The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple, Titian. 1534-38. Gallerie dell’ Accademia, Venice.
Questions
-What is happening in this image?
-Where is Mary? What is her demeanor like?
-Think about St. Joachim and Anne and their journey to have Mary. What do you think they are feeling right now?
Reflection
I love to imagine Mary as a child. What would she have been like? What was her demeanor? Did Joachim and Anne have a feeling about how important she would be? Did they recognize her holiness as coming from the Lord? What a gift it would have been to be Mary's parents, a perfect child that is protected from sin and dedicated to the Lord. When Anne and Joachim were begging the Lord to give them a child, they promised that if a child was granted to them they would dedicate their child to the temple. Here is the fulfillment of their promise, that they are bringing Mary to be dedicated to God. Tradition tells us that at three years old, Mary was presented at the temple and then stayed to serve and be educated in the scriptures and teachings of the faith.
As a mother, I have often found myself pondering if I have a God-centered attachment with my child. The feast of the presentation makes me wonder about this even more. If the Lord asked me to give up my child, would I? Am I allowing God to work in her life even now? Would I be okay if she decided to enter into a convent where I will hardly be able to see or talk to her? Am I constantly presenting her to God for His glory and service? I think by asking these questions we all know the answer - most likely not. It is not that I have an unhealthy attachment to my daughter, it is that I do not have the virtue to give away all that the Lord has given me. God will require that we give everything back to Him, this shows how much we love Him and trust Him above all else. It takes practice and dedication to be able to do this without fear, anger, worry or mistrust. Whatever we give to the Lord He will care for with tenderness and make it a thousand times more fruitful than we would ever be able to. If we entrust our children to the Lord, they will be much better off than if we try to raise them on our own accord.
In Mary's perfection, she had no fear entering the temple. She confidently stepped forward away from her parents into the loving hands of the Lord. He created her in the womb, he knew her name and what history changing choices she would make when she was older. But yet, He asked for her yes at this point of her life, as a little child. And Mary said this fiat before an even bigger one. I think that the life of faith works this way too. When we are small and little in our faith life, only just beginning to experience conversion, God asks for little things. He may ask you to give Him something, or entrust something to Him, or give up something for His sake. It will be subtle and seemingly minor, but it always builds to bigger things. The Lord will not be satisfied with the tiniest part of your heart - He wants your whole being! While this seems daunting at times, it is something that we have the ability to work up to. God does not expect us to be saints at the heights of holiness at the beginning of our journey, thank goodness for that! He gives us time to loosen our stony hearts, clinging to our hard ways to replace it with the flesh that is true humanity. Over time, we can become more confident as Mary would have been, saying yes to the Lord and giving Him everything.
Mary would become a better, more perfect temple than any made by human hands. She will carry inside her God himself, she truly will become the Mother of God. We, by our baptism, confirmation and partaking in communion, are also called to be a temple of God. It is at this point that we can say 'O Happy Fault' about the original sin passed down to us by Adam and Eve. It is a happy fault that caused God to have great mercy upon us, sending His own Son to save us. God gifted us with a great gift of Christ in the Eucharist and the sacraments to become part of His Church. When we partake in the sacraments we as temples are cleansed (baptism, confession) to house God Himself (confirmation, communion). Mary was completely receptive to the Lord's will and attentive to His presence within her. We too can be "full of grace" by being full of the Holy Spirit and align with God's law and will. Mary is the model for every Christian of how to carry Christ within ourselves. We can be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect because He is in intimate union with us, showing us the way to His heart.
Information
Titan painted this between 1534-38 for a room in the Grand School of St. Mary of Charity in Venice, Italy. Later, this school would become part of the Gallerie dell' Accademia, where it still hangs today. Though you cannot tell online, this painting is extremely large at it covers a wall that is over 25 feet wide and there is a doorway on the lower right. When you look closer, you can see the genius of Titian by how he painted masonry around the door as if it were the lintel over an entrance to a cellar. You may notice that there is a doorway on the left side that breaks up the painting, but this was added later on and not part of Titian's original working space.
