03 — The Feasts of the Temple

Two Great Feasts are framed by the Jerusalem Temple and paired here by that setting: the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple (21 November), which rests wholly on the Protoevangelium of James, and the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple (2 February), which rests on the Gospel of Luke. Together they set the living Temple — Mary, and then the incarnate Lord she carries — within the temple made with hands.

Tradition: Pan-Orthodox

Purpose

The pairing is theological, not merely topographical: both feasts turn on the Temple as the meeting-place of God and humanity, and both are read by the tradition as the old sanctuary receiving the new. One is apocryphal in origin, the other canonical; the section keeps that distinction sharp.

Navigation

File	Description
the-entrance-of-the-theotokos.md	21 November; the three-year-old Mary brought to the Temple; the Protoevangelium tradition flagged as apocryphal; the living Temple entering the temple
the-meeting-of-the-lord.md	2 February; the fortieth day; the presentation of the infant Christ; Symeon and Anna; the Nunc Dimittis

See Also

• The Nativity of the Theotokos — the first Protoevangelium feast, with the Temple theme introduced
• The Great Marian Feasts — the Marian feasts and the Meeting’s borderline classification