November 21
On November 21st of each year the church celebrates the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. While this feast is not based in scripture, it enjoys a place within the tradition of the church, both East and West. The first recorded celebration of the feast is in Jerusalem in the year 543.
This feast is based upon the legend that the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Joachim and Anna, consecrated their daughter Mary to God in thanksgiving for her birth. In fulfillment of this vow Joachim and Anna took their daughter Mary to live in the Temple of Jerusalem at the age of three. It is there in the very Temple of God that Mary is educated, sheltered and protected until she reaches the age of 12 or 13, at which time she is given in marriage to St. Joseph.
It is truly fitting that the Mother of our Lord, the true Ark of the Covenant should be raised within the Temple of God. She who would give birth to the Son of God spent her childhood reading scripture and praying within the very walls that housed the Holy of Holies, the very “tabernacle” of God.