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| Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis |
Deus, qui beátam Mariam semper Virginem Spiritus Sancti habitáculum, holdiérna die in templo præsentári voluísti: præsta, quæsumus; ut, ejus intercessióne, in templo glóriæ tuæ præsentári mereámur. Per Dóminum…in unitate ejusdem.
November 21st is the Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple. In fulfillment of a vow, San Gioacchino and Sant’Anna brought Our Lady as a child to the Temple in Jerusalem to consecrate their daughter to God and unknowingly begin her preparation to be the Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Byzantine Church the celebration is regarded as one of the twelve great feasts of the liturgical year, called the Dodecaorton.
In celebration, I’m posting a prayer for the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Latin and English. The accompanying photo of a young Blessed Virgin Mary is a detail of my old beat-up statue of Sant’Anna. Evviva Maria!
Prayer
O God, Who wast pleased that on this day the Blessed Virgin, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, should be presented in the Temple, grant, we beseech Thee, that, by her intercession, we may deserve to be presented in the temple of Thy glory. Through…in the unity of the same.