The Presentation of the Theotokos in the Temple

Shortly after the beginning of Advent, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Theotokos in the Temple. It is as if, while journeying toward the great Mystery of the Birth of the God-Man, we turn, initially, to the contemplation of the Mother of God whose “silent expectation should be the model of our own experience.” (Gillet, p. 52)

Although the presentation of Jesus in the temple is found in the New Testament, the presentation of Mary is an apocryphal story which expands on Biblical themes. We know that the canonical gospels are not meant to be purely biographical or historical in character, but serve to focus our attention on the central Mysteries of Redemption and the messages which flow from the teachings of Christ. Likewise, the apocryphal texts, which were not included in the canon of the 27 books of the New Testament, are important for their literary form as well as their content, which often served to fill in the missing gaps of the New Testament stories, or present their sequel. While scholars in the West tend to find these apocryphal texts interesting in terms of form and redaction-criticism, Eastern theologians interpret them in the light of spiritual metaphor. Nearly all of the liturgical, iconographic and synaxaric traditions associated with the Virgin Mary appear to have their origin in apocryphal traditions, and one of the most important texts was the Protoevangelium of James.

The Protoevangelium cast an “undeniable spell” (Gambero. P 35) over the early Christian mentality and played a profound role in the development of liturgy, doctrine, and cultic devotions to Mary. Many of the early Fathers have referred to it and it’s value still lies, in part, because of it’s antiquity. It had value as an apologetic because its primary objective was to demonstrate the virginal conception of Jesus by Mary. For the author of the Protoevangelium of James (purportedly James, the brother of Jesus), Mary is the honored model of the pure virginal life which he extols for his readers as the will of God. Already an adult at the time of Jesus’ birth, “James” claims to be an eye-witness to the narrative, revealing his authorship at the end of the text. In addition to addressing claims then in circulation by Christianity’s early detractors that Mary was not a virgin, this piece of 2^nd century literature is also important for its claim the that Mary was herself Davidic, i.e., from the royal house of David (Brown, et al, p. 260.) In a collaborative assessment of Mary in the New Testament and apocrypha by Protestant and Roman Catholic scholars (1978), the Protoevangelium was found to be the primary source for information about Mary that was not primarily christological:

“We found that in the sources where Mary is mentioned, this is done chiefly in connection with christological questions. Not until the latter part of the century is any independent interest in Mary shown; the principal witness to such interest is the Protoevangelium of James…Although belief in the virginal conception was widespread, there is no second-century evidence of belief in Mary’s remaining a virgin after the birth of Jesus, apart from implications contained in the Protoevangelium. The latter development of this doctrine went hand in hand with the ascetic glorification of virginity.” (p 293)

Written around 150 C.E., the Protoevangelium can be considered a very early and valid witness to the faith of the early Christian community in the virginity and holiness of the Mother of God.

The apocryphal literature which forms the oral tradition for fleshing out the early life and mysteries of Mary include: the Protoevangelium; the Gospel of the Birth of Mary; the Infancy Gospel of Thomas; and the Gospel of the Nazaraeans. The Protoevangelium presents Mary’s parentage, her birth, childhood, vow of virginity, and marriage to Joseph, who is depicted as a widower with seven children. Hence the traditions still exists, in the East, that the “brothers and sisters” of Jesus were children of Joseph. In the West, this was re-interpreted by Jerome to mean “cousin” or “brethren” of Jesus. The Gospel of the Birth of Mary, widely referred to by the Eastern fathers and hymnographers is also found in the reference material of Jerome and Epiphanius. It will be explained in more detail shortly.

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas largely describes the boyhood of Jesus and his mother’s role and is an expanded version of Luke 21: 41-52. The Gospel of the Nazaraeans, which is an expanded version of Matthew, situates Mary during the ministry of Jesus, and also includes her desire to be baptized by John the Baptist. It has also been noted that the Koran, when compared with the apocryphal sources, especially the Gospel of the Birth of Mary, shares many similar details of the hidden life of Jesus and Mary. In addition, the Essenes purportedly made use of these gospels; and modern Essenes believe that Joachim and Anna belonged to the Essene community, where there was, it is believed, a place for women to study and take monastic vows. (The Essenes, who presumably authored many of the Dead Sea scrolls found at Qumran, formed early monastic communities, eschatological in nature, which were in opposition to the Jewish temple cult..)

