We celebrate the Presentation of Mary on November 21, which focuses on Mary being presented to God in the Temple. Her parents had her consecrated as an infant for a life of prayer and sacrifice. While it is not written in the 4 Gospels, it is written about in the Gospel of James (Protoevanglium), and […] The post 5 Beautiful Facts about the Presentation of Mary appeared first on EpicPew.
We celebrate the Presentation of Mary on November 21, which focuses on Mary being presented to God in the Temple. Her parents had her consecrated as an infant for a life of prayer and sacrifice. While it is not written in the 4 Gospels, it is written about in the Gospel of James (Protoevanglium), and the feast originated in the East as the “Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos Into the Temple.” Let’s ponder some of the beautiful facts we believe about Mary, the new Temple.
1 Her Parents Gave Her to God
https://picryl.com/media/the-presentation-in-the-temple-3b1a0b
Public Domain Dedication (CC0)
As a parent, we are given the honor to raise our kids with the ultimate goal of leading them back to God. Not only did Sts. Joachim and Anne present Mary to the temple as an infant, they also surrendered their only daughter as a young child to the holy women in the Temple to guide her and teach her to be holy and completely focused on God.
2 Mary is the New Temple
https://photos.ecatholic.com/gallery/freestockphotos/photo/231517593
Imagine the Temple of Christ dwelling inside of the Temple building. She was being built up in faith, not knowing what role she would play in Salvation History until the Archangel Gabriel announced that she would carry the Son of God. We know that she understood the importance of her saying Yes by the beautiful poem in Luke 1, Mary’s Magnificat (https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/magnificat-392).
3 Mary had Free Will but Remained Sinless
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Immaculate_Heart_of_Mary.jpg
While her parents let her go to grow and mature in the Temple, she still had her own choice whether she would accepted her role as Mother of God. Just as we have the choice to also say YES to God, we can learn from Mary how to be faithful and a true disciple of the Lord.
4 Faith and Waiting
Golden religious icon illustration.
Image by rawpixel.com
Just like the so many of the stories written in the Old Testament, with great waiting took a great amount of faith that we are living in God’s time and not our time. Abraham had to wait 100 years for a son, St. Anne had to wait until she was older before she had Mary, and St. Elizabeth had to wait before she had John the Baptist. Mary was the one that all in the Old Testament waited for, and the gift we received because of her faithfulness. We can learn that we too need to be faithful while waiting for God’s timing in our lives.
5 She is Our Mother
The coronation of the Virgin. Coloured drawing by F. Rosaspina, c. 1830, after I. di P. Francucci.
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Original public domain image from Wellcome Collection
Just as Mary’s parents gave her to the Temple, and Jesus gave her to US at the foot of the Cross, she is our Mother too. She is presented to each of us, not to worship, but to be our guide back to God. Let’s put her in the place of honor, and show our love for Our Blessed Mother.
While the Presentation of Mary is not a Holy day of Obligation, we should still ponder the gift of Mary as our Mother, the Mother of the Church, the one who crushes the head of the serpent and the one who the devil fears most. Without her fiat, we would not have Jesus Christ. Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and all of your children.
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