On November 21, the Orthodox Church celebrates the Feast of the Introduction of the Virgin. According to the Holy Scriptures, on that day, the parents of the three-year-old Mary took her to the Jerusalem Temple and dedicated her to the service of God. The high priests and temple officials welcomed them by singing sacred hymns. The Virgin Mary is placed on the first step in front of the temple entrance and to the amazement of all present, unsupported by anyone, she freely climbed the 15 steps and stopped at the top.
High priest Zacharias introduced the pure Otrokovitsa into the Holy of Holies, where only the high priest entered once a year. The righteous parents brought gifts and sacrifices to God and then, having received a blessing from the priests, returned with their relatives to Nazareth.
Virgin Mary lived near the temple. She was brought up under the supervision of older pious girls who knew the Holy Scriptures. The Church calls it a "beautiful dawn" from which the Sun of righteousness rose.
When the pure Virgin reached an age at which temple-educated virgins usually returned to the world and married, the priests asked her to do the same. But Maria revealed to them her desire - to devote herself to God and not to marry. Then they, at the suggestion of St. Spirit, betrothed her to the elderly Joseph, a relative of her parents. He became Mary's patron and respected the vow she made before God.
November 21 has also been adopted as Christian Family Day.
The earliest notice of the celebration of the holiday is from the end of the 1st century. Nowadays, family churchgoing symbolizes the entry of the three-year-old Mary into the temple and reminds fathers and mothers of their spiritual obligations to children. Because the family is the best school that can give the first knowledge about God and Orthodoxy, about the Christian virtues on which the Bulgarian family has been based for centuries. Presented to God, children will grow up godly in obedience to their parents and purity of character.
In the past, this day was celebrated in a very limited circle - only with parents and their unmarried children. They all went together to the temple to pray for their family's health and favor. Then at home, gathered around the hearth, over a glass of wine, a warm pita and a delicious feast, they celebrated - apart from the feast of the Introduction of the Virgin - and the healthy relationship between them. The table was left uneaten so that the Mother of God would come at night, eat and bless the home.
On this day, our people guess what the weather will be like throughout the next year. If it is warm and sunny - the winter will be hot, the summer will be dry, and the fertility weak. If it rains or snows, the winter will be snowy, the summer - rainy, and the harvest - rich.