Modern scholarship (particularly in the West) now affirms that the Presentation of Mary in the temple is a fictional story because Jewish tradition had no place in the temple for girls to live or be educated. However, the story of Anna, the prophetess found in Luke 2:37, indicates that she “never left the temple,” praying and fasting there day and night.

This passage has been interpreted to mean that the temple offered a kind of social security to widows in exchange for a redistribution of tithes. A large part of the temple funds may have consisted to deposits belonging to widows, who could, in turn, find sanctuary there at any time. Widows would have no longer posed a pollution threat, and, in addition, it was believed that God paid special attention to the prayers of widows. (Sir. 35; 14-15; Ex 22:21-2) (Between Poverty and the Pyre, Lourens van den Bosch and Jan Bremmer; Routledge, 1995, p 21, 25)

The Gospel of the Birth of Mary, however, indicates that Mary was a temple virgin. This gospel, which was known to many of the ante-Nicene fathers and which would later serve as a rich source of iconographic images, tells us that Mary was a descendent of the royal family of David, was born in Nazareth and educated at Jerusalem. It notes that Joachim and Anna had been married 20 years before an angel appeared to them, separately, informing them that a daughter would be born to them who would be called Mary, “consecrated to the Lord from her infancy, and she shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from her mother’s womb” (Chapter 3) They are informed that she would bring forth the Son of God, “who both by his grace and name and works, shall be the Savior of the world.” (Chap. 3)

The story then details how she was brought to the temple at three years of age and how, once there, the young virgin ascends fifteen stairs “according to the 15 psalms of degrees,” (which refer to Psalms 120-134.) She ascends these steps “one after another in such a manner that anyone would have judged that she was of perfect age.” (Chap.6) On the third step, she began dancing for joy and the whole house of Israel fell in love with her (This detail is from the Protevangelium.) Once within the sanctuary, Mary engages in the work of weaving temple garments; while in her contemplative life, she is ministered to by angels. (Chap.7) When she is “advanced in years” (believed to be 12 years old, or the time she would be approaching menses and thus seen as a pollution to the temple), the high-priest orders her to leave the temple and be married. Mary, however, having vowed her virginity to God, refuses. The high-priest then consults his breastplate, the Urim and Thummin, which was an Old Testament oracular practice (e.g., Ex. 28:30) instituted by Moses. “And immediately there was a voice from the ark and the mercy-seat” which were the two items found in the inner sanctum of the Holy of Holies, described in Ex. 25: 10-22 (Chap. 7)

The high-priest then obeys this oracular command and orders all of the unmarried men of the house of David to bring their rods to the altar. The rod refers to the long staff men often carried. The high-priest announces that “[as] Isaiah says, there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a flower shall spring out of it’s root. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.” (Chap.7). Joseph, who is described as very advanced in years, was among the men present, and he initially withholds his staff. When he at last presents it, a dove alights on top of his rod, a sign witnessed by all. “Everyone plainly saw that the Virgin was to be betrothed to him.” (Chap.8) The gospel continues to detail Mary’s Annunciation (Chap. 9) and Joseph’s doubt (Chap.10) as well as the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. (Chap.10) In the Protoevangelium of James, Joseph’s staff blossoms into lilies. This text also gives more details about the birth of Jesus; from it is drawn the story of the mid-wife, who asserts that Mary gave birth while sustaining the miracle of her virginity, that is, in partu. (See the Nativity icon).

The hymn of the famous poet Romanos, on his reflection of the Gospel of Mary recalls the important elements from these stories. He sings to Anna:

“Your birth is worthy of veneration, O holy woman, because you brought to light the joy of the world, the powerful meditrix of graces…Indeed she is the rampart, the defense, and the haven of whoever trusts in her. Every Christian finds in her, in your fruit, a protector, a defense, and the hope of salvation.” (Gambero, p. 329)

The iconography of this feast, then, serves as a transition from the archetypal Mary, as envisioned through the use of the Old Testament metaphors, (see Part 1) to the mysteries and doctrines which emerge from the study of the New Testament and apocrypha. This feastday has a long tradition in both the Eastern and Western churches. In Orthodoxy, it is one of the twelve Great feasts, as important as Mary’s Nativity or Dormition. It symbolizes Mary’s wholehearted submission to the will of God and serves as a reflection on the holy and honorable destiny of the Holy Mother. Metaphorically, the theme of the feast is that Mary, the Temple of the Living God, is offered to the Lord; thus the bond between Christ the Word, and Mary, the Theotokos, is forged for all eternity.

