Feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary in the Temple

" Draw near, O you seen by our eyes as a little child, but perceived by our spirit as the workshop of God. Approach and purify the threshold of the sanctuary. For it is not the temple that sanctifies and purifies you, but it is you who entirely purifies the temple." 

Saint Germain of Constantinople - Homily for the presentation

The Feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple is celebrated on November 21 by both Catholics and Orthodox (part of the Twelve Great Feasts). This feast commemorates the day when Mary, daughter of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne , is presented to the Temple by her parents, in accordance with their promise.

Origin of the feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary

The first feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple dates back to the year 543, in the East. In November of that year, the Eastern Churches celebrated the " Entrance into the Temple of the Most Holy Mother of God "The Basilica of St. Mary the New was inaugurated in Jerusalem on Sion Hill, opposite the temple esplanade. The feast grew considerably from the 11th century onwards , and was very popular throughout the Middle Ages.

Pope Gregory XI officially recognized the feast of the Presentation of Mary in 1372. Pope Sixtus V added it to the Western liturgical calendar in 1585.

Passage from the Gospel of James on the Presentation of Mary in the Temple

The Protevangile of Saint James is an apocryphal book (recounting events prior to those evoked in the stories of the four Gospels, and probably redigested in the 2nd century) which tells us that St. Anne and St. Joachim presented Mary to the Temple, when she was just three years old, to consecrate her to God. This passage shows us that Mary's heart had always been entirely turned towards the Lord. From the age of three, she gave her life to God. On this feast day, Christians are therefore called upon to follow Mary's example and consecrate their lives to God.

"The child was three years old. Joachim said: "Let us call the daughters of the Hebrews, those who are without blemish. Let each one take a torch and hold it alight: so Mary will not turn back, and her heart will not be held captive outside the temple of the Lord." The order was followed, and they went up to the temple of the Lord. And the priest welcomed the child and having kissed her, he blessed her and said, "The Lord God has exalted your name among all generations. In you, at the last of days, the Lord will manifest redemption to the sons of Israel."

And he seated her on the third step of the altar. And the Lord God poured out his grace on her. And her feet danced, and all the house of Israel loved her.

Her parents came down, amazed, praising and glorifying the sovereign God who had not despised them. And Mary dwelt in the temple of the Lord, like a dove, and received her food from the hand of an angel." 

Pope Francis' address on November 21, 2014

" Today, the liturgy celebrates the presentation of the Blessed Virgin in the temple: a young girl. And as a simple woman, like Anne, enters at this moment the Blessed Virgin. May she teach us all, all priests and all those with pastoral responsibility, to keep the Temple pure, to receive with love those who come there, as if each of them were the Blessed Virgin."

Three beautiful prayers for the presentation of the Blessed Virgin in the Temple

Prayer of Saint Alphonsus de Liguori

" O Mary, beloved child of God, what can I offer you and consecrate the first years of my life to you, as you offered yourself and consecrated yourself to the Lord in the Temple! But, alas! Those early years are long gone!

I spent so much precious time serving the world, and forgot all about you, listening to the voice of my passions. But it's better to start serving you late than to remain rebellious forever.

So today I come to offer myself entirely to your service, and to consecrate to my Creator, through your blessed mediation, the few days I still have to spend on earth. I give you my mind, to care for you unceasingly, and my heart, to love you forever.

Accept, O Blessed Virgin, the offering of a poor sinner; I beseech you by the memory of the ineffable consolations you felt in offering yourself to God in the Temple.

Sustain my weakness, and through your powerful intercession obtain for me from Jesus the grace to be faithful to him and to you until death, so that after having served you with all my heart during life, I may share in the glory and eternal happiness of the elect. Amen. "

Prayer to obtain graces from the Blessed Virgin Mary

" O incomparable Virgin, destined from all eternity to be the Temple and Sanctuary of God's only Son. The angels and men admire the favor with which You renounced the goods, honors and pleasures of the world; You forget Your own people and the house of Your father, to serve in the temple of Him who wants to become your Son, and to dispose You, by retirement, to become His mother. to become His mother; draw me after You, O Queen and Model of virgins; obtain for me a spark of the fire with which Your Heart was enkindled, so that I may run to the fragrance of the perfume of Your virtues: since it was for You that God gave Himself to us, may it be through You that we give ourselves to Him, and may He receive me among His children; help me to give thanks to this great God who wants to serve as my Father Himself, and who has put me in the happy necessity of being a child of God.teach me to offer Him, on the altar of my heart, continual sacrifices of praise, to take advantage of all the instructions I hear, and the examples of virtue I see every day: obtain for me the virtues You practiced in the temple; grant that, as I imitate the offering You made to God from your childhood, I may also imitate the fervor and faithfulness with which You served Him. 

O Mary! Name that is a source of grace, I invoke you. 

O Mary! Remember me, now and at the hour of my death. 

So be it. ".

Prayer for the intercession of the Mother of the Savior

" O God, who willed that on this Day, the ever-Virgin Blessed Mary, in whom the Holy Spirit dwelt, should be brought to You in the Temple. to You in the Temple; grant that, through her Intercession, we may merit to be presented to You in the Temple of Your Glory. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ... So be it. ".

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