It is indicative of its importance that the Parable of the 10 Maidens is read today as well as on the Leave-taking (Apodosis) of the Theotokos into the Temple and at other times of the liturgical year. Here it is:

The kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.  Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.  For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.  As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.  But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom!  Come out to meet him.’  Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps.  And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’  But the wise replied, ‘Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut.  Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’  But he replied, ‘Truly, I say to you.  I do not know you.’  Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of man will come (Matthew 25:1-13).

The 10 maidens represent all who await the coming of Christ, the Bridegroom (As C.S. Lewis once said, “We are all females before God”).  But some truly believe in the Son of God, love Him, and act faithfully, in accordance with their belief—these are “the wise”; while others only desire to enter The Kingdom and act selfishly—these are “the foolish.” According to the Fathers, the oil signifies works of mercy—unction that we “pour” on the wounds of the infirm, the sick, and the needy. For in biblical Greek, the word for oil is ἔλαιον (elaion), while mercy is ἔλεος (eleos). They are related words. Jesus’s point is clear. It is the oil of mercy that makes our “lamps” burn bright, showing that we love Him and that we belong to Him, because we not only “believe” in the Kingdom but act according to our belief, in ways that are loving and merciful.  In fact, it is this activity that is key to our entrance into The Kingdom.

As the Bridegroom is delayed, all the maidens fall fast asleep, so that when His arrival is announced with a cry at midnight, all ten wake up.  The five wise maidens hurriedly trim their lamps, while the five foolish ones find that their lamps are going out. For they haven’t oil to sustain light! And the other five will not share theirs, because this kind of oil is personal and cannot be shared.

When the Bridegroom arrives, the wise maidens rise to greet Him with lamps shining before them. But the foolish maidens are absent, for they have left in a panic to buy oil—only to find on their return that the door to the marriage feast is shut and the Bridegroom, although hearing them knock, turns them away, because He does not know them.

That’s the parable in a nutshell.  Now, what meaning does this parable have for us?

We do not know when we will die, nor do we know when the Lord will come.  So we must be prepared with full flasks of oil.  Our works of mercy will be like oil making our lamps shine bright at His Second Coming—so that when we rise again, God will see the light in us, recognize us as His very own, and invite us into the joys of the wedding feast, The Kingdom of Heaven.

Think about this and begin acting NOW, before it is too late.  Be like the wise virgins.  For the consequences of being foolish are too dreadful to contemplate.

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I invite you to come tomorrow night to our Holy Wednesday Anointing service at 6:30. Receive Christ’s Holy Oil for the forgiveness of sins. 

Fr. Paul Martin
Annunciation & St. Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Church
New Buffalo, MI