The Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, observed every year on November 21, recalls the moment when Mary, as a young child, was presented in the Temple of Jerusalem by her parents. According to tradition, Saints Joachim and Anne received a divine message before her birth promising that they would be blessed with a child. Grateful for this gift, they brought Mary to the Temple to dedicate their only daughter to God.

The earliest record of this feast appears in the 11th century within the Byzantine Catholic Church. It was later introduced into the Roman Catholic calendar in the 15th century by Pope Gregory XI. Though the celebration was removed during the reforms of Pope Pius V in the 16th century, Pope Sixtus V restored it in 1585. Today, the feast continues to be celebrated, honoring the devotion of Mary’s parents and the holiness of Mary’s life from her earliest years.