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Stand In the Gap With Us Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary 11/21/2023
It commemorates a visit by the three-year-old Mary to the Temple in Jerusalem, where she was dedicated to the service of God and left to be raised as a consecrated virgin. This act was done in fulfillment of a sacred promise made by her parents, Saints Anne and Joachim, during their long struggle with childlessness.
The Presentation of Mary reminds us that we can go on a pilgrimage of thanksgiving, to give thanks to God for a blessing received. In their gratitude, Joachim and Anne pledged to dedicate Mary to God and give her to His service in the temple. To carry this out, it meant they had to make sacrifice and go on pilgrimage.
The consecration of Mary to God presented all the conditions of the most perfect sacrifice: it was prompt, generous, joyous, unregretted, without reservation. How agreeable it must have been to God!
Anne Catherine Emmerich, Bl. Anne describes Mary being brought to the Temple at the tender age of three by Joachim and Anne. There, Mary attended the priests and Levites in the sacred ministry of the temple along with other consecrated virgins for several years until her betrothal to Joseph.
