Dear Fellow Parishioners,

I would like to add some final thoughts on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, begun last week. The Presentation of the Lord (February 2) should not be confused with the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, celebrated on November 21. This was a completely separate event which took place a couple of decades before the birth of Jesus. It was when Joachim and Ann, long childless, fulfilled a promise to give thanks for their newborn child by dedicating her to God in the Temple in Jerusalem.

There are several differences between the Presentation of Jesus and the Presentation of Mary. The Presentation of Jesus is recounted in the Gospel of Luke, but the Presentation of Mary is not found in the canonical Gospels. It is in the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James (i.e., “Pre-Gospel of James), c. 150 A.D., which also recounts events leading up to, and after, Jesus’s early life. While it was not included in the canonical New Testament, it was known in the Early Church and widely influential in studies of Mary. (For example, it was the first known document attesting to the perpetual virginity of Mary. It also maintains that James was the brother of Jesus from an earlier marriage of Joseph.)

The Presentation of Mary took place not 40 days after her birth (like Jesus), but three years after. This is reflected in the Hispanic custom, followed to this day, of presenting children for blessing and dedication in the Church at age 3, before or after baptism.

Another reason for the confusion of these two “presentations” is that, until Vatican II, the Presentation of the Lord was celebrated under the title of “The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary”, unwittingly creating ambiguity. In the new liturgy of 1970, St. Paul VI restored a biblical and Christ-centered emphasis with the new title.

Finally, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, when named “Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” reflected the ancient practice of the “Churching of Women.” It was a special blessing for all new mothers at their first return to the church after childbirth. First, it offered thanksgiving for the birth of the child and the health of the mother. Until very recently, childbirth was a dangerous process and many mothers and children did not survive. It was a great relief when a healthy baby was born to a healthy mother. Second, in the old days, mothers were often not present at the baptism of their own children, as they were often still recovering from childbirth. Finally, the “Churching of Women” relates back to pre-scientific Old Testament times, when anything associated with blood was mysterious and powerful, and the new mother would need to be ritually purified before re-entering the Temple and normal daily life.

This practice was commonplace well into the 20th century, the prayers for it are still in the ritual books, and is now making a bit of a comeback.

Blessings, Fr Bill Donahue