Feast of the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin. Introduction to the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary

January is rightly called one of the richest for the holidays months. In addition to everyone's favorite New Year and Christmas, the 8th of this month celebrate an important church holiday - the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin.

Why is this day so important from a religious point of view?

The church celebrates the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary not by chance the day after the Nativity of Christ. The servants of the Lord address with laudatory prayers to the Mother of Jesus, which was chosen by the Lord for the birth of the Son of God. In the Bible it is written about the virgin birth and painless births of Mary. For the reason that she is the same, the chosen virgin, in church customs, it is customary to honor the mother of Jesus immediately after the Day of His Birth.

Why is the holiday called the Cathedral?

The Mother of God is honored all year round. There are many church rituals dedicated to her birth, receiving her good news from the angel and so on. Feast of the Cathedral of the Most Holy Theotokos is named so because it is aimed at the general service of Mary. It is about the conciliar service, where prayers for the Mother of God are announced, as well as persons close to her and Jesus Christ: King David, Saint Joseph and Jacob.

Joseph the Betrothed and St. Jacob

For the generation of David, the birth of the Messiah was the greatest event, despite the fact that the action took place in the unsightly cave of Bethlehem. There were no relatives of Mary, and at the time of Jesus' birth there was only Joseph the Betrothed, who was already at the venerable age and was called to guard the virginity of the Virgin. Tradition says that the Jewish high priest blessed him for betrothal with Mary. Joseph took care of the Mother of God and her baby for many years and it was to him in the dream that an angel appeared with a warning that he must flee to Egypt. Without hesitation, he got up and led Maria with the baby behind him. Even his advanced age did not prevent Joseph from assuming responsibility for two such important lives, and in order to provide for his wards, he began to work as a carpenter in Egypt, earning a living.

According to the flesh, David was an ancestor of the Lord, because according to tradition it was necessary that the Savior be born of the family of David. An equally important person close to the Lord is Jacob. He was the son of Joseph the Betrothed from his first marriage, so he is considered the brother of the Lord. Being pious and faithful to God, after the resurrection of Christ from the dead, he was named rector of the Jerusalem Church.

Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary: a holiday story

The Virgin Mary is revered by people from the early formation of the Christian church. Feast of the Cathedral of the Blessed The Virgin as such began to be celebrated as far back as the 4th century AD, when Epiphanius of Cyprus, Augustine the Blessed and Ambrose of Milan, performed the Divine Service in honor of the Birth of Christ and connected it with that for His Mother. The official status of this church event was acquired only in 681, when the cathedral was first held in honor of the Virgin Mary, Jacob and his father Joseph the Betrothed.

The date of January 8 was not chosen by chance. Among all the saints the Mother of God was awarded the highest honor. Therefore, as a tribute to the Blessed Virgin, church officials celebrate it the next day after the most important religious holiday - the birth of the Savior.

Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary: holiday features

With the passage of time, certain church events tend to become popular. So, on January 8, it is customary to celebrate a religious holiday - the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but in Russia their customs have arisen. In the people on this day they called themselves "Babi Kashi". It is supposed to honor women in labor and midwives. In the villages on January 8, according to old customs, it was customary to bake pies and treat them to women in childbirth. In peasant families, where there were children, on that day it was the duty of the parents to cook the delicacies, take the vodka and go bowing to the midwife, who was taking delivery.

According to the Old Russian customs on the day of the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, women felt their special unity with the Mother of God, therefore they left her a gift for bread. As a rule, women baked bakery products and brought them to church: they left some of the food at the altar, and part of them were consecrated and carried home.

It is believed that these customs came from paganism, which for a long time flourished in Russia. It is known that before the consecration of Russian lands to Christianity, people worshiped many gods. Among them was the patroness of all women - Makosh, whose cult underwent metamorphosis and mingled with the celebration of the Mother of God Cathedral. It was impossible to eradicate traces of paganism for a long time, especially with respect to the worship of goddesses who help women.

There are cases when, in parallel with the emerging Christian churches, many peasant women in the villages continued to present presents to the goddesses of women in childbirth every autumn. These stagnant traditions evoked the wrath of the fathers of churches, but, nevertheless, even the fear of punishment did not prevent women from carrying out their rituals. There is an opinion that in many respects the celebration of the Cathedral of the Most Holy Theotokos was a disguise of pagan rites that took place during the divine service and after it. People rolled feasts on this day, drove rounds and continued to visit mothers and midwives.

Even in the 18th century persecutions continued against the pagans, who carefully concealed their rituals from the churches. The priests called most of the traditions of this day a diabolical work, plunging all the peasants into confusion. Even such a nontrivial custom as to cook porridge on this day, they attributed to the machinations of evil spirits. It is interesting that the priests also denied the consecration of bread to the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1590 the Kiev Metropolitan condemned people, calling their actions similar heretical.

