The House of God

A Sermon on the Day of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos Into the Temple

With faith let us praise Mary the Maiden of God: for today she is led into the Holy of Holies to be brought up for the Lord (the ikos at Matins)

Today, my brethren, the holy Church celebrates the solemn Entry of the three-year-old Maiden Mary—the blessed daughter of her righteous parents Joachim and Anna—into the temple of Jerusalem, to be brought up for the Lord. The high priest, the elder Zacharias, received her with befitting priestly solemnity as she was accompanied by young maidens, and led her, at the prompting of the Spirit of God, into the innermost part of the temple, into the Holy of Holies, where the high priest himself entered only once a year and where the Lord Himself, the Holy One of the holy, made His dwelling—for she was to be His Mother according to the flesh.

How did the Most Blessed Virgin spend her time in the temple? Taught by the Holy Spirit Himself, through the mediation of maidens, in Hebrew writing and in prayer, She passed her time in prayer, in reading the word of God—as you see on the icon of the Annunciation—in godly meditation, and in handiwork. Her love for converse with God and for reading the word of God was so great that she forgot about food and drink, and the Archangel, by God’s command, brought Her heavenly food, as the Church sings in her stichera for today’s feast.

What a beautiful example for fathers and mothers and their children, for Christian maidens and young men! And they are obliged, as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, as servants of the heavenly Queen, the Theotokos, and of the mistress of inward instruction—the Church to which they belong—to imitate, according to their strength, Her ardent love for God, Her zeal for reading the word of God, for prayer, for godly meditation, for abstinence, for industriousness! If we do not wish in vain to be called spiritual members of the Church of Christ—of this holy House of God, whose Queen and Mother is the Most Holy Virgin Theotokos—then the same mind must also be at work in us as in Her, the Queen Mother. May Her children be of one spirit with Her by grace! May they learn from Her how one must love the Lord, their Creator, above all things in the world, above father and mother, above all their kindred; how diligently to study the word of God—which, unhappily, is not seen among those who call themselves disciples, men and women, of Jesus Christ—with what heartfelt ardor of love to pray to the Lord, how to give oneself over to Him with all one’s heart, how to entrust one’s whole destiny to Him, the all-wise and all-good Providence; with what purity, meekness, humility, and patience to clothe and adorn oneself at all times—instead of the vain adornments of this adulterous, sinful world, which knows no measure of luxury and refinement in bodily attire—how to love dwelling with God and with the saints better than to live in the tents of sinners[1].

Since the Most Holy Virgin was brought into the temple to be raised for the Lord, let us now speak of the benefit and the necessity of visiting the church of God, as the house of God and the place of our upbringing for our heavenly homeland. We are called Christians, and all of us are summoned by Jesus Christ to a heavenly homeland—to be citizens of heaven, heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ. Our calling is a very exalted one, and our duties are likewise most weighty; we must be of a spirit that is elevated, holy, meek, and humble. And who will show us in what our Christian calling consists and what its duties are, what kind of spirit we ought to have, and how we ought to conduct ourselves in the various circumstances of life? Who will impart to us the strength to live according to the Spirit of Christ—in holiness? The Church provides all this for us; we can obtain these spiritual powers in the church of God through the Mysteries. Here a heavenly, unearthly spirit hovers; here is the school of Jesus Christ, in which the future citizens of heaven are brought up; here you receive heavenly lessons from the Divine Teacher, Jesus Christ, and from the Holy Spirit in the Gospel; heavenly food and heavenly drink; clothing that is spiritual and heavenly; and the full armor of the spirit against the enemies of salvation; here you receive the peace that is above the heavens, so necessary in our spiritual pursuits and in our spiritual upbringing, together with strength for spiritual labors and for the struggle against sin. Here we learn sweet communion with our heavenly Father and with the all-pure Queen, the Theotokos, with the Angels of the Lord and with the saints; we learn how to pray and for what to pray. Here you will find examples of all the Christian virtues in the saints whom the Church glorifies day by day. Here, gathering together in the house of God as children of one heavenly Father, as members of the mystical Body of Christ, we learn to love one another as member loves member, as members of Christ, as Christ Himself. Do you see how profitable, how necessary it is for a Christian to visit the church of God—this school of faith and piety established by God—this sacred treasury of Divine powers for life and piety[2], this treasury of all the Mysteries of Christ!

But the benefit and necessity of visiting the church of God for a Christian becomes all the more evident when the church is compared with the vain world, in which we like to spend our time more than in the church. What do you encounter in the world, and what in the church? In the world—vanity at almost every step, spiritual delusion, vice; in the church—only truth, holiness, and every virtue; in the world—decay, sin, and death; in the church—the incorruption of the saints and eternal life. Outside the church you see objects of worldly vanity that feed the craving of the flesh, the craving of the eyes, and the pride of life[3]; you see the things by which people are continually beguiled and taken captive, and because of which they neglect the commandments of God their Creator and Savior; for example, here—in this building every variety of fabric of every color has taken up residence: these fabrics are the object of adoration for the daughters of men; by them they live, by them they are animated, by them they rejoice, but not by God. Here too various articles of silver and gold dazzle with their brilliance, beguiling the eyes of the admirers of everything gleaming and beautiful. In a word—in the world, wherever you turn your attention, almost everywhere you see only decay, only vanity and sin; everywhere there is the earthly and the worldly, idle and vain conversations, and vain deeds—almost nothing that calls to mind heaven, or God, or the life there. Only in the homes of pious people do the icons of the Lord Jesus Christ, of His most pure Mother, and of His saints remind those who understand that we are Christians and members of Christ, members of His kingdom, and that we await the resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to come, in which we shall be united with the Lord and with the saints, having cleansed ourselves here of every defilement of flesh and spirit.

So you see what a difference there is between the temple, or house of God, and the world. You see how beneficial and necessary it is for a Christian to attend the temple of God, so as to bring himself up for the heavenly homeland, to instill the spirit of Christ within himself, and to form within himself heavenly, holy ways! For where else but in God’s temple will you hear the word of God? Where, apart from the temple, will the mysteries of the faith be administered to you? From where will you take the strength to live as a Christian? Everything is in the temple, and comes from the temple. Love, then, to attend God’s temple, and prepare out of yourselves a temple for God, and be yourselves as living stones built up into a spiritual temple, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ[4]. Parents, teachers, and relatives of children: let them take or send them to the temple more often, and without fail on all Sundays and feast days—to public prayer, and not to the theater, not to evening parties, where youth comes to know so early what it ought never to have come to know. In the temple they will often hear the name of the Lord; they will learn the great truths of the creation of the world and of man, of the fall and the redemption of man; they will come to know the Savior, the Mother of God, will learn the names of the saints, about the resurrection of the dead, the future judgment, the life to come, and the eternal torments of sinners; and they will learn from the Spirit of God to be good Christians—and this is more precious than anything in the world. Amen.