Introduction The Mother of God is one of the universal holidays
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church celebrates the Introduction of the Virgin. Orthodox Christian Youth and Family Day.
Introduction The Mother of God is one of the universal holidays, which in church hymns is called “the harbinger of God’s favor towards people”. It was introduced into the Church of Constantinople in the 7th century by Patriarch Terasius, and into the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Gregory XI in 1374. According to the Holy Scriptures, on this day, the parents of the three-year-old Mary took her to the Jerusalem temple and gave her to serve the Lord . Joachim, Anna and their little daughter were accompanied on the way by their relatives and friends – young maidens with candles in their hands, and after them the parents, leading the Virgin to the Jerusalem temple. The high priests and temple officials welcomed them by singing sacred hymns. The Virgin Mary is placed on the first step in front of the temple entrance and to the amazement of all present, unsupported by anyone, she freely climbed the 15 steps and stopped at the top. High Priest Zachariah – father of St. John the Baptist, welcomed her, blessing her. When she reached the age at which the young graduates of the temple were supposed to return to the world and marry, she was “given” to her aged relative Joseph, who was to watch over her from now on.
Christmas Lent begins
By decision of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church from 1929, the feast of the Introduction of the Virgin is also celebrated as the Day of the Christian family and of the Orthodox Christian learning youth. This day becomes a symbol of the introduction of the young person into the temple, into the bosom of the church and faith, and of the Christian family, whose prime example is the Virgin Mary and her husband – the righteous Joseph. Introduction The Orthodox Church of Our Lady recommends that parents take their children to church services, tell them about the faith and biblical events, and thus raise them in a Christian spirit. The family going to church on this day symbolizes the entry of the three-year-old Mary into the temple and reminds parents of their spiritual obligations to their children. By what the weather is like on that day, people guess what it will be like throughout the next year. If the weather is warm and sunny, the winter will be hot, the summer will be dry, and the fertility will be low. If it rains or snows, the winter will be snowy, the summer – rainy, and the harvest – rich.
