Our Lady being taught by St Anne
Today's memorial, 21 November, of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary is yet another opportunity to focus on the total dedication of Our Lady to the will of the Father, for this day commemorates the belief that when Mary was three years old, her parents, Ss Joachim and Anne, took her to the Temple to be educated. The 'Protoevangelium of James' rather touchingly notes that although Our Lady was only three, the Holy Spirit so endowed her with grace that she did not cling to her parents and instead "danced with her feet and all the house of Israel loved her", for which Ss Joachim and Anne thanked God and marvelled at His goodness.
This is a detail of Pugin's reredos in Leeds Cathedral.
Our Lady being taught by St Anne
Today's memorial, 21 November, of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary is yet another opportunity to focus on the total dedication of Our Lady to the will of the Father, for this day commemorates the belief that when Mary was three years old, her parents, Ss Joachim and Anne, took her to the Temple to be educated. The 'Protoevangelium of James' rather touchingly notes that although Our Lady was only three, the Holy Spirit so endowed her with grace that she did not cling to her parents and instead "danced with her feet and all the house of Israel loved her", for which Ss Joachim and Anne thanked God and marvelled at His goodness.
This is a detail of Pugin's reredos in Leeds Cathedral.