Feast: November 21
Class: III Class (Traditional Roman Rite)
The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the Church’s most ancient and beloved Marian feasts, celebrated not through recorded biblical narrative, but through the sacred memory of the early Church, preserved in tradition, liturgy, and the writings of the Fathers. It commemorates the moment when the young Mary, at the age of three, was brought by her parents, Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, to the Temple in Jerusalem, where she would be dedicated entirely to the service of the Lord.
Though the Scriptures do not recount this event directly, the feast springs from venerable Judeo-Christian tradition reflected in the Protoevangelium of James, an early Christian text esteemed for its witness to the faith of the first generations. The Church does not treat the account as strict historiography, but as a theological remembrance of Mary’s total consecration from her earliest years.
A Life Set Apart From the Beginning
From her conception, the Virgin was God’s masterpiece of grace — Immaculata, free from original sin and radiant with the fullness of divine favor. The Fathers teach that Mary’s presentation in the Temple is not merely an act of parental piety, but a manifestation of the mystery already at work within her:
- St. Andrew of Crete writes that Mary is “the living temple of the living God,” entering the earthly sanctuary to prepare for the coming of the true Temple, Christ Himself.
- St. Germanus of Constantinople declares that “she who is to bear the Light enters the place of light,” signifying her role as the dawn before the rising Sun of Justice.
- St. Ambrose sees her early consecration as the blossoming of her virginity — not simply a vow, but the flowering of a heart wholly captured by God.
As Mary was brought into the Temple, the tradition recounts that she ascended the steps unsupported, drawn by the inner light of grace. Even as a child, she embodied the ancient psalm:
“The King shall greatly desire thy beauty: for He is the Lord thy God” (Psalm 44:12).
The Temple Prepares the Living Ark
The Presentation reveals Mary as the fulfillment of the Old Testament types:
- Like Hannah, she is offered to God with joy and prayer.
- Like the Ark of the Covenant, she enters the sanctuary to become the dwelling place of the Word.
- Like the temple filled with glory, she will one day bear the Presence not as shadow but as Reality.
The holiest space of Israel receives the child who will become the sanctuary of the Incarnation, the one in whom God will pitch His tent among us.
The School of Sanctity
The Church Fathers often contemplate Mary’s years in the Temple as a time of deepened holiness:
- St. Jerome describes her as the “garden enclosed,” nourished in purity and prayer.
- St. John Damascene speaks of her soul as “a harp played by the Holy Spirit,” already resonant with the melodies of divine love.
- The Eastern liturgy proclaims her the “dwelling-place of all virtues,” fashioned by grace for her role as Theotokos.
In the Temple she learned silence, Scripture, obedience, and the rhythm of God’s time. Her hidden life prepared her for her mission: to say fiat to the Archangel and conceive the Savior of the world.
A Feast of Consecration for the Faithful
The Feast of the Presentation invites the Church to imitate Mary’s offering of herself:
- To enter the interior temple of the heart.
- To dedicate one’s life to the will of God.
- To be purified, prepared, and made ready for Christ’s coming.
It is a feast of childlike trust, pure devotion, and total surrender, reminding the faithful that holiness often grows in hidden places.
Conclusion
The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary sets before us the image of a child who gives herself wholly to God before she can even speak the fullness of her mission. She is the first-fruits of redeemed humanity, the one who embodies Israel’s hope and becomes the Mother of the Messiah.
As the Church prays in the traditional liturgy:
“O God, who didst will that the blessed Virgin Mary, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, should be presented in the Temple: grant unto us, we beseech Thee, through her intercession, to be made worthy to be presented in the temple of Thy glory.”