Let us examine, then the influence of this oral tradition on the development of Marian iconography. Maria Vassilake, in her iconographical study called Images of the Mother of God points out that some of the oldest iconography: the “wall-paintings in Cappadocian churches, the mosaics in the narthex of the Chora monastery in Constantinople, the wall-painting in the katholikon of the Chilandari monastery on Mt. Athos of the Peribleptos monastery at Mystras, etc.” are all inspired by the apocryphal gospels and include many scenes from the childhood of the virgin, especially her Presentation. (p.68 Images of the Mother of God:
Perceptions of the Theotokos in Byzantium, Maria Vassilaki Skira Pub.2000)
In the icon mosaic at the Kaiye Djami in Constantinople the high-priest, Zacharias, is depicted kneeling in prayer before the Virgin, who has the rods neatly arranged on the altar before her. In another icon at the same place, Joseph’s rod is seen sprouting several small leaves. In these mosaics the analogy of the budding of Aaron’s rod (Numbers 17:8) as well as the prophecy of Isaiah (11:1-2) concerning the root of Jesse is made explicit. (Life of VM, p. 65)

Like her Old Testament prototype and namesake, Hannah, Anna has vowed to give her child to God. In the most commonly painted icon of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple, we see the parents of Mary offering her to the high-priest in an obedient but sorrowful gesture: the fruit of God’s promise, to them and to the world. Zacharias is welcoming the youthful virgin as she approaches the first step. Generally there is pictured a procession of virgins who are following Mary, as she is being introduced into the sacred space. The “three year old” virgin is, in Eastern iconography, always pictured as a small adult: her age is expressed by her size, her wisdom by her countenance. Often, a second scene is shown in the icon. The background behind Zacharias depicts another (later) episode: the Virgin in solitary confinement above, and within the Holy of Holies, receiving nourishment and instruction from an angel. This double perspective became very popular in the middle Byzantine era.

The temple veil is a highlight of the icon, evoking the idea that Mary has been separated from the world; she has pierced the veil of the temple. “Today the All Pure and All Holy enters the Holy of Holies” is the hymn of the Liturgy; the refrain reminds us that Mary was chosen and ordained to serve in the Mystery of the Incarnation. Mary is simultaneously part of our human race and set apart from it. Her service in the temple evokes the idea that as a consecrated virgin, she is set apart for God, prefiguring the role of later virgins of the monastic period. But more importantly, as Archpriest George Florovsky has noted, “by this eternal election or predestination, she was in a sense…given a unique privilege and position in the whole …of creation. She was put into an unparalleled relation to God, to the Holy Trinity, even before the Incarnation.”(my printout Ever-Virgin Mother of God, originally appeared in The Mother of God, edited by E. L. Mascall (London: Dacre Press, 1949), pp. 51-63) Because she will bear God in her womb, she is made more holy than the temple at Jerusalem, for she is the Living Sanctuary: joy is coming down from heaven and springing from the earth. As another liturgical hymn proclaims:

“Today the living temple of the great king enters his temple to be groomed as his divine dwelling on earth. Let all people everywhere rejoice and be glad. Behold the spotless temple of the Savior, his precious bridal chamber. Behold the virginal and sacred vessel of the glory of God. Today she is brought to the temple of the Most High, bearing within her the grace of the Holy Spirit. For this the angels exclaim: She is indeed the heavenly tabernacle.” (Evdokimov, Light From the East,p. 16)

