November 21: The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mary calls me back to where I most want to be: to the heart of God which, as you know, is also the heart of the world. She calls me to let the passion of Jesus become my passion and his glory to become my glory. She calls me to move beyond the dos and don’ts of the morally correct life into an intimacy with God where I can live the sadness, pain, and anguish of this world while already tasting the gladness, joy, and peace of the glorified Lord.
—Henri Nouwen
The November 21 celebration of the Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary stands out from all of the other celebrations within the liturgical year as an historical and liturgical anomaly, because it is based upon an event in the life of the Mother of God that never happened.
The name for this particular feast of Mary is based on a tradition found in a non-biblical text known as the Protoevangelium of James. This is an early Christian text which was circulating at the end of the second century, and which became enormously popular in the Middle Ages. "Protoevangelium" means "First Gospel" and in this text we find stories about events that took place before the birth of Jesus, and special attention is given to the birth and childhood of Mary. It is also in this “gospel” that we find the names of Anne and Joachim, the parents of Mary, as well as many details relating to the birth of Jesus that are absent from the Gospels of Luke and Matthew.
According to the text, Mary was offered to God in the Temple in Jerusalem by her grateful, aged parents when she was three years old. This was done to fulfill a vow that Anne had made when an angel appeared to her, telling her she would become the mother of a child who “will be spoken of throughout the entire world” (Pr. James 4:1). When the appropriate time came, the child Mary was presented in the Temple and received by the priest, who blessed her, saying, “The Lord has made your name great for all generations. Through you will the Lord reveal his redemption to the children of Israel at the end of time” (7:2). The text goes on to describe how, when the priest set Mary on the third step of the altar, God cast his glance down upon her and she “danced on her feet, and the entire House of Israel loved her” (7:3). The images of this quaint and unusual story remind us of Psalm 45:10-15:
Listen, my daughter, and understand: pay me careful heed. Forget your people and your father’s house, that the king might desire your beauty. He is your Lord: honor him, daughter of Tyre.
All glorious is the king’s daughter as she enters, her raiment threaded with gold; in embroidered apparel she is led to the king. The maids of her train are presented to the king.
Despite the details provided in this apocryphal text, liturgists and Scripture scholars are quick to point out that the story of Mary’s presentation in the Temple is not based on actual events: there is no historical evidence that daughters were ever offered to God in the Temple (although firstborn sons were). And if we look at the readings and prayers that the Church uses in the liturgies for this celebration, we immediately notice that no mention is made of the story retold in the Protoevangelium of James.
Did the Virgin Mary, who believed by faith and conceived by faith, who was the chosen one from whom our Saviour was born among men, who was created by Christ before Christ was created in her – did she not do the will of the Father? Indeed the blessed Mary certainly did the Father’s will, and so it was for her a greater thing to have been Christ’s disciple than to have been his mother, and she was more blessed in her discipleship than in her motherhood. Hers was the happiness of first bearing in her womb him whom she would obey as her master.
-Saint Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 25
Rather than looking to the story in the Protoevangelium of James, the origins of this particular celebration actually date back to the dedication of the church known as St. Mary “the New” in Jerusalem on November 21, 543. This church was located on the southern side of the Temple Mount, but the original building was destroyed in 614 following the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem. Today, the Al-Aqsa Mosque stands on the site.
Despite this complicated tradition and history, this memorial remains part of the life of the Church and so, what are we being invited to reflect on as we honor the Mother of God on this day?
First, for centuries this day has held a special place in the lives of several religious communities, as members have renewed their vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, recalling the tradition of Mary being consecrated to the Lord’s service. In more recent years, this day has been set aside to lift up in prayer—and to celebrate—the vocation of contemplative religious, which Pope Francis has described as the “beating heart” of the Church’s proclamation. And so, on November 21—Pro Orantibus Day (For Those Who Pray)—we pray for all of those monks and nuns who, from their quiet cloisters, spend their lives seeking God in silence and praying for each us.
Beyond the association with religious life, however, this celebration invites us to reflect on Mary as a model of fidelity and discipleship. By virtue of our baptism, each of us has been dedicated to the Lord’s service and we are called to make our lives an offering of prayer and service. Mary, as the icon of a perfect disciple, is the model of obedience to God’s will. Through her Fiat—her “let it be”—she set out on a path that took her away from the security of home, family, and tradition, into a life of service to the God whose handmaid she was to become. As Pope Francis has reflected, "She who was blessed because she believed, sees blossom from her faith a new future and awaits God's tomorrow with expectation."
Inspired by Mary’s commitment and faith, the Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary becomes an opportunity for each of us to pray for the courage and faith to continue along the paths God has chosen for us, to open ourselves to God’s gift of grace, and to grow in that knowledge and love of the Lord that is his blessing for those who are truly dedicated to him.
As we venerate the glorious memory
of the most holy Virgin Mary,
grant, we pray, O Lord, through her intercession,
that we, too, may merit to receive
from the fullness of your grace.
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.
-Collect for the Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
