Today the Virgin is led to the temple, the House of the Lord

The Eastern liturgy proclaims: "The most pure temple of the Savior, the most precious nuptial chamber, the Virgin, sacred treasure of divine glory, today is led into the house of the Lord and brings with her the grace of the divine Spirit; the angels sing to her: she is the heavenly tabernacle." 

The feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple, which rests on an ancient tradition, is historically linked to the dedication of the Basilica of Holy Mary, an edifice designed by Bishop Elijah of Jerusalem and completed by Emperor Justinian (527-565) next to the temple area of Jerusalem, where the Virgin Mary spent her childhood in divine service. This church was dedicated on November 21, 543, and called the New Church, to distinguish it from the old one, dedicated to the nativity of Mary.

In the 8th century, the feast of the Presentation spread to all the Eastern Churches, finding favor with the people of God: it became one of the twelve great feasts of the year, and is still celebrated in the East with a preparatory vigil and a few post-feast days, lasting until November 25. (1)

Rabbinic literature confirms that many young girls lived in the Temple and were involved in making the Temple veil. The Jerusalem Talmud provides some interesting details on this subject: "The Temple curtain was as thick as a palm leaf. It was woven with seventy-two smooth stitches, each composed of twenty-four threads. The length was forty cubits and the width twenty. Eighty-two young girls wove it. Two were made a year. And three hundred priests were needed to carry it to the bath." (Mishna Sheqalim 8,5). 

It also states that when the Temple was burnt down in 70 A.D., "the virgins who wove the veil threw themselves into the flames" rather than fall into enemy hands (Pesiqta Rabbati 26,6), and that they lived in a three-storey building within the Temple precincts. (2)

The Mary of Nazareth team

Source:

(1) Kondakion and Ikos of November 21; 4th stichera of the 6th ode of the 2nd canon of matins
(2) According to the Jerusalem Talmud