Another detail that can be lost when viewing online is how Titian uses light. There are windows in the room coming from the left side of the painting and he follows this light source in this painting. It is a great awareness of the space that he is working in to allow the piece to seem natural and using his surroundings to aid in his beautiful artwork. The buildings on the left are darker so our eyes scan across the architecture and people to the bright, sunlit steps that lead up to the Temple entrance. Mary is dressed in blue, matching the magnificent sky and mountains in the background.
There are several figures in this painting with many different ideas of who they are. Who do you think Joachim and Anne are in this painting? There is general consensus that Joachim is the man in the golden robes with his back turned and his hand placed on the shoulder of Anne his wife. Who is the woman at the foot of the stairs looking at Mary then? It is believed to be Elizabeth, her cousin, who will become the mother of St. John the Baptist. She is watching with calm attentiveness to Mary's confident walk to her duty. How powerful that the next time she welcomes Mary back is when they are both pregnant! The young priest at the top of the stairs is thought to be Zachariah, the future husband of Elizabeth and father of St. John the Baptist. The men at the leftmost of the painting are though to be patrons and members of the Grand School. This is a normal inclusion of paintings at the time, to have those who paid for the painting be included in it in some way.
An interesting argument over this painting is the woman who is at the forefront of the painting, sitting at the side of the steps with the egg basket. Some people think that this was just a random person that Titian included in the painting, but this seems unlikely to me. Titian took care in the other figures he added in this piece, so why would he change this now? Others saw her as a personification of the Jewish people. The Jewish people had existed for so long, so seen as a wise, old woman. Her darker blue clothes are compared to that of Mary's light blue clothes. Mary is the image of the Church and fulfillment of being the bride of Christ. Israel is also Christ's bride so this woman could be the person symbolizing this. She could also be symbolizing Israel because of her poorness, the passing away of Israel as we know it when the Incarnation of Christ is starting to enter history as even a possibility. Christ came to give fleshy hearts to those with stony hearts, like this woman who has her backed turned to the Temple. There are also people who think that she is Anna, the prophetess who is present at Jesus' presentation in the Temple. Tradition states that Anna had been around and in the Temple for several years before Christ came. There is beautiful reflections that could be drawn from her being present both at Mary and Jesus' presentations at the Temple.
On the ceiling above the painting, there is a figure of Christ with the words "Sum Lux Mundi" which means "I am the Light of the World". In this painting, Mary is radiating golden rays, symbolizing how perfect and holy she is. Although she is not carrying the Light of the World yet, she is full of His grace and already destined to be the Mother of God. The light of Christ is no longer outside of us - it can now be inside of us, incarnate. At just three years, Mary knew the love that God had for her and the safety that can be found in His house, which at that time was the temple. Mary confidently goes into the temple knowing she will serve her God to the best of her ability. In turn, she was most definitely a light to those around her and witnessed her holiness, simplicity, humility and love.
Mary's presentation was celebrated as early as the sixth century and there is even a Church built there in honor of this mystery. Although this feast at times disappeared from the calendar it became a feast for the universal Church in the 16th century to be always celebrated on November 21. It is tradition that Mary stayed in the temple until she was 12 and that both Joachim and Anne passed away while she lived at the temple. Can you imagine how Mary grew in knowledge, service, and holiness while she spent 9 years at the temple? Although she had lost her parents, she was gaining the knowledge that would have impacted how she received the angel Gabriel and how she would have raised Jesus. Jesus would have been raised by a mother who intimately knows the Torah and the Law, along with how to be in relationship with God.
More Questions
-Why do you think Mary's presentation is important?
-How does Mary's presentation in the temple compare to Jesus'?
-Who do you think the woman with the egg basket is?
Let us pray,
Lord, thank you for the gift of your mother, Mary. Help us be confident in presenting ourselves to you as she was. May we walk with humility, love and the willingness to learn your way. You are a merciful God who loves to see us run to you as little children. Allow me to sprint to you in my need, my weakness, my joy, and my strength. Help all those who do not know how to be childlike in your presence. Grant them safety in being vulnerable and trusting their whole selves to you. Please grant me this same safety and trust. Mary - thank you for your yes that began way before your fiat at the Annunciation. Thank you for showing us the way to being the light of the world by carrying Christ within us.
Mary, Temple for the Light of the World, pray for us!
Amen.
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