Today the Virgin, the prelude of God’s good will and the herald of the salvation of mankind, appears openly in the Temple of God and proclaims Christ in advance to all. Let us cry to her with a loud voice: Rejoice, O fulfilment of the Creator’s dispensation. (Troparion of the feast)
Joachim and Anne, the parents of our Lady the Virgin Mary, presented her in the Temple to be brought up and to serve there from an early age. Anne had been barren, and she asked God to give her a child whom she would dedicate and consecrate to his service; and he gave her this daughter full of grace. When the child was three years old, her parents took her and presented her to the Lord through the priest Zechariah, so that she might live near the Temple in Jerusalem. This offering was the best and holiest since the Temple was built, for it was the offering of a daughter who surpassed all the angels, saints and human beings in holiness and in beauty of soul and body. She was even greater than the Temple, for she was a living temple in which the Holy Spirit dwelt with all his divine gifts, and the Son of God was to come down into her womb and take from her flesh a complete human body.
So Mary devoted herself to prayer and handiwork, learned to read and studied the Holy Scriptures.
She spent her time in the corners of the Temple, praying and meditating.
“Saint Ambrose and Saint Jerome praised her modesty, her seriousness, her deep and holy silence, her perseverance in prayer and solitude, and her love for her companions, whom she encouraged in virtue and good works.”
According to tradition, Mary stayed in the Temple until she was fifteen, then returned to Nazareth, where she received the mystery of the Annunciation; and Joseph, her betrothed, took her into his home after the angel appeared to him.
The celebration of this feast goes back in the Eastern Church to the sixth century. It was introduced into the West in 1372 by Pope Gregory XI.
Metropolitan Georges Khodr said of this feast: “This feast is very important in my Church, which gives it great attention because of the teaching and exhortation it contains. It shows us the highest ideal of faith and piety in the persons of the righteous Joachim and Anne, and gives us a delightful and useful lesson in how to bring up children in virtue, piety and the fear of God. And in the example of the Virgin Mary we have the greatest lesson in purity, chastity and trust in God. Raising children must be based on faith and piety, and we must instil in them the fear of God, because the fear of God is the foundation of every human action.”
Prayer:
Blessed Virgin Mary, how can we, who are unworthy,
give you the thanks and honour you deserve for having rescued a world sunk in sin
by your full consent to share in God’s plan? Accept our gratitude,
and by your prayers obtain for us the forgiveness of our sins; carry our prayers into the sanctuary of heaven and make them able to bring us peace with God.
Holy Mary, help the wretched, strengthen the discouraged,
comfort the sorrowful, pray for your people, plead with God for the clergy,
intercede for all women consecrated to God, and may all who honour you now feel your help and protection.
Be ready to help us when we pray, and bring us the answer to our prayers;
and let your constant care be to pray for the people of God, for God blessed you and made you worthy to bear the Saviour of the world,
who lives and reigns for ever.
Amen.
