The Presentation of the Theotokos is the first feast we celebrate during the season of the Nativity Lent, on November 21 NS/December 4 OS. Saints Joachim and Anna dedicated their only child to the Lord, and at the age of three they presented her to the high priest St. Zacharias (father of St. John the Forerunner) to be raised in the temple until her betrothal to St. Joseph. The Theotokos was utterly devoted to the Lord from her earliest years, eager to do His will in all things—a foreshadowing of her work as the tabernacle for God himself.

Resources

• The Entrance of the Theotokos from The Orthodox Faith
• Brief overview of the feast
• How to read the festal icon
• Quotations on the Entrance of the Theotokos
• Life of the Panagia booklet from Orthodox Education
• The Protoevangelium of James

Activities

• Activities for teaching younger children from Dr. Pat's Orthodox Super Sunday School Curriculum
• Activities for teaching older children from Dr. Pat's Orthodox Super Sunday School Curriculum
• Study Resources from St. Kosmas
• Lessons and activities (Lesson 2) from the OCA
• Coloring and word search printable
• Icon coloring table tent activity from Antiochian Archdiocese
• Presentation Tea from St. Theophan Academy
• The Mother of God Shows Us the Way Study Journal from Family Chotki
• The Entrance of the Theotokos from Orthodox Pebbles
• Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple Coloring Page from OrthodoxArtworks
• Entrance of the Theotokos icon animation (video) from Enjoy Orthodoxy

Books

• The Story of Mary, the Mother of God by Dorrie Papademetriou
• Heaven Meets Earth: Celebrating Pascha and the Twelve Feasts by John Kosmas Skinas

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