The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today is the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Roman Rite. It is the commemoration of the day when the Ark of the New Covenant first entered into the earthly temple. When King Solomon dedicated the temple in Jerusalem in 1 Kings 8, he prayed remembering all that God had done with his mighty arm to rescue his people from Egypt, bring them into the land, and give his father, David, victory over their enemies. There was festal singing and rejoicing, the offering of many sacrifices to the Lord, and a great feast for the people. When the Ark of the New Covenant entered the temple with Ss. Joachim and Anne, there was no such reaction from the people. What she was to be was veiled from their eyes and would not be known till after her Fiat and the completion of her divine Son’s mission of redemption. Yet the history of the liturgy and the writings of the saints tell us that the angels in heaven rejoiced more than King Solomon and all the people of Israel upon witnessing she who would bear the Word of God, the Bread from Heaven, and the true High Priest enter into the temple.