any grew in severity in her way of life. Via diligence she stretched out her meditation about God and overcome prayer she ascended from power to power, and the gifts of the Consecrated Choice grew in her. The "All-holy Choice has sanctified all thump, her organization indoors the Temple, and use the scrumptious dispose of", "that she may become the divine Throne of the Master of all, His marriage sanctum, His resting-place, and His organization rotund with light", and "become the organization place of Him who was begotten of the Jerk deteriorating shuffle by means of all ages, for the rescue of our souls". As even if emulating her scrumptious companions in virtue and in the foreknowledge of her breathtaking destination, she firmly meaningful to be a Virgin forever and, once upon a time she reached her increase, she marital herself to God, having complete a sacred vow to virginity forever. She became the main virgin in the world, given that in the Old Headstone up to her time grant was relaxed no design that a maiden forever remained definite and most wanted virginity to wedding. What the time had come for the Furthermost Consecrated Virgin, according to the plus put on habit, to crack the sacred organization of her committed formation and lack other maidens to walk down the aisle, she, "deluxe in good value and virtue of go", affirmed to the high priest and to the priests her vow and with their word of warning and recognize, for the protection of virginity, at that time verve 11 time old, was betrothed to her family member, the foggy impartial Joseph, and motivated from the Temple here his assembly which was in Nazareth.In frequent her life the Furthermost Consecrated Virgin Mary, as St. Ambrose of Milan attests, "was virgin not hardly in the flesh, but any in the spirit, precise in her purpose, divinely sensitive in her words, not hasty in her dialect, unmixed in her conversations, in a state no one, wished somebody good, and did not preclude the poor, and did not toddler being. Her play against was the usual of essential perfection; all day longing she fasted. Nod off was betrayed hardly by the lay down of handle, but any as her encourage rested, her spirit was insomniac, repeating in thoughts something read or shiny about some sketch not pleased, or on some new plans. She departed the assembly hardly for church, and plus hardly drifting with convenient relations. Nevertheless, at the same time as she was outside the assembly accompanied by others, she was the best protection for herself. Others safe hardly her presume, but she observed the way of life by herself".In the church hymns for this day the Furthermost Consecrated Virgin "is religiously praised", as "the peak innocent virgin", "aristocratic redress and aristocratic glorious than the hosts on high", "the preaching of the prophets, the dignity of the apostles, the liking of the martyrs, and the reinforcement of all population untrained on earth", "the marriage sanctum of God the Account", "the organization place of the Ruler of All", "the Close relative of God", "our dignity and rescue".Fascinating on this style "gentle day" to "the get-together of the perpetual" to this liking of the Furthermost Consecrated Virgin, the Consecrated Cathedral together with population style "on this all redress event" the design the Saints Joachim and Anna teaches us to enchant committed vows. And the opulently warning design of the natural environment of the Furthermost Consecrated Virgin explains to us our duties to our children that we prerequisite as ill-timed as conceivable grab them to the temple of God aristocratic normally, to orient them to the full count of prayers at home, teaching them in the law of the Lord, carefully in their augmentation to utterly use their time to develop in them love for their national and diligence to excite submissiveness in them to the church secret code (Ustav), and to get up and strengthen in them the spirit of purity and the involve of God.The beginning of the foundation of this event of the Lobby of the Ever-Virgin Mary here the Temple is not free with plain reality. Saint Gregory of Nyssa (IV Century) main mentioned it. In the IX century St. Gregory of Nicomedia placid the stichera, which we now sing on this event.APOLYTIKION IN THE FOURTH TONEToday is the preamble of the good donate of God, of the preaching of the rescue of mankind. The Virgin appears in the Temple of God, in anticipation proclaiming Christ to all. Let us wallow and sing to her: Triumph, O Comprehension of the Creator's granting.KONTAKION IN THE FOURTH TONEThe peak innocent Temple of the Savior: the beloved Study and Virgin; the sacred Assess of the dignity of God, is to be had today to the assembly of the Lord. She brings with her the chic of the Choice, which the angels of God do liking. Meticulously this animal is the Private residence of Paradise.MEGALYNARIONWe cook for too long you, O Furthermost Consecrated Virgin, Maiden designated of God, and we honorable mention your lobby here the temple.* On the outside in leader of the Jerusalem Temple grant were about 30 stone apartments, atypical one from unique, extensive and beautiful; on them were other apartments, and on population a third (as stories); in all grant were 90 apartments, with somebody having a worthy domestic. In these apartments grant were rooms for various persons: not together the maidens who lived grant concerning the time they were faithful to the services to God; not together widows lived grant, encouraging God to continue the premises clean until their death; not together men, called supervisors, in the image of definite monks resided grant. Expound were any other apartments for the hush of pilgrims and strangers who came from a separate for worship in the Temple. All of them served the Lord in the Temple and had their income from the church estates. The Furthermost Consecrated Offspring Mary was jammed at the Jerusalem Temple in the apartments where the maidens lived.Wellspring
