Feast of the Presentation of Mary (The Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple)
November 21st is the memorial of the presentation of the Blessed Virgin. Sacred Scripture contains no text concerning the event commemorated in today's liturgy. For something of a historical background, one may consult the apocryphal works, particularly the Protoevangelium of St. James (ch. 4:1ff). After an angel had revealed her pregnancy, Anna is said to have vowed her child Mary to the Lord.
Soon after birth the infant was brought to the sacred precincts at which only the best of Israel's daughters were admitted. At the age of three the Theotokos, was transferred to the temple proper (7:2). According to legend, here she was reared like a dove and received her nourishment from the hand of an angel (8:1).
In the East, where the feast, celebrated since the 8th century, is kept as a public holiday, it bears the name, 'The Entrance of the Mother of God (Theotokos) into the Temple'. It was introduced at Rome by a Cypriotic legate to the papal court of Avignon in 1371. In 1472, Sixtus IV extended its observance to the full universal Church. Abolished by Pius V, it was eventually reintroduced years later (1585)."
The feast is dedicated to those who belong to contemplative religious orders who consecrate themselves to God in prayer and devout labors. As we venerate the glorious memory of the most holy Virgin Mary, grant, we pray, O Lord, through her intercession, that we may merit to receive from the fullness of your grace. Blessed Theotokos, our mother, pray for us, now, and at the hour of our death.
Adapted excerpt from The Church's Year of Grace, Father Pius Parsch, 1963.
Collect for the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin
R. Give me strength against your enemies.
Let us pray.
God, Who was pleased that on this day the Blessed Virgin, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, should be presented in the Temple, grant, we beseech Thee, that, by her intercession, we may deserve to be presented in the temple of Thy glory. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the same Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.
Latin
V. Dignáre me laudáre te, Virgo sacráta.
R. Da mihi virtútem contra hostes tuos.
Oremus.
Deus, qui beátam Maríam semper Vírginem, Spíritus Sancti habitáculum, hodiérna die in templo præsentári voluísti: præsta, quæsumus; ut, ejus intercessióne, in templo glóriæ tuæ præsentári mereámur. Per Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte ejúsdem Spíritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Daily Consecration to Mary
My Queen and my Mother, I give myself entirely to you and, in evidence of my affection, I consecrate to you my soul, my mind, my will, my heart my body with all its senses, my past, my present and my future. I solemnly consecrate to you my vocation, my vows, my graces, merits and virtues and all that God does or accomplishes through me. I give you my whole being without reserve. Since I am your own, keep me and guard me as your own property and possession. Amen.
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