Mary was the first and only woman to enter the Holy of Holies. Zacharias invites her to ascend the steps into the sanctuary, because she is being called to the sanctity of Divine Life as High Priest. Vladimir Lossky says, “If he [Zacharias] allows the Virgin to go in behind the second veil, which is contrary to the Law, it is because he sees in Her the new Ark of the covenant, the ‘living Ark.’” (Meaning, p. 153) In commenting on the text which inspired this icon, Origen compares the three sections of the temple to the three stages of the spiritual life: purification, illumination, and union. The court corresponds to the active work, where the aim is freedom from passions (apathia). The second part of the temple, behind the first veil, corresponds to contemplation (theoria.) The Holy of Holies corresponds to the ultimate knowledge of God (theologia), the understanding of the Pure Logos. These are the hallmarks of every monastic quest and are stages outlined in mystical literature throughout the ages. These stages have also been compared to the three Wisdom books which were said to be authored by Solomon: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. In the Old Testament, Solomon was the first of the kings of Israel to include a “Queen-mother” in his administration (Life, VM, p. 58)

St. John of Damascus acknowledged that “[in] becoming the Mother of the Creator, she became mistress of all creation.” (ibid, p. 58) St. Ephraim said of her: “In Mary, as in the eye, the Light came to dwell and it cleansed her spirit, refined her thought, sanctified her mind and purified her virginity.” (ibid) Like her, we prepare our souls to be fitting temples for the Incarnation, so that the whole body of Christ becomes, through her radiant example, the New Tabernacle. “Prepare yourself to be a delightful dwelling place, for the Lord who grants great mercy to the world.” (Raya, p. 98)

Prayers and Readings

“Thus all the work the king Solomon performed in the house of the Lord was finished. Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and the heads of the tribes…that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the city of David, which is Zion. And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. And they brought up the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the congregation , and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle…And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto His holy place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim…And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.” (1 Kings 7:51-8:1; 4-7; 9-11)

“Today, let us, the faithful, dance for joy, singing to the Lord with psalms and hymns, venerating his hallowed Tabernacle, the Living Ark, that contained the Word who cannot be contained. For she, a young child in the flesh, is offered in wondrous fashion to the Lord, and with rejoicing Zacharias the great high-priest receives her as the dwelling place of God.” Great Vespers, Presentation of the Theotokos in the Temple

“The young girls rejoice today, and with their lamps in hand they go in reverence before the spiritual Lamp, as she enters into the Holy of Holies. They foreshadow the brightness past speech that is to shine forth from her and to give light by the Spirit to those that sit in the darkness of ignorance.” (Great Vespers of the feast)

“I shall open my mouth and Spirit will inspire it, and I shall utter the words of my song to the Queen and Mother: I shall be seen radiantly keeping feast and joyfully praising her entry. We know that thou, O All Undefiled, art a treasury of wisdom and a never-failing fountain of grace. We therefore pray thee, O Lady, let fall some drops of knowledge upon us, that we may sing thy praises forever.” (Matins for the Feast)

Meditations and Reflections

In it the holiness of the divine image has been naturally included to persuade the soul to transform itself by its free will to the likeness of God and to belong to the great kingdom which subsists substantially with God, the Father of all. It becomes a radiant abode of the Holy Spirit and receives, if one can say it, the full power of knowing the divine nature insofar as this is possible. By this power there is discarded the origin of what is inferior, to be replaced by that of what is superior, while the soul like God keeps inviolable in itself by the grace of its calling the realization of the gifts which it has received. By this power, Christ is always born mysteriously and willingly, becoming incarnate through those who are saved. He causes the soul which begets him to be a virgin-mother who, to speak briefly, does not bear the marks of nature subject to corruption and generation in the relationship of male and female.

       MAXIMUS CONFESSOR Selected Writings TRANSLATION AND NOTES BY
GEORGE C. BERTHOLD INTRODUCTION BY
JAROSLAV PELIKAN   PAULIST PRESS
NEW YORK MAHWAH

Come and overshadow us, as you did the most pure Virgin Mary and set our feet to dancing with the joy of God. We ask that the virginal beauty of the Mother of God pierce our own souls with a spiritually virginal consciousness, so that our humanity may be reborn and our bodies become the temples of the light of Christ. Dissolve those parts of us that have hardened into resistance to the God of Love and make us, again, children of your spacious Sanctuary, which knows no limits and suffers no boundaries.

Rainer Maria Rilke The Life of the Virgin Mary, trans C. MacIntyre (Berkeley: Univ of CA press, 1947). p.7