The Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple
(21st of November 2025)
Troparion
'Today is the preview of the good will of God, of the preaching of the salvation of mankind. The Virgin appears in the temple of God in anticipation, proclaiming Christ to all. Let us rejoice and sing to her: Rejoice, O Divine Fulfilment of the Creator's dispensation'.
The Meaning of the Feast
The second great feast of the Theotokos (after the celebration of her birth) is that of her entrance as a child into the Jerusalem Temple, which is commemorated on the twenty-first of November. It is a feast filled with important spiritual significance for the Christian believer.
The liturgical texts of the service tell how Mary was brought as a small child to the temple by her parents, in order to be raised there among the virgins consecrated to the service of the Lord.
According to Church tradition, Mary was solemnly received by the temple community, which was headed by the priest Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. She was led to the holy place to be 'nourished' there by the angels, in order to become herself the 'holy of holies' of God, the living sanctuary and temple of the Divine Child who was to be conceived in her womb through the Holy Spirit.
The main theme of the feast of Mary's entrance to the Temple is the fact that she enters the Temple to become herself the living temple of God, thus inaugurating the New Testament in which are fulfilled the prophecies of Old, that 'the dwelling of God is with man' and that the human person is the sole proper dwelling place of the Divine Presence (Ezek 37.27; Jn 14.15–23; Acts 7.47; 2 Cor 6.11; Eph 2.18–22; 1 Pet 2.4; Rev 22.1–4).
The feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple is the feast which celebrates the end of the physical temple in Jerusalem as the dwelling place of God. When the child Mary enters the temple, the time of the temple comes to an end, and the 'preview of the good will of God' is shown forth. On this feast we celebrate, in the person of Christ's mother, that we too are the house and tabernacle of the Lord.
'. . . We are the temple of the living God, as God said, "I will live in them and move among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people' (2 Cor 6.16; Is 52.11).
Parish Notices: The Nativity Fast
Please note that the fast for the Great Feast of the Nativity of the Christ in the Flesh (Christmas) begins on November 15th, and ends after the celebration of the Christmas Eve Divine Liturgy on December 24th.
As always, it may be helpful if we remind ourselves of what fasting is and why we fast.
What is fasting?
'Fasting' refers to the discipline of reducing food/fluids intake, or abstaining from eating or drinking entirely, on special days or times during the year.
In its most basic sense, fasting refers to reducing our intake of food and drink. However, the term 'fasting from' can also be applied to various other daily activities that we habitually engage in. We may 'fast from' (i.e. reduce or give up entirely for a period) watching tv, being on the internet, engaging in social media, attending social events, engaging in sexual relations within marriage, etc). We may also 'fast from' sinful activities that we are habitually prone to engaging in, like gossip, being angry or short with others, swearing or being careless with our language, looking at others lustfully, harbouring negative thoughts about others, calling to mind grievances against others, etc.
Why fast at all?
As Orthodox Christians, we fast from food and drink (and other activities) at certain times of the Church-year because it is an integral part of the Christian ascetic and spiritual discipline that is not only expected of us as baptised and chrismated Orthodox Christians, but is required of us.
In the Gospels, we learn that Christ fasted for forty days (Mt. 4:1-11). He did not teach the apostles that fasting was an option, but rather a necessity, since He commanded His disciples not to be like the hypocrites 'when' they fasted, not 'if' they fasted (Mt. 6:16-18); and even stated that certain demonic forces can only be cast out by prayer and fasting (Mt. 17:21).
Fasting is not an end in itself. It is a means to an end, and is a common way of preparing for important spiritual celebrations in the Church calendar.
By fasting from food, and/or reducing the time we spend pursuing other habits or pastimes (watching tv or spending time on the internet, going out socialising, etc, etc), we shift our attention from our own needs and wants, to focus more on the worship of God and service of our brothers and sisters.
Through fasting from food, drink, social activities or hobbies, and from sin, we create more time and space to spend in prayer, and in service of others. Fasting must always be accompanied by prayer and giving to the poor if it is to have any spiritual value.
We learn through fasting that, through grace and faith, we can gain control over things which we sometimes allow to control us, and for many people, food is a controlling factor in their lives.
Lack of self-control
In fasting from sin, we are challenged to ask God's grace to resist and reject those sinful and negative ways of thinking, speaking and relating to others, which we may have allowed to get out of control to the extent that they now control us!
The Importance of preparing for the Nativity Fast
During the Nativity Fast, we are called upon to refrain from meat, dairy and fish, throughout the entire period of the fast; and to refrain from wine, and olive oil on certain days.
This fast is to prepare us for the important celebration of Christ's Incarnation in the Flesh. God becoming man in order to heal, redeem and deliver humankind and all of creation from the power of Satan, Sin and Death, and to make us partakers in the Divine nature through grace (2 Pet. 1:4).
