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Advent Day-by-Day: A Season of Surprises


Key Themes of <i>Charity in Truth</i>
Key Themes of Charity in Truth

by: Kenneth R. Overberg, S.J.


Catholic Schools&mdash;I’d Choose Them Again
Catholic Schools—I’d Choose Them Again

by: Elizabeth Bookser Barkley


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Feast of the Presentation of Mary: Mary’s presentation was celebrated in Jerusalem in the sixth century. A church was built there in honor of this mystery. The Eastern Church was more interested in the feast, but it does appear in the West in the 11th century. Although the feast at times disappeared from the calendar, in the 16th century it became a feast of the universal Church.
<p>As with Mary’s birth, we read of Mary’s presentation in the temple only in apocryphal literature. In what is recognized as an unhistorical account, the <i>Protoevangelium of James</i> tells us that Anna and Joachim offered Mary to God in the Temple when she was three years old. This was to carry out a promise made to God when Anna was still childless.
</p><p>Though it cannot be proven historically, Mary’s presentation has an important theological purpose. It continues the impact of the feasts of the Immaculate Conception and of the birth of Mary. It emphasizes that the holiness conferred on Mary from the beginning of her life on earth continued through her early childhood and beyond.</p> Why are divorced/remarried Catholics treated differently from other sinners? There’s nothing more important I can do in my day than take some time to be with my Lord.

 
PICK OF THE DAY
Saints at the Dinner Table
CPA 2009 Award Winning author Amy Heyd cooks up delicious meals and dedicates each chapter to a saint.

 
CATHOLIC GREETINGS
Christ the King
Our liturgical year ends as it begins, focusing on our hope in the eternal majesty and mercy of God.



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