Acta Sanctorum: Presentation of Mary (Nov 21)
November 21, 2025
November 21
Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Life
Mary’s presentation was celebrated in Jerusalem in the sixth century. A church was built there in honor of this mystery. The Eastern Church was more interested in the feast, but it does appear in the West in the 11th century. Although the feast at times disappeared from the calendar, in the 16th century it became a feast of the universal Church.
As with Mary’s birth, we read of Mary’s presentation in the temple only in apocryphal literature. In what is recognized as an unhistorical account, the Protoevangelium of James tells us that Anna and Joachim offered Mary to God in the Temple when she was 3 years old. This was to carry out a promise made to God when Anna was still childless.
Though it cannot be proven historically, Mary’s presentation has an important theological purpose. It continues the impact of the feasts of the Immaculate Conception and of the birth of Mary. It emphasizes that the holiness conferred on Mary from the beginning of her life on earth continued through her early childhood and beyond.
Source: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/presentation-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary
Scripture. Zechariah 2:14-17
Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion!
See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the Lord.
Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day,
and they shall be his people,
and he will dwell among you,
and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.
The Lord will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land,
and he will again choose Jerusalem.
Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the Lord!
He stirs forth from his holy dwelling.
Writings
(Year C). With cheerfulness and astonishment do the lovers of feasts raise up hymns with longing at the present festival of the Entrance of the Ever-Virgin and Theotokos into the Temple. Today heaven and earth have a common feast, together glorifying the Creator, who elected as His habitation the mortal nature of the Maiden child of God. Today the mystery which was determined before the ages, and in the last days appeared, prepares a dwelling place. Today the announced offspring of Joachim and Anna, is offered by them as an honorable gift, this offspring which they bore by God's good pleasure. Today the prelude of joy enters the Temple as a three year old, and virgins go before her with lamps. Today is brought into the Holy of Holies, the deliverance from the curse of barrenness. Today the proclamation of the Prophets, by the priests and the Prophet Zechariah goes up to the sanctuary. And though he enters it with reverence once a year, she cheerfully with permission sits there night and day. Who cannot be amazed at such an astonishing thing? Who cannot be amazed at this astonishing miracle, seeing in the Temple the priests attending the favored and unapproachable Mary the blameless? This is a prelude to our union, this is the mixing of angels with the pattern of humanity, this is the seal of our renewal, this is the alteration of our lives from being bearers of thorns which was decided for our forefathers: "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life," and "It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food...."1 Surely was redeemed the "I will multiply your sorrows and tears" and "in sorrows will you bear children." This all-honorable feast we the faithful celebrate, this bright festival, this divinely shining sparkle, this noetic lamp-bearing illumination, this mysteriously bright giver of light, this mysterious knowledge of God to the world like lightning, of the triune persons of the one Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, teaches that He is Almighty. She is the Holy of Holies, the Spotless Container of the Word, the Virgin Plucked Flower, the Ark of Sanctification, the Holy Mountain, the God-encompassing Tent, the Unconsumed Bush, the Fiery Chariot of God, the Uncontaminated Dove, the Spacious Space of the Word, the Divinely-Illumined Cloud, the Elegantly Adorned Queen, who descended from the seed of David, the David whose Creator and God guarded his dwelling place. In the histories of the twelve tribes of Israel, Joachim was a rich and just man, and he offered his gifts to God. Not having a seed, but being childless, the priests would not take them, saying: "You cannot offer your gifts because you have not conceived a child in Israel." Therefore he left the Temple of the Lord with a sad countenance, having unbearable sorrow. Then he ascended the mountain by himself, to be alone with God, and he prayed with humility and a contrite heart. (St. Tarasios of Constantinople)
Musical Selection
Virgins, bearing lamps to light the way for
the ever-Virgin, truly prophesy in the Spirit
that which is to come. For the Theotokos is
the Temple of God, and from infancy is led
into the Temple in virginal glory.
The glorious fruit of a holy promise,
the Theotokos is truly shown to the world
as exalted over all. As she is brought with
reverence into the house of God, she fulfills
the prayer of her parents, being preserved by
the Divine Spirit.
You were nourished by faith with heavenly
bread, O Virgin, in the Temple of the Lord,
and you brought forth for the world the Word,
Who is the Bread of Life. As His chosen and
immaculate Temple, you were betrothed
mystically through the Spirit to be Bride of
God the Father.
Let the gate of the Temple where God
dwells be opened, for today Joachim takes
into the Temple in glory the Temple and
Throne of the King of all, and dedicates as
an offering to God her whom the Lord has
chosen to be His Mother.
Collect
Grant, O Lord,
that we who honor the glorious memory
of the blessed Virgin Mary
may through her intercession
come to share in the fullness of your grace.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever. Amen. (ICEL; 1998)