Joachim Prayed at Choziba
“Joachim pitched his tent in the wilderness and fasted and prayed forty days and forty nights”
The Protoevangelium of James is from the mid-second century, which means that it is almost as old as the Biblical narratives of the childhood of Jesus found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The Gospel was well known to Origen in the early 3rd century and probably to Clement of Alexandria at the end of the 2nd, and so is assumed to have been in circulation soon after c.150 AD.
Even if it may not be accurate about every detail of the history of the birth and infancy of Mary, it should be taken seriously because it was written at a time when many people still remember the stories that were told by Jesus’ relatives, who lived in Jerusalem in the second century A.D.
Since Joachim was despised and rejected by the “assembly of the sons of Israel,” because he was childless, so he chose to go into the desert to escape and to pray that God would bless him with a child.
Joachim pitched his tent in the wilderness and fasted and prayed forty days and forty nights.
There is an ancient document (from a Georgian lectionary from the fifth to sixth century) which says that the place where Joachim camped was in the wilderness of Judah in the Wadi Qelt in the grottoes of Choziba.
Seventh-century Georgian version of the ‘Lectionary of Jerusalem’
Apart from being a unique source for the study of early Jerusalemite rite, the Lectionary provides invaluable information on the cult topography of the Holy Land. Many cultic installations and churches referred to in the Lectionary are otherwise unknown. Similarly, a large number of commemorations and feasts attested here have been forgotten and are not documented outside late-antique Jerusalem.
Choziba and the Fatherhood of Saint Joachim
The Choziba Monastery — an Oasis of Penitence
“There is no need to search in the mists of time to discover the origins of the monastery at Choziba.
The monk Antony of Choziba, who grew in holiness in this lonely spot, accurately pieces its history together in two monographs from the first half of the 7th century.
The origins and development of the monastery are identical to those of the ancient Palestinian monasteries. From the time of the apostles, hermits were led to receive disciples and duty-bound to give them religious training.”
We know that this place was considered to be a holy place because a cloister with a sanctuary dedicated to Mary was constructed here around A.D. 470. Even today one can visit this place where Joachim prayed (it is near the Greek Orthodox Saint George Monastery).
St. George Orthodox Monastery, or Monastery of St. George of Choziba is a monastery located in Wadi Qelt. The sixth-century cliff-hanging complex, with its ancient chapel and gardens, is active and inhabited by Eastern Orthodox monks. It is reached by a pedestrian bridge across the Wadi Qelt, which many believe to be Psalm 23’s Valley of the Shadow.
Archaeology confirms the church of the Theotokos as one of the foremost shrines to Mary in Palestine
But it is not an interest in monastic life that fixes our attention on this eagle’s nest set among the rocks of the Wadi-el-Qelt; Choziba is one of the foremost shrines to Mary in Palestine.
In fact we need to go back to the beginning of the seventh century to discover the earliest written confirmation of a church consecrated to the Mother of God at Choziba. Nevertheless, monographs of Antony the monk allow us to ascribe the construction of the church to Abbot John, the founder of Choziba, who dedicated it to the Theotokos (Mother of God) around the fifth or the beginning of the sixth centuries.
In New Testament times, Choziba appears to have been inhabited by Essenes, as is indicated in a reference found among the Dead Sea Scrolls (3Q15 7:14-16). One of these ancient scrolls, unearthed in 1947, is called the “Copper Scroll.” Unlike the other scrolls found at Qumran in 1947, this text was written on copper rather than on parchment.
The Copper Scroll contains a map and a list of hiding places where the Essenes hid their valuables to protect them from the armies of Rome which attacked and destroyed Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D. :—
“Dig three cubits by the row of stones at the mouth of the Kozibah river to obtain sixty talents of silver, and two talents of gold.” http://jewishchristianlit.com/Texts/StudTxts/3Q15.html
Kozibah apparently designated that portion of the Wadi Qelt stretching between Ein Qelt and Jericho. The Monastery of St. George of Choziba is located just 25km from the Qumran Caves:
The Entry of the Most Holy Mother of God into the Temple
According to the Protoevangelium of James, the parents of Mary were so grateful to God for the birth of their daughter that they brought her to the temple and presented her so that she could be raised there.
“According to Holy Tradition, the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple took place in the following manner. The parents of the Virgin Mary, Saints Joachim and Anna, praying for an end to their childlessness, vowed that if a child were born to them, they would dedicate it to the service of God.
When the Most Holy Virgin reached the age of three, the holy parents decided to fulfill their vow. They gathered together their relatives and acquaintances, and dressed the All-Pure Virgin in Her finest clothes. Singing sacred songs and with lighted candles in their hands, virgins escorted Her to the Temple.
In the Temple, fifteen high steps led to the sanctuary, which only the priests and High Priest could enter. (Because they recited a Psalm on each step, Psalms 119/120-133/134 are called “Psalms of Ascent.”) The child Mary, so it seemed, could not make it up this stairway. But just as they placed Her on the first step, strengthened by the power of God, She quickly went up the remaining steps and ascended to the highest one. Then the High Priest, through inspiration from above, led the Most Holy Virgin into the Holy of Holies.
Was the Virgin Mary allowed to enter the Holy of Holies?
The All-Holy Virgin remained in the quarters for virgins near the Temple. According to the testimony of Holy Scripture (Exodus 38; 1 Kings 1: 28; Luke 2: 37), and also the historian Josephus Flavius,
There were many living quarters around the Temple, in which those who were dedicated to the service of God dwelt.
The earthly life of the Most Holy Theotokos from Her infancy until She was taken up to Heaven is shrouded in deep mystery. Her life at the Jerusalem Temple was also a secret. “If anyone were to ask me,” said Saint Jerome, “how the Most Holy Virgin spent the time of Her youth, I would answer that that is known to God Himself and the Archangel Gabriel, Her constant guardian.”
But there are accounts in Church Tradition, that during the All-Pure Virgin’s stay at the Temple, She grew up in a community of pious virgins, diligently read the Holy Scripture, occupied Herself with handicrafts, prayed constantly, and grew in love for God.
From ancient times, the Church has celebrated the Feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple. Indications that the Feast was observed in the first centuries of Christianity are found in the traditions of Palestinian Christians, which say that the holy Empress Helen built a church in honor of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple.”