Mary in the infancy of Jesus

Mary in the infancy Gospels (Lk 1–2 and Mt 1–2): Annunciation, Nativity, Presentation in the temple, and divine motherhood

The association of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is manifested from the virginal conception of Christ until His death. First, when Mary, having promptly set out to visit Elizabeth, was called blessed by her because of the faith with which she had believed in the promised salvation, and the precursor leaped for joy in the womb of his mother (cf. Lk 1:41-45). Then, at the birth, when the Mother of God, full of joy, presented to the shepherds and to the Magi her firstborn Son, who not only did not impair her integrity, but rather consecrated it.

And when she presented Him in the temple to the Lord, with the offering of the poor, she heard Simeon prophesy that the Son would become a sign of contradiction and that a sword would pierce the heart of the mother, so that the thoughts of many might be revealed (cf. Lk 2:34-35). The Child Jesus, lost and sought with anguish, His parents found in the temple, taken up with the things of His Father. And they did not understand what He said to them. But His mother kept all these things in her heart and pondered them (cf. Lk 2:41-51). (Lumen Gentium, 57)

To deepen the study of Mary in the life of Jesus, we recommend the encyclical Redemptoris Mater by John Paul II.

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