The Feast of the Presentation of Mary
Today the Universal Church celebrates the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and gives special honor to her divine purity.
The Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, referred to as the Entrance of the Mother of God into the Temple by Greek Catholics, is celebrated as one of the great twelve feasts of the liturgical year in the East. As recounted by tradition, the Blessed Virgin was brought to the Temple to be educated at age three by her parents, Ss. Joachim and Anna, in fulfillment of a vow they had made. Here is a summary, taken from the third reading of Matins in the 1962 Breviarium Romanum.
Joachim married Anna, a most excellent and praiseworthy woman. Once there had lived another Anna who overcame physical sterility through prayer and a promise to God, and then gave birth to Samuel. In a similar way, our Anne received from God the Mother of God through a vow and heartfelt petition; for she would not yield in any way to the illustrious women of previous ages. Accordingly grace (for the word Anne means grace) gave birth to the Lady (this is signified by the name Mary). Truly Mary became the Lady above all creation in her role as the Mother of the Creator. She was born in Joachim's house near the Probatica, and was presented in the temple. Thereupon “planted in the house of God” had nurtured by His Spirit; like a fruitful olive tree she flowered forth in every virtue. From her mind she drove every worldly or sensual desire; she preserved virginity of soul as well as of body, as was becoming to one destined to carry God in her very bosom.
Despite the feast’s high status among Eastern Christians, it was not introduced in the West until the reign of Pope Gregory XI in 1372. The original Latin office for the feast was adapted from the one sung in the Byzantine Rite. However, the celebration was struck briefly from the Roman liturgical calendar in the mid-16th Century, likely due to the fact that Our Lady’s Presentation is never expressly mentioned in the New Testament. Providentially, Pope Sixtus V restored the feast in 1585 and in the follow centuries several religious orders, including the Redemptorists, Carmelites, and Servites, kept the Feast of the Presentation with great solemnity and an octave.
Interestingly, the apodosis (leave-taking) of this feast for Byzantine-Rite Christians who follow the Julian Calendar is December 8, the day Latin Catholics following the Gregorian Calendar celebrate the Immaculate Conception. At Matins and the Divine Liturgy (Mass) for both this day and the main feast itself, the following hymns—which call attention to Our Lady’s divine purity—are intoned.
Thy wonder doth surpass the power of words, O pure Mother of God, for in thee I perceive a body impervious to the movement of sin. Wherefore, thankfully I cry out to thee: Truly thou art more highly exalted than all, O pure Virgin!
O pure Mother of God, as thou hast the most radiant beauty of purity of soul and art full of the grace of God from heaven, with the ever-existent light thou dost ever enlighten them that cry out with joy: Truly thou art more highly exalted than all, O pure Virgin!
Most gloriously did the Law prefigure thee, O pure one, as the tabernacle, the divine jar, the awe-some ark, the veil, the staff, the inviolable temple and portal of God. Wherefore, all these things teach us to cry to thee: Truly thou art more highly exalted than all, O pure Virgin!
On this day, let us ask the Mother of God for her continued prayers for the world, particularly the Holy Catholic Church and renew our efforts to participate fully in the Society of St. Pius X’s ongoing Rosary Crusade.
