On November 21st we celebrate the entry of Mary into the Temple in Jerusalem.

As we continue our preparation for the coming of Christ on December 25th, this week we turn our thoughts to the Mother of God. Mary, the Theotokos, gives us the perfect model of humility and silent expectation that we can use as a model during this period of preparation. The more we find ways to follow her example of obedience and purity the closer we will come to Christ who is about to be born.

On November 21st we celebrate the entry of Mary into the Temple in Jerusalem. We know from tradition that Mary’s parents were childless in old age. They prayed continuously to have a child and vowed that if God were to bless them with a child they would dedicate her to God. After a miraculous birth her parents took her at the age of three to the Temple in Jerusalem where she lived for twelve years. She lived in the most holy place in the Temple being cared for by the Temple priests and angels. The hymns of the Church testify to the careful spiritual preparation for the birth giving of the Son of God that God provided to her. She was purified through her life in the Temple to receive God Himself in her womb. Joseph, an older man, was selected to protect her when she left theTemple at the age of about 13.