​Composite 17 - Exodus 40:1-5, 9-10, 16, 34-35 (Vespers)

1And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2On the first day of the first month, at the new moon, you shall set up the tabernacle of witness, 3and you shall place in it the ark of the testimony, and shall cover the ark with the veil, 4and you shall bring in the table and shall set forth that which is to be set forth on it; and you shall bring in the candlestick and place its lamps on it. 5And you shall place the golden altar, to burn incense before the ark; and you shall put a covering of a veil on the door of the tabernacle of witness. 9And you shall take the anointing oil, and shall anoint the tabernacle, and all things in it; and shall sanctify it, and all its furniture, and it shall be holy. 10And you shall anoint the altar of burnt offerings, and all its furniture; and you shall hallow the altar, and the altar shall be most holy. 16And Moses did all things whatever the Lord commanded him, so did he. 34And the cloud covered the tabernacle of witness, and the tabernacle was filled with the glory of the Lord. 35And Moses was not able to enter into the tabernacle of testimony, because the cloud overshadowed it, and the tabernacle was filled with the glory of the Lord.

​Composite 18 - 3 [1] Kings 7:51-8:1, 8:4-7, 9-11 (Vespers)

51So the work of the house of the Lord which Solomon wrought was finished; and Solomon brought in the holy things of David his father, and all the holy things of Solomon; he put the silver, and the gold, and the furniture, into the treasures of the house of the Lord. 1) And Solomon built a house for himself in thirteen years. 2) And he built the house with the wood of Libanus; its length was one hundred cubits, and its breadth was fifty cubits, and its height was of thirty cubits, and it was made with three rows of cedar pillars, and the pillars had side-pieces of cedar. 3) And he formed the house with chambers above on the sides of the pillars, and the number of the pillars was each row forty and five, 4) and there were three chambers, and space against space in three rows. 5) And all the doors and spaces formed like chambers were square, and from door to door was a correspondence in three rows. 6) And he made the porch of the pillars, they were fifty cubits long and fifty broad, the porch joining them in front; and the other pillars and the thick beam were in front of the house by the porches. 7) And there was the Porch of seats where he would judge, the porch of judgment. 8) And their house where he would dwell, had one court communicating with these according to this work; and he built the house for the daughter of Pharao whom Solomon had taken, according to this porch. 9) All these were of costly stones, sculptured at intervals within even from the foundation even to the top, and outward to the great court, 10) founded with large costly stones, stones of ten cubits and eight cubits long. 11) And above with costly stones, according to the measure of hewn stones, and with cedars. 12) There were three rows of hewn stones round about the great hall, and a row of sculptured cedar: and Solomon finished all his house.

1And it came to pass when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and his own house after twenty years, then king Solomon assembled all the elders of Israel in Sion, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, this is Sion, 4and the tabernacle of testimony, and the holy furniture that was in the tabernacle of testimony. 5And the king and all Israel were occupied before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, without number. 6And the priests bring in the ark into its place, into the oracle of the house, even into the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubs. 7For the cherubs spread out their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubs covered the ark and its holy things above. 9There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone, the tables of the covenant which Moses put there in Choreb, which tables the Lord made as a covenant with the children of Israel in their going forth from the land of Egypt. 10And it came to pass when the priests departed out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house. 11And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, because the glory of the Lord filled the house.

Ezekiel 43.27-44.4 (Vespers)

27And it shall come to pass from the eighth day and onward, that the priests shall offer your whole burnt offerings on the altar, and your peace-offerings; and I will accept you, says the Lord.

1Then he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary that looks eastward; and it was shut. 2And the Lord said to me, This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no one shall pass through it; for the Lord God of Israel shall enter by it, and it shall be shut. 3For the prince, he shall sit in it, to eat bread before the Lord; he shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go forth by the way of the same. 4And he brought me in by the way of the gate that looks northward, in front of the house: and I looked, and, behold, the house was full of the glory of the Lord: and I fell upon my face.

Luke 1.39-49, 56 (Matins Gospel)

39Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah, 40and entered into the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42She called out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44For behold, when the voice of your greeting came into my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy! 45Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord!”

46Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord. 47My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, 48for he has looked at the humble state of his servant. For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed. 49For he who is mighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name.

56Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her house.

Hebrews 9.1-7 (Epistle, Entrance)

1Now indeed even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and an earthly sanctuary. 2For a tabernacle was prepared. In the first part were the lamp stand, the table, and the show bread, which is called the Holy Place. 3After the second veil was the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, 4having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which was a golden pot holding the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; 5and above it cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, of which things we can’t speak now in detail.

6Now these things having been thus prepared, the priests go in continually into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the services, 7but into the second the high priest alone, once in the year, not without blood, which he offers for himself and for the errors of the people.

1 Thessalonians 4.1-12 (Epistle)

1Finally then, brothers, we beg and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, that you abound more and more. 2For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3For this is the will of God: your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, 4that each one of you know how to control his own body in sanctification and honor, 5not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who don’t know God, 6that no one should take advantage of and wrong a brother or sister in this matter; because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we forewarned you and testified. 7For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification. 8Therefore he who rejects this doesn’t reject man, but God, who has also given his Holy Spirit to you.

9But concerning brotherly love, you have no need that one write to you. For you yourselves are taught by God to love one another, 10for indeed you do it toward all the brothers who are in all Macedonia. But we exhort you, brothers, that you abound more and more; 11and that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we instructed you, 12that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and may have need of nothing.

Luke 10.38-42, 11.27-28 (Gospel, Entrance)

38As they went on their way, he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. 39She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard his word. 40But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she came up to him, and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister left me to serve alone? Ask her therefore to help me.”

41Jesus answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

27It came to pass, as he said these things, a certain woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts which nursed you!”

28But he said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it.”

Luke 18.15-17, 26-30 (Gospel)

15They were also bringing their babies to him, that he might touch them. But when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16Jesus summoned them, saying, “Allow the little children to come to me, and don’t hinder them, for God’s Kingdom belongs to such as these. 17Most certainly, I tell you, whoever doesn’t receive God’s Kingdom like a little child, he will in no way enter into it.”

26Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?”

27But he said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”

28Peter said, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”

29He said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, there is no one who has left house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children, for God’s Kingdom’s sake, 30who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the world to come, eternal life.”

The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple in Jerusalem.

When the holy and most pure child Mary (Mariam or Miriam in Hebrew) reached the age of three, her parents, the righteous Joachim and Anna, fulfilled the vow they had made to dedicate her to God. Going in procession with a company of maidens carrying torches, they presented their child at the Temple in Jerusalem, where Zecharias the High Priest took her under his care, blessing her with these words: “The Lord has glorified thy name in every generation; it is in thee that He will reveal the Redemption that he has prepared for his people in the last days.” He then brought the child into the Holy of Holies — something completely unheard-of, for under the Law only the High Priest was allowed to enter the Holy Place, and he only once a year on the Day of Atonement. (In the icon of the feast, the maidens who accompany the Theotokos are shown bare-headed, as was customary for unmarried girls; but the Theotokos herself, though only three years old, wears the head-covering of a married woman to show her consecration to God.) The holy Virgin lived in the Temple for the next nine years, devoting herself entirely to prayer. In this time she attained the utter purity of heart befitting the destined Bearer of the Most High; she became in her own person the fulfilment and condensation of all of Israel’s faithfulness. Saint Gregory Palamas says that, when the Theotokos entered the Holy of Holies, the time of preparation and testing of the Old Covenant came to an end for Israel, which was now ready, in the blessed Virgin, to bring forth the Savior. When Mary approached marriageable age, she was entrusted to the chaste widower Joseph to guard her. (The Prologue says that a life of intentional virginity was unknown among the Hebrews, so the righteous Joseph undertook the forms of marriage so as not to cause scandal among the people.) “Wherefore the Church rejoices and exhorts all the friends of God for their part to enter into the temple of their heart, there to make ready for the coming of the Lord by silence and prayer, withdrawing from the pleasures and cares of this world.” (Synaxarion)