Presentation of Mary

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Icon depicting the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple.

The feast of the Presentation of Mary is not based on a Biblical event, but rather an incident mentioned in the Infancy Narrative of James. According to that text, Mary's parents, Joachim and Anne were childless, but received a heavenly message that they would bear a child. In thanksgiving for this gift of heaven, they brought their daughter to the Temple to consecrate her to God.

The Catholic Church maintains an optional memorial to commemorate this event on November 21. The Orthodox Churches celebrate it as one of their twelve Great Feasts on the same day (November 21).

Early Christian writings (the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew[1], the Gospel of the Nativity of Mary[2]) tell us that Mary was taken to the Temple at around the age of 3 in fulfillment of a vow. It was the tradition of the time that she (Mary) be left there to be educated.

The Celebration of the feast was first found in the 11th Century Calendar (Menology) of Basil II (e’ísodos tes panagías Theotókon). By the end of the middle ages, the feast was still missing from many calendars. It had a back and forth relationship with the Roman Catholic Church being permanently adopted by Pope Sixtus V in 1585.

In more recent times, Pope John Paul II dedicated the day as “’Pro Orantibus’ Day, a day for cloistered women religious who are especially dedicated to prayer, in silence and recollection.”