The Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple: Feast and Icon
Feasts of the Church · 21 November
Every year on 21 November the Orthodox Church celebrates the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple (Ta Eisodia, Τα Εισόδια): a three-year-old girl climbing the Temple steps in Jerusalem without looking back. On this day the Church first sings “Christ is born”, so the road to Christmas begins with a child in the house of God.
In shortAccording to tradition, Joachim and Anna brought Mary, aged three, to the Temple, where the priest Zacharias led her into the Holy of Holies. The Church sees in her the living temple of God, so this Great Feast opens the way to Christmas.
At a glance
- Feast day
- 21 November
- Greek name
- Τὰ Εἰσόδια τῆς Θεοτόκου (Ta Eisodia tis Theotokou)
- Rank
- One of the Twelve Great Feasts
- What we celebrate
- Mary, aged three, brought to the Temple by Joachim and Anna
- Source
- Holy Tradition, first written in the Protoevangelium of James (2nd century), outside Scripture
- Festal days
- Forefeast 20 November · leave-taking 25 November
- Fasting
- Within the Nativity Fast; fish, wine and oil allowed on the feast day
What happened at the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple?
The Gospels say nothing about Mary’s childhood. The story comes from Holy Tradition, first written down in the second-century Protoevangelium of James and received by the Church through its hymns, so we tell it as sacred tradition, not Scripture.
Joachim and Anna, elderly and childless, promised to dedicate their child to God, and Mary was born in answer to their prayer. When Mary was three, maidens with burning lamps led her up the Temple steps, and the priest Zacharias, later father of Saint John the Forerunner, led her into the Holy of Holies. There, the tradition says, she lived in prayer, fed by an angel, until about the age of twelve.
Why does the Church celebrate a three-year-old girl?
Because of whom she will carry. The Holy of Holies was the place of God’s presence; now a girl enters it who will herself become God’s dwelling, the living temple in whom the Son of God takes flesh.
The services say this plainly. The Vespers readings describe the glory of the Lord filling His house, and the Gospel at the Liturgy closes with Christ’s words: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (Luke 11:28). The apolytikion calls this day “the prelude of God’s good will”: nothing has happened yet in Bethlehem, but the music has started.
“Listen, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear; forget your own people and your father’s house.”
How did the feast enter the Church’s year?
- 2nd century: The Protoevangelium of James records Mary’s entry into the Temple.
- 543: Justinian’s Nea church, Jerusalem, consecrated 20 November; its link to the feast is unproven.
- 715–730: Saint Germanos, Patriarch of Constantinople, preaches two homilies on the Entry.
- Late 8th century: Saint Tarasios makes it an official feast in Constantinople.
- 11th century: The Menologion of Basil II names it the “Entry of the All-Holy Theotokos”.
Reading the icon of the Entry of the Theotokos
The icon tells the whole story on one panel, and even shows Mary twice.
- A child with a woman’s face. Mary is small as a three-year-old yet veiled like a grown woman, her hands raised: a child in years, mature in spirit.
- Zacharias at the sanctuary. The white-bearded priest bends from beneath a domed canopy and red curtain, one hand blessing her, the other receiving her.
- Joachim and Anna. Her haloed parents stand close behind her, giving back to God the child He gave them.
- The maidens with candles. Young girls carry tall burning candles: the lamp-bearers of the tradition who led Mary up to the Temple.
- Mary in the Holy of Holies. In the upper left Mary appears again, seated in an inner chamber as an angel flies to her: her years fed by an angel.
- The red cloth over the roofs. A red drape slung across the buildings is the icon’s way of saying the scene takes place indoors.
How do Orthodox Christians keep the feast?
The first “Christ is born”
At Matins of the feast the choir sings, for the first time in the year, the Christmas katavasiae: “Christ is born, glorify Him!” (Χριστὸς γεννᾶται, δοξάσατε). From now on they return on Sundays and feast days until the Christmas season.
A feast within the fast
The feast falls in the Nativity Fast, which began on 15 November. On this day fish, wine and olive oil are allowed, whatever the weekday.
Greek customs
In Greece, 21 November is also Armed Forces Day, kept under the protection of the Theotokos, the “Champion General” (Ὑπέρμαχος Στρατηγός). Farmers call her Mesosporitissa, “of the mid-sowing”, and in many villages families boil mixed grains, polysporia, to be blessed in church and shared with neighbours.
The hymn of the feast
The apolytikion sums up the feast. Here it is in our own English translation.
Today is the prelude of God’s good will
and the first announcing of our salvation.
In the Temple of God the Virgin is openly revealed,
and to all she proclaims the Christ who is to come.
To her let us also cry out with a loud voice:
Rejoice, fulfilment of the Creator’s saving plan.
Read the hymn in Greek
Σήμερον τῆς εὐδοκίας Θεοῦ τὸ προοίμιον, καὶ τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίας ἡ προκήρυξις. Ἐν Ναῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ τρανῶς ἡ Παρθένος δείκνυται, καὶ τὸν Χριστὸν τοῖς πᾶσι προκαταγγέλλεται. Αὐτῇ καὶ ἡμεῖς μεγαλοφώνως βοήσωμεν· Χαῖρε τῆς οἰκονομίας τοῦ Κτίστου ἡ ἐκπλήρωσις.
Add the feast to your calendar
Before the icon of the Entry
Holy Mother of God, as a child you climbed the Temple steps and did not look back. Lead me, with all my family, into the house of God, and make my heart a quiet place where Christ may dwell. Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
Amen
A personal prayer written for this page; its last line is the Church’s own invocation.
Tip: print this page and the prayer card prints on its own, clean and simple.
Questions people ask
What is the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple?
It is an Orthodox Great Feast remembering how Joachim and Anna brought their three-year-old daughter Mary to the Temple in Jerusalem, where the priest Zacharias received her and led her into the Holy of Holies. Western Christians call it the Presentation of Mary.
When is the Entry of the Theotokos celebrated?
On 21 November each year. The forefeast is on 20 November and the leave-taking on 25 November, when the festal days end.
Is the Entry of the Theotokos in the Bible?
No. The story comes from Holy Tradition; its earliest written source is the second-century Protoevangelium of James, which is not part of Scripture. The Church received the story through its hymns and the homilies of the Fathers.
Can you eat fish on the feast of the Entry?
Yes. Although the feast falls in the Nativity Fast, fish, wine and oil are allowed on 21 November, whatever day of the week it falls on.
Why is “Christ is born” first sung on this feast?
The Theotokos entering the Temple is the first step toward the Nativity, because she is being prepared to become the living temple of Christ. So at Matins of this feast the Church begins singing the Christmas katavasiae, “Christ is born, glorify Him”.
A small girl, a flight of steps, a priest waiting with open arms. When you light your lamp on 21 November, you climb those steps with her, and Christmas is already in sight.
