The Mariological Meaning of the “Presentation of Mary,” November 21

This Marian celebration has had a somewhat turbulent history, because its origin is not historical. In fact, it is based on the narrative of the Protoevangelium of James, which recounts that Mary, at three years of age, was taken to the temple by her parents and consecrated to the service of the Lord.

The feast, today an obligatory memorial, originated in the dedication of the Church of Saint Mary the New, built in Jerusalem near the temple. By the eighth century it was already commemorated throughout the Byzantine Empire. In the West it began to be celebrated in Avignon under Gregory XII (d. 1417). Before being celebrated universally, it had to overcome uncertainties, until Sixtus V (d. 1590) gave the celebration a more restrained character, biblically speaking. Since this celebration enjoys the favor of the people, the Church saw fit to retain it as well in the new arrangement of the Liturgy of the Hours.

The theological content, which the legend of the Protoevangelium of James also carries with it, is the fact that Mary, Kekaritomene, full of grace, lived in such a way as to respond to this grace, faithful to her election, in the service of God at every moment of her existence.

There may be another fact related to this: popular piety, contemplating such holiness and such elevation in grace, thought that such a creature could be preserved in her holiness only by living in the temple of the Lord.

The Sanctuary of the Holy Spirit

The liturgy of this memorial does not have a precise profile. Perhaps out of a concern not to give too much room to subjective views, the language used is devoid of specific references. The most fitting text is the Magnificat antiphon at Vespers of the feast, which echoes Sedulius in the Praeconium:

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, glorious Virgin, temple of the Lord, sanctuary of the Holy Spirit! You alone were fully pleasing to our Lord Jesus Christ”.

Before coming to her task as Mother of the Lord, Mary spent her life in the temple, that is, before God. In this attitude, what the Lord had done in her in the Immaculate Conception came to maturity. The image of the temple, beyond the legend of the Protoevangelium of James, places what God did in Mary within a specific historical context. For this reason, we also need to reconsider what the temple was for the people of Israel. 

It was the place where the people gathered in the presence of God. We should emphasize that Mary lived at the heart of the history of this people and at its most mature moment. Hers was a living belonging, felt and pondered, as confirmed by the words and references of the Magnificat, in which she interprets that whole history in relation to her Son.

Growing in the presence of God, the Virgin Mary became more and more a temple of the Lord. Faith grows only in the presence of God, in the temple, in an atmosphere of silence and recollection. Here the heart can open itself to receive the word of God

“for whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, that one is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Mt 12:49).

For Mary, having been a disciple of Christ matters more than having been the Mother of Christ. She kept the truth in her mind more than the flesh in her womb. Christ is truth, Christ is flesh. Christ is truth in the mind of Mary, Christ is flesh in the womb of Mary. What is in the mind matters more than what is in the womb. Dedication and consecration to the Lord are always the fruit of an interior maturing of the divine word. 

For this reason, every act of liturgical worship takes place in a suitable setting, removed from the noise of the world. The enclosed space of the church, of the temple, is the image of the interior space needed for the work of God to mature, but the image of the temple, as a distinct place, reserved for the things of God and for His work of salvation on behalf of His people, helps us to understand better what was perhaps present in the mind of the Christian people when the feast was instituted. It concerns the whole work of protecting and fostering the growth of the singular holiness with which God chose her. Only a setting such as the temple could serve her, and only a life of direct and continual service to God could be the fitting setting and climate for this work.

Perhaps the legend of the Protoevangelium arose from considerations and concerns of this kind. All this evidently implies a fundamental truth: God’s grace, His gifts, need, in order to be preserved, a suitable environment that fosters them, makes them grow, defends them, and helps them reach out for ever greater dimensions. 

As the hymn for Lauds on this day, the liturgy proposes the following Mariological monument:

Immortal Wisdom
Has already chosen you, Mary,
Before the world and history.
O heavenly wonder:
You are Bride and you are Daughter
Of the Lord of eternal glory.

A consecrated offering,
Presented to the Lord
Like evening incense
That rises from earth to Heaven
And dispels all darkness,
Heralding the divine Sun.

You are the Gate of the East,
You are the new Burning Bush,
Faithful Virgin, Holy Mary!
Banner of pure love,
Mirror of the highest Good,
Cause of our joy.

Conceived without sin,
You are the immaculate Temple
In which the Word became flesh:
The Spirit of God
Came down upon you from Heaven,
Consecrated you Virgin-Mother.

Flower of the new humanity,
Treasure of the Godhead,
Ark of the eternal Covenant:
Sure Star of the nations,
Dawn of the new age,
Bright morning of hope.

Pray for us from Heaven above,
That we may be temples of God
In spirit and in truth:
Temples where there may rise
Constant praise and glory
To the Most Holy Trinity.

In this hymn of praise, the gifts with which God adorned and enriched Mary are extolled. She placed all of this at the service of God and guarded it, so that it might give forth its fragrance for Him alone.

We conclude by recalling that what has been said about Mary is also the reality in which every believer shares, as Saint Paul affirms:

“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you”? (1 Cor 3:16). As the image of the mother mentioned in the Gospel also underlines: “whoever does the will of my Father […] is my mother” (Mk 3:35).

In this sense, precisely because of this dignity, which belongs to the whole Body of the Church, we read in Saint Augustine:

“Holy is Mary, blessed is Mary, but the Church is better than the Virgin Mary. Why? Because Mary is part of the Church: a holy member, an excellent member, a member surpassing all in dignity, but always a member of the whole Body […] You too are members of Christ, you too are the Body of Christ”. 

For this reason, the Collect of the Memorial of the Presentation of the Virgin says:

“As we celebrate the glorious memory of the holy Virgin Mary,
grant, O Lord, that through her intercession
we may merit to share in the fullness of your grace”.

To explore the liturgical meaning of the Presentation of Mary more deeply, see the apostolic exhortation Marialis Cultus of Paul VI, on the Marian feasts in the liturgical year.

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