Who else was singing in Russia on January 8?

According to an old custom, the day of the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin was on December 26. In addition to the prayerful chanting of the Virgin Mary, the Slavs paid tribute to the memory of the prophet David, who was able to defeat the giant Goliath with his own hands. The peasants revered this saint and turned to him with prayers for help. It was believed that those who believe and pray to David will be delivered from rage and anger. This belief has developed as a result of historical data that the prophet was a squire of Saul and often had to tame the obstinate husband with a song and a joke. From here in Russia, a legend was born that, when embarking on a journey, the wanderer should seek protection from David. This was to provide him with an easy road and get rid of all sorts of misfortunes, including robbers and wild animals.

Introduction to the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Representatives of the Christian Religions know firsthand that the calendar is in red in the days of the most significant church events. The Virgin Mary is one of the most important characters in the history of the birth of the Savior. Therefore, in her honor a lot of laudatory ceremonies are set aside, including the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, held on January 8. The history of the holiday goes to the heart of the history of the New Testament. However, on this list of important events is not coming to an end, and there are many other events that are important from the religious point of view.

The introduction to the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a holiday that came from the ancient Giving. It refers to the twelve most important religious events of the year and is celebrated on the fourth day of December.

On this day, according to the Giving, people should remember the parents of the Mother of God: Anna and Joachim, who lived a long life until old age, but God did not reward them with children. Until the last believing in God's justice, they trusted in the Lord in their prayers, promising that if he gave them a long-awaited child, they would dedicate it to him. Their requests were heard by the Most High, and he sent them a baby - a beautiful Mary.

When the girl was three years old, Anna and her husband went to Jerusalem to take their daughter to the temple, as promised to the Lord. In view of the special importance of the vow, Mary's parents lighted the candles and arranged a procession for the girl. In front of her, young maidens followed, and around Mary and parents - relatives.

When the procession approached the gates of the temple, they were met by priests led by Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. At the entrance to God's abode there were 15 steps. Parents left the girl on the first of them, after which they were surprised to see how their daughter herself rose to the very top.

Zechariah received a message from Above that he had to bring Mary to the most sacred place of the temple, where it was supposed to enter only once a year. From this moment, we can assume that a difficult and decisive period in History began - the Savior's mother began her journey. The introduction to the church of the Most Holy Theotokos is an event of celebration, when the young maiden began to serve the Lord according to the promise of the parents.

Mary's stay in the temple

The chronicler, who recorded the history of events about the life of the Virgin in God's house, was Josephus Flavius. He told that the girl lived indoors with other virgins and was in the custody of pious virgins. The main occupations that the girl indulged in were pleading, needlework and praying. Maria was a diligent student and from the childhood she showed herself on the best side.

According to the rules Then the world, the girl after reaching the age of fifteen should have left the walls of the temple and have a husband. However, in this issue, Maria was the first to show disobedience: she took a vow to remain a virgin until the end of days and devote herself to serving God. Zechariah, being wise, offered a way out of the situation. He advised the elderly relative of the girl, Joseph, to marry her, in order to provide her with a decent life. At the same time, it was implied that Mary would continue to be blameless and able to fulfill her vow.

The history of the celebration of entering the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The first mention of this event appeared at the beginning of our era, or rather, the era of Christianity. In the period from 250 to 300 years AD. At the insistence of the Empress Helena, the first temple was built, dedicated to the memory of the entry of the Blessed Virgin into the temple. Finally, the celebration of this event was established in the church circles by the IV century.

The celebration was fresh and superficial, and it was not until the beginning of the tenth century that George Nikodimsky, along with Joseph Pesnopisets, wrote canons for conducting prayer rites.

Features of the celebration of the introduction into the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Need to say, That any church event is a rite. Of course, unlike pagan sacrifices, Christians adhere to humane methods, mainly resorting to prayer songs, sermons, anointing and imitation of some historical events that bear symbolic character.

Regardless of whether the service is conducted in the church or any holiday, for example, the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Virgin's prayer is an indispensable attribute of the event. Clothes of priests are important factors in conducting worship services. Thus, on the day of the celebration of the introduction into the temple of the Theotokos, the servants of the Lord dress in blue or blue robes. On this day, evening service, all-night vigil, liturgy are held.

Features of the feast The introduction to the church of the Most Holy Theotokos means reading only the prescribed texts: the prayer of the Theotokos, the eponymous troparion and kontakion, as well as a number of specific liturgical chants.

Crucifixion in honor of the holiday

According to religious concepts, there are 12 most significant events in the year. Some of them are sung not only during mass prayer songs, but also have their own attributes, such as the crucifixion "Introduction to the Temple of the Blessed Virgin."

Crosses with the image of this subject are very popular. They are executed from various materials. On one side of the cross you can see the Creator sitting on the throne he was waiting for, and from the back - to observe the festive procession while climbing the steps of the temple of Mary.