The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the temple marks the incident where she was offered as a gift to God and presented to the temple by her parents Anne and Joachim.

Mary remained in the temple until she was 12 years before she was taken under the care of St Joseph. It is said that her father Joachim died when she was 6 years and her mother died when she was eight years old.

This feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary was first held in the Eastern Church around the 6th century, but the Western Roman Catholic Church did not embrace it until the 15th century.

The feast started to be celebrated by the Byzantines after the dedication of the newly built Basilica of Saint Mary in 543 A.D in Jerusalem. However, the basilica was destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem in 614 AD.

Even after the siege, the Eastern Church continued to celebrate the feast. In 1372, Pope Gregory XI introduced this feast to the Roman Catholic Church and in 1472 it was included in the Roman Missal. However, in 1568, Pope Pius V suppressed this feast, but it was reintroduced in 1585 by Pope Sixtus V.

The feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary signifies the lifelong and total devotion that Mary made to God through her Immaculate Conception.

She listened to the voice of God, while still in her childhood, and agreed to become the temple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint Gelasius
2. Saint Albert of Louvain
3. Saint Digain
4. Saint Hilary
5. Saint Rufus of Rome