There were guest houses around the Temple (Jeremiah 35:4). Some contained rooms where the priests and Temple staff could stay, while others accommodated consecrated widows, pilgrims, and people who had come from afar. Certain quarters, located opposite the sanctuary of the burnt offering, were reserved for virgins. The Virgin Mary stayed in one such room.
All the virgins lived together as a sisterhood, much like the members of a women’s monastery, convent, or nunnery. They followed a common rule and gathered for communal prayer and meals.
The older virgins taught Mary to sew, weave, read, and write. They also read to her various stories from the Old Testament and other scriptural teachings. It was customary for people to gather in the Temple precincts every Saturday to hear the rabbis teach from the Old Testament. They spoke about Paradise, the lives of Adam and Eve, and the sin they had committed, which led all humanity into Hades. Humanity was therefore eagerly awaiting the Messiah and the redemption He would bring. Upon hearing all this, Mary was so deeply grieved that she began to pray fervently for God to send the Messiah as soon as possible to save humanity.
While the other virgins rested, Mary gave up her rest in order to pray. She also prayed during the night. One night, as she was praying for the coming of the Messiah, the place was filled with divine light, and she heard a voice saying, “You will bring forth a Son.” She recounted this event to the disciples of the Lord shortly before her death (Saint Gregory Palamas, Homily 44: On the Entrance into the Holy of Holies).
Mary labored so diligently in prayer during the night that the Archangel Gabriel would come and bring her bread for sustenance:
“After you were born, O Lady Bride of God, you went to the Temple of the Lord to be raised in the Holy of Holies, as one who had been sanctified. Then Gabriel was sent to you, the all-blameless one, and he brought you food” (Menaion, November 21, Vespers, Glory Sticheron).
When David prophesied, saying, “Man ate the bread of angels” (Psalm 78:25), he was referring to Mary, who was nourished by the Archangel Gabriel (Saint Gregory Palamas, ibid.).
According to tradition, after Mary’s dedication to the Temple, her father, Joachim, died at the age of eighty. Anna also dedicated herself to the service of the Temple and remained there until her death. She was seventy-two years old when she passed away.
The Virgin Mary was now an orphan and had no siblings. Her only close relative was Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. With the priests’ blessing, Mary would occasionally leave the Temple and make the short journey to the nearby village of Orini to visit Elizabeth, whom people called “barren” (Luke 1:36, 39).
Later, after Mary had settled in Nazareth and learned that Elizabeth was expecting a child, she joyfully hurried to the village where Elizabeth lived to visit and congratulate her (Luke 1:39–40).
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Next in this series: Why Did She Leave the Temple and Become Betrothed to Joseph?
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