It is absolutely impossible to enter into, and participate in (i.e. to experience) the mystery of Christ's nativity without adequate and proper preparation. Look at all the effort people put into preparing for secular celebrations: birthdays, anniversaries, going on holiday, the birth of a child, exams, promotion at work, etc. Now compare this with how little we in the West are inclined to prepare for important celebrations of our Orthodox Christian faith.
This is Spiritual Warfare
The Lenten and Nativity fasts can appear daunting to many of us, so much so that we fail before we even start: 'It's too harsh'…'I can't give up x, y or z…' 'I am not a monk…' 'I spend the entire fast thinking about food,' etc, etc, etc.
We have to keep in mind that as Orthodox Christians we are involved in a constant spiritual warfare, in which we are struggling not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual powers of darkness (Eph. 6:12). We triumph over these spiritual forces only through our participation in the cross of Christ (Col. 2: 15). Fasting, prayer and giving to the poor are manifestations of our self-emptying, our renunciation of self-will, of our hunger and thirst for God that drives us to seek Him above all else.
Most of us feel at least a little apprehensive about entering into the fast. We know that we will struggle to abstain from food, drink, hobbies, sin, etc, but we set out on this journey nevertheless, in faith, in hope, and in love. That is all God requires of us: faith, hope and love. Faith that our efforts will bring us into deeper communion with God, while also giving us more control over our fallen appetites; hope that it is He Himself who will sustain us through this Advent journey; love that takes us out of ourselves and away from our own selfish wants or desires, and opens us up more to the worship of God and care for our neighbour.
Seek a blessing
All seasons of fasting confront us with the truth of just how dependent we are on God; how much we need His grace to achieve anything good in our lives.
To summarise:
- Fasting is a necessary part of preparing for the Birth of Christ
- But it must always be accompanied by prayer and almsgiving
- Try to think ahead and plan how/when you are going to fast, pray, and give to the poor
- If you cannot keep the fast in its entirety, be sure to do something, no matter how small
- Be sensible. Some folks may have to modify how closely they keep to the fast because of health issues, and/or family issues. This is totally acceptable.
- Talk to your spiritual father or mother, or your parish priest, about how you plan to prepare, and seek their blessing.
Pilgrimage to Crowland
Our sister in Christ, Brigid, has enquired about the possibility of organizing a parish pilgrimage at some point next year to Crowland abbey, where our parish patron saint, Theodore, was martyred, and where his relics are kept.
Saint Theodore's feast day is on the 9th of April. However, we have an early Pascha this year (12th April 2026), and so any pilgrimage would have to be organized after this.
Perhaps May or June would be a good time to have this pilgrimage, and on a Saturday, so that more people could attend?
The abbey is about 70ish miles from Grimsby, so the idea would be that we hire a coach and all travel down there and back together. This will give us time to pray together and get to know one another better.
Brigid is going to make some preliminary enquires about coach size/costs, etc, and I will start to gauge interest among parishioners.
Bring Your Patron Saint with You to Divine Liturgy!
Another idea suggested by Brigid is that, in view of the fact that we cannot have any icons on the walls of Christ Church or Old Clee Parish church, perhaps we could each bring with us when we come to church an icon of our patron saint, and place it in these churches while we are having the Divine Liturgy, and then take them home again afterwards?
This would have the benefits of both beautifying these churches while being used for our services, and also cutting down on the amount Father Alban needs to bring with him.
So, please feel free to bring your icons to our next service, which is in Old Clee church, on Saturday 1st November at 9.30am.
Catechetical Group
Please note that we will now be having a group that meets to prepare catechumens for becoming Orthodox Christians, and for those who want to refresh their knowledge of the basics of our faith. We have two catechumens currently, Barry and Cuthbert.
The first group meeting will be on Thursday 13th of November, and will take place at Christ Church, starting at 6.30pm. We will meet there each Thursday after this at 6.30pm.
For further information, please feel free to contact me. Anyone wishing to learn about the Orthodox Christian faith is welcome to attend.
Magdy's Name Day Greetings
Our brother in Christ, Reader Magdy, has offered to organize the name-day emails for Saint Theodore's mission parish.
What this means is that Reader Magdy has a list of our parishioners, and will send out greetings on the feast day of each person's patron saint.
This is already something that he does for the Louth community, and it will be a blessing to have it in our mission parish.
Christmas Divine Liturgy in Cleethorpes
Please Note: We have been offered the use of Christ Church in Cleethorpes to have our Christmas Divine Liturgy.
We will be having the vigil Divine Liturgy on the 24th of December, beginning at 11pm at night, and finishing around 1pm or 1.30pm.
I know that this might not be ideal for some folks, but Christ Church and Old Clee parish communities have their own services on the morning of 25th of December, and so were unable to allow us to use either venue for our service at that time.
Also, many of us may remember attending 'Midnight Mass' or 'Midnight Service', before becoming Orthodox Christians. The midnight service is indeed the correct time for the Orthodox Christian vigil Divine Liturgy on the Feast of the Nativity of the Christ in the Flesh (Christmas), and it will be a blessing if we can gather sufficient support to make it happen.
I will speak to folks individually to see who will be able to attend.