When the Most Holy Virgin completed 11 years of residence in the temple in Jerusalem, i.e. 14 years since her birth, the priests informed her that, according to the law, she could no longer stay there, but that she was obliged to get married. But she answered them that she had dedicated herself to God and that she wanted to remain a virgin until death. Then the high priest Zechariah gathered 12 unmarried men from the tribe of David to hand over the Virgin Mary to one of them. And they handed her over to the old man Joseph of Nazareth, who was her relative. In Joseph's home, the Blessed Virgin continued to live as in Solomon's temple, in prayer and needlework. But when the time prophesied by the prophet Danilo came to an end, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her and told her that she would give birth to the Son of God.
Holy Martyrs Pelagia, Theodosia and Dula. Easter fast.