The Entry of the Theotokos

"Today is the prelude 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 fulfillment of the Creator's dispensation."
(Troparion of the Feast)

A prelude - an action that precedes a more important one, and also an introductory performance.  The good will of God has always been with us, but on this day He brings to us an introductory act.

The preaching of salvation - Mankind lives separated from God, but on this day we are granted the glimpse of His plan of redemption, of bringing us back to Him.

The Virgin appears in the temple of God - Mankind built an earthly temple according to His command.  And yet God has prepared His own Temple, and it will be the womb of the child who today enters His earthly and physical temple.  A temple in a temple!

In anticipation proclaiming Christ to all - This child is carried to the Holy of Holies, the place where God dwells within the temple of Solomon, and in so doing she shows the presence of God, the presence of the Son of God, to be coming forth from her fleshly temple and into the world.

Rejoice, fulfillment of the Creator's dispensation! - We use the word "Rejoice!" freely in connection with the Theotokos.  It is present in the Akathists to her.  It is used in hymns we sing to her.  It is the angelic greeting to her at the Annunciation!  And in the word, we link the human concept of bliss, of delight.  These are true in the way we sing of the virgin.  And yet we remember the words of the Idiomelon (by St. John of Damascus) of the funeral service.  "What earthly sweetness remains unmixed with grief?"  The innocent child we watch today, as she ascends the steps to the temple, leaving behind mother and father instead preferring to live in the presence of God, this joy, this bliss will be with her until the time of her betrothal.  But this same child will be called to stand at the foot of the Cross, to watch the life drain from the pure Body of her Son and her God, filling her with that earthly grief.  But she too will be among those women - in fact, tradition holds she is the first to hear the proclamation of the angel of the Lord's resurrection, and the first to behold His risen Body.

This is the fullness of the Creator's dispensation.  And we, too, must rejoice!