Feast of the Presentation of Mary - Nov 21

by Fr. John Granato  |  11/19/2023  |  Words from Fr. John

My Dear Friends,

On Tuesday, November 21st, we celebrate the Presentation of Mary. This is an interesting feast day in the Catholic Church. It is not in Sacred Scripture, but it is attested to in other extra biblical writings that we call apocrypha. St. Joachim and St. Anne, the parents of Mary, bring their daughter to the temple when she is three years old. The image that corresponds to this feast is that of the dove sent by Noah to find if the flood was over.

St. Germanus writes, "Hail, God’s holy throne, divine offering,….and chosen jewel,….the heaven that tells the glory of God, dawn shining with light inaccessible….in your glorious and splendid Presentation, you bring us the liberating olive branch of the spiritual Flood; hail, dove: you bring us the glad tidings of the birth of salvation.”

Father Peter John Cameron, OP, explains this quote in this way, “The mystery of the Presentation of Mary then, blesses us with new and certain hope. Mary is chosen by heaven to bear to us the sign that God’s mercy has appeared on the earth. In her we learn that we are refugees no longer.” Father Cameron continues, “The celebration of the Presentation of Mary reminds us how much our life resembles that of the people on Noah’s Ark. Alone and adrift, we ache for some sure sign that God has not forgotten us, that there is more to life than empty horizons, that God’s mercy is greater than his wrath, that divine providence will show itself in a concrete sign when we need it most…..The Feast of the Presentation of Mary gives us the assurance that God has confided to us someone we can rely on who will convey to us the promise of the Lord’s saving love. We send forth this Dove, and she returns bearing in her womb one who carries not an olive branch but the tree of the cross.”

The Byzantine Liturgy adds to this great feast the following truth, “The most pure temple of the Savior, his most precious bridal chamber, the Virgin, sacred treasury of God’s glory, enters today into the house of the Lord, bringing with her the grace of the divine Spirit. Wherefore the angels of God are singing: ‘Behold the heavenly tabernacle!’”

The Presentation is the public consecration of the Blessed Mother to our Lord; may we imitate her and be consecrated to our Lord and become a temple of our Lord, especially as we receive his most Precious Body and Blood in the Most Holy Eucharist.