WHAT THE PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS MEANS

Archbishop Anoushavan, Prelate, attended the service in Remembrance of the Ten Virgins at St. Sarkis Church of Douglaston, New Jersey. In the parable, ten maidens took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were wise and five of them were fools, following the reading from Matthew’s Gospel. 

Those who were foolish took their lamps but did not take any oil to light them with while the wise maidens remembered to take oil for their lamps. The vesper service on Holy Tuesday re-enacts this parable with girls of all ages participating. 

Addressing the ten young women, the Prelate said that the ceremony served as a metaphor, with the burning candles symbolizing the light that a virtuous person brings to those around him, while the spent ones represented a life away from the luminous, righteous path.