4 December 2020 года

The feast of the Entrance of the Most Holy Mother of God to the Temple

Today the Orthodox Church commemorates the entrance of the Most Holy Mother of God to the Temple.

 

This feast is a favorite among the monastics as the Most Holy Mother of God dedicated her life to God just like the monastics renounce the life of the world, flesh and the works ofthe devil and choose to reside in a monastery.

 

The festive Vigil and the late-morning Divine Liturgy were celebrated at the Trinity Cathedral and an early liturgy was served in the Transfiguration Cathedral.

 

This feast holds special importance in the life of the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery. It was the feast of the Entrance of the Most Holy Mother of God to the Temple when Venerable Seraphim of Sarov entered the Sarov monastery in 1778. “As he was standing at church during the vigil service, observing the orderly way it was conducted and noting how everyone, from the abbot to the last novice, were praying fervently, he rejoiced in spirit that the Lord has sent him there to labor for the salvation of his soul,” this is how the “Chronicle of the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery” described this event.

 

In 1823, exactly forty-five years later after Venerable Seraphim’s entrance to the Sarov monastery on this feast, Maria Semenovna Meliukova, his favorite spiritual child and a future saint Martha of Diveyevo, joined the select few of the “Seraphim’s orphans” of the monastic community in Diveyevo.