According to ancient tradition, the Blessed Virgin Mary was formally dedicated to God from an early age and made a vow of virginity to Him. The feast of the Presentation of the Virgin celebrates this. God prepared for Himself a fitting dwelling place and a mother–her name was Mary. She always said yes to what God asked of her–from the time when she was just a little girl. When the time came, she became the first temple of the Most High that was not made by hands. The Virgin helps us to cooperate with God’s plan, that we might became worthy of the promises of Christ, temples of God through grace.

“O faithful, let us leap for joy today, singing psalms and hymns of praise in honor of Mary, His mother, the Holy Tabernacle and Ark, that contained the Word whom nothing can contain! She is offered to God as a child in a marvelous way, and Zechariah, the high priest, receives her with great joy, for she is the dwelling place of the Most High.”

(Byzantine Vespers of the The Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple, Tone 1)