To the readers of the Kommersant newspaper – Kommersant

Introduction to the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Congratulations to the readers and employees of the Kommersant newspaper on the occasion of the Entry of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the Temple!

Jerusalem. 2 thousand years ago. The Virgin Mary is only 3 years old. Her parents bring her to the Jerusalem Temple to vow to dedicate their long-awaited child to God. She will be raised in the Temple for 10 years, until her betrothal to the righteous Joseph. Life in the Temple will become preparation for Her for the birth of Jesus Christ.

And for us this holiday is preparation for the Nativity of Christ. At the service on November 3, in the evening, for the first time, chants are heard that prepare us for Christmas: “An extraordinary and incomprehensible sacrament: the cave is the sky; Virgo is the throne of the Cherubim; a manger (feeding trough for livestock) is a container in which the incontainable Christ God reclines.” These comparisons reveal the mystery of Christmas.

And the main secret of today’s Feast of the Entry is that when the Mother of God comes to the Temple, she herself is preparing to become a Temple, more glorious and more significant than the man-made Temple into which she was introduced. The Virgin Mary was brought to the Temple so that through Her God would enter this world.

Modern man is often deprived of a temple, deprived of church services, and is brought up in another world. Why does a person need a holiday? We have a lot of gray routine in our lives: work, illness, bad weather, difficulties, limitations, sometimes loneliness even in a large family, and the same thing is repeated every day. This world is cramped, uninteresting, “and boring and sad, and there is no one to give a hand to.” You want something different, you need access to another world – a world of freedom, joy, eternal meaning, a world where there is no death, where you are surrounded by loving people.

Today, everyone has in their pocket a door to an artificial world, an entire artificially created universe – the Internet. There you can find everything to fulfill your desires – starting from the most base. You can learn about everything, live thousands of lives, find virtual friends and loved ones. But, as a rule, all this is illusory, often poisoned by sin and disappears when the computer or smartphone turns off, leaving in the soul not just emptiness, but a painful feeling of deception.

And the Church has established holidays that help us touch the true world, understand the mystery of life and death, the meaning of our stay on earth, help us learn the path to joy and learn the most important thing – love. Today, on the feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, we are called to think that the most important thing is not in some external rituals, not in observing a dress code or standards of behavior, but in something else – in the structure of ourselves, our inner man. Everyone can open their heart to find God. God wants to be with each of us, and Christ says in the Gospel: “Whoever does the will of My Father in Heaven is My brother, and sister, and mother” (Matthew 12:49–50). Therefore, everyone who is ready to live according to the commandments of the Lord becomes dear to God. In a person’s life, it is very important to do what the Most Holy Theotokos did 2 thousand years ago – to come to the Temple of God. On the Feast of the Entry into the Temple, you and I are called to enter into communion with Christ and become family to God. To join in the Heavenly joy and Truth that the Lord reveals to us. Congratulations to all of you on today’s holiday!

Panteleimon, Bishop of Vereisky, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Service of the Russian Orthodox Church