Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Heartfelt congratulations to all of you with the feast of the Entrance of the All-Holy Theotokos into the Temple!

Today we remember the aged parents who brought their daughter, the three-year-old Mary, to the Temple. They brought her not for a short prayer or for a sacrifice, but for her to remain and live there, to be raised and educated there, for her to learn to constantly pray and to learn to bring God the most real sacrifice, i. e. her own self. They brought her to the Temple so that she would become a living Temple for God, so that she would become the birth giver of God.

Although this little girl was only three years old, she ran up the steps of the Temple to the priest with a great desire. She was overjoyed to stay in the Temple and be raised and educated there. Her parents were also happy, knowing that she will be staying in the Temple.

Today, on this festive day, each of us can try to enter into the joy of the feast. This can be done by looking inside the depths of our hearts to see if this joy is reflected in our souls. Do we rush to church, to the church services, like the Mother of God did while she was a three year old girl? Are we ready to be raised and formed in the Church? Do we raise our children in such a way that they run to church, in such a way that they always want to be there, in such a way that they stay in the Church? Let’s pray to the Most Holy Virgin that we truly become communicants of this joy!

priest Alexis