The celebration of the Greek Armed Forces Day, is linked with one of the numerous days dedicated to the Virgin Mary who is the Patron of the Greek Armed Forces. On Nov 21, Orthodox Christians celebrate Her Entrance to the Sanctuary.
The holiday which is titled "Presentation of the Theotokos into the Temple", and "The Entrance", is one of the Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church and celebrated every year on November 21.
According to Tradition, the Virgin Mary was taken —presented—by her parents Joachim and Anna into the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem as a young girl, where she lived and served as a Temple virgin until her betrothal to St. Joseph. One of the earliest sources of this tradition is the non-canonical Protoevangelion of James, also called the Infancy Gospel of James.
Mary was solemnly received by the temple community which was headed by the priest Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. She was led to the holy place to become herself the "holy of holies" of God, the living sanctuary and temple of the Divine child who was to be born in her. The Church also sees this feast as a feast which marks the end of the physical temple in Jerusalem as the dwelling place of God.
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