Acta Sanctorum: Presentation of Mary (Nov 21)
November 21, 2024
Fr. John Colacino C.PP.S.

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 B) The immaculate Fruition issuing forth from the womb occurred from an infertile mother, and then the parents, in the first blossoming of Her growth brought Her to the temple and dedicated Her to God. The priest, then making the order of services, beheld the face of the girl and of those in front of and behind, and he became gladdened and joyful, seeing as it were the actual fulfillment of the Divine promise. He consecrated Her to God, as a reverential gift and propitious sacrifice -- and, as a great treasury unto salvation, he led Her within the very innermost parts of the temple. Here the Maiden walked in the upright ways of the Lord, as in bridal chambers, partaking of heavenly food until the time of betrothal, which was preordained before all the ages by Him Who, by His inscrutable mercy, was born from Her, and by Him Who before all creation and time and expanse Divinely begat Him, and together with His consubstantial and co-reigning and co-worshipped Spirit -- this being One Godhead, having One Essence and Kingdom, inseparable and immutable and in which is nothing diverse, except the personal qualities. Wherefore, in solemnity and in song I do offer the Mother of the Word the festal gift; since that He born of Her hath taught me to believe in the Trinity: the Son and Word Without-Beginning hath made in Her His Incarnation; the Father begetting Him hath blessed this; the Holy Spirit hath signed and sanctified the womb which incomprehensibly hath conceived.  (St. Andrew of Crete)

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)

 

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