The ark of the New Covenant enters the heavenly Temple (1 Kings 8; Rev 11:19) Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 1:39-56.

Book of Revelation 11:19a.12:1-6a.10ab. 

God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a violent hailstorm. 

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 

She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth. 

Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. 

Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth. 

She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne. 

The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have salvation and power come, 

and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed One." 

Psalms 45(44):10bc.11.12ab.16. 

The queen takes her place at your right hand
in Gold of Ophir

Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear,
forget your people and your father's house.

So shall the king desire your beauty;
for he is your lord.

They are borne in with gladness and joy;
they enter the palace of the king.





First Letter to the Corinthians 15:20-27. 

Brothers and sisters: Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came also through a human being.
For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life,
but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ;
then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power.
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death,
for "he subjected everything under his feet."





Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 1:39-56. 

Mary set out in those days and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."
And Mary said: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
For he has looked with favor on his lowly servant;
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.
He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel ,
remembering his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever."
Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

The ark of the New Covenant enters the heavenly Temple

 (1 Kings 8; Rev 11:19)

Today, the holy and living ark of the living God, the one whose womb carried her own Creator, rests in the Lord's temple, a temple not built by human hands. David, her ancestor and God's relative, dances for joy (2 Sam 7:14); the angels dance in unison, the archangels applaud, and the powers of the heavens sing her glory...

She who enabled true life to spring forth for everyone, how could she fall into the power of death? Certainly, as a daughter of the old Adam, she submitted to the sentence that was pronounced against him, for her Son, who is Life itself, did not shy away from it. But as the mother of the living God, it is just that she be raised up to him... How could she who received in her womb Life itself, without beginning or end, not be alive for all eternity? In times past, the first parents of our mortal race, drunk with the wine of disobedience..., with a heavy spirit because of the intemperance of sin, fell asleep in the sleep of death. The Lord had chased and exiled them from the paradise of Eden. Now she who did not commit any sin and who bore the child of obedience to God and to the Father, how could paradise not welcome her, not joyfully open its doors to her? ... Since Christ, who is Life and Truth, said: «Where I am, there will my servant be» (Jn 12:26), how could his mother, all the more so, not share in his dwelling place? ...

So now «that the heavens are rejoicing», may all the angels acclaim her. «Let the earth rejoice,» (Ps 96:11), let human beings leap for joy. Let the air resound with songs of joy; let the night reject its darkness and its cloak of mourning... For the living city of the Lord, the God of powers is exalted. From the sanctuary of Zion, kings bring invaluable gifts (Ps 68:30). Those whom Christ established as princes over all the earth, the apostles, escort the Mother of God, ever a virgin, into the Jerusalem on high, which is free and our mother (Gal 4:26).