Patras Saint Irene

The pious Anna, Joachim's wife, spent her life without being able to give birth, as she was barren. Together with Joachim, she fervently prayed to God to enable her to give birth to a child, with the promise that she would dedicate her child to Him. Indeed, the All-Merciful God not only gave her a child, but qualified her to bring into the world the woman who would give birth to the Messiah, our Savior Jesus Christ. When the Virgin Mary turned three years old, according to tradition, Anna and Joachim, keeping their promise, took her to the Temple and handed her over to the high priest Zacharias. The high priest took the Virgin Mary and led her to the Holy of Holies, where no one except him entered, because he knew after God's revelation the future role of the Holy daughter in the incarnation of the Lord. The Virgin Mary stayed inside the Temple for twelve years. All this time the archangel Gabriel was supplying the Virgin Mary with heavenly food. He came out of the Holy of Holies, when the time of the Divine Annunciation arrived.