PRESENTATION OF MARY

The only reliable and pertinent source concerning the presentation of Mary, mother of Jesus, in the Temple by her parents is the Mosaic Law; the apocrypha speak in detail of her birth and presentation, but with no definite historical basis.

Firstborn males were necessarily dedicated to God (Ex 13.12–16), and at the time of Jesus this was done by a ceremony in the Temple (Lk 2.22; see purification of

mary). Since the firstborn of humans and beasts were to be in general consecrated to God (Ex 13.1–2), there may have developed some pious custom of bringing firstborn girls to the Temple with the mother as she performed her duty of purification (Lv 12.5–8). When a woman gave birth to a daughter she was to spend 80 days in seclusion, after which she must present herself to the priest in the Temple with an offering of a yearling lamb as a thanksgiving holocaust and a pigeon or turtledove as a sin offering.

The apocrypha indicate that Mary was presented in the Temple as the result of a vow made by her parents rather than because of a law or universal custom. The Protoevangelium of James (7.1–2) has it that Joachim and Anna agreed to fulfill their vow only after Mary was three years old, lest the child be immature and long for her parents. She was then left in the Temple for permanent residence and applied herself more diligently than did the other virgins. According to the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew (4), when Mary was three years of age her parents took her to stay in the Temple; at the gates she was so eager that she ran up the steps without ever looking back and never asked for her parents as would an ordinary child. It must be chiefly from the apocryphal accounts that there has arisen a special interest in Mary's presentation as a symbol of self-offering and dedication to the spiritual life. The feast was not finally extended to the universal Church until 1585, by Pope Sixtus V.

The presentation of Mary has been a favorite subject of Christian iconography from the Middle Ages on. Thus, for example, Giotto di Bondone, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Titian, and Tintoretto all painted their interpretations of the apocryphal material.

See Also: mary, blessed virgin, articles on.

Bibliography: b. h. cowper, ed. and tr., The Apocryphal Gospels and Other Documents Relating to the History of Christ (London 1897). m. r. james, The Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford 1953). r. laurentin, Marie, l'Église et le sacerdoce, 2 v. (Paris 1953). l. rÉau, Iconographie de l'art chrétien, 6 v. (Paris 1955–59) 2.2:164–168.

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