Important Dates in the Lives of Jesus and Mary 

Saint Ann's Purification 

     And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to 

Jerusalem to present him to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, 

`a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.'   (Lk 2:22, 24) 

    Sacred Scripture here describes the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple of Jerusalem on the 

40th day from His Birth. This day is also called the Purification of the Virgin Mary, since the Jewish law 

required each woman to present a sacrifice in the temple on the 40th day, inclusive, from the birth of a son. 

(The celebration of this event in the Catholic Church is sometimes called `Candlemas' because of an ancient 

tradition to carry candles in a procession as part of this celebration.) 

    But when a Jewish woman gave birth to a daughter, as when Saint Ann gave birth to the Virgin Mary, the 

length of time was double that for a son (Lev 12:5). So, on the 80th day, inclusive, from the birth of a 

daughter, the mother was required to bring a sacrifice to the Temple of Jerusalem. 

      `And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to 

the priest at the door of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a 

turtledove for a sin offering . And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two 

young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for 

her, and she shall be clean.'   (Lev 12:6, 8). 

    Notice that the Virgin Mary and Joseph offered  a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons  as their 

sacrifice, rather than offering one lamb and one bird. This was the offering to be given by those who were too 

poor to offer a lamb. Sacred Scripture does not tell us directly about the Purification of Saint Ann on the 80th 

day after the birth of the Virgin Mary. However, Saint Ann and Saint Joachim were devout Jews, so they 

certainly would have followed the Law and presented their daughter to God in the Temple on the 80th day. 

And the sacrifice they offered would not have been the two white birds offered by the poor. Blessed Anne 

Catherine repeatedly describes Saint Joachim and Saint Ann as having herds of sheep and as being fairly well 

off.

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 Therefore, Saint Ann would certainly have offered a lamb from their herds and a turtledove or young 

pigeon. 

    The Purification of Saint Ann is described briefly by Blessed Anne Catherine. She does not give the day or 

time of this event, except to say that it occurred:  Some weeks after Mary's birth . 

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 Since Sacred Scripture 

required Saint Ann to present her offering at the Temple on the 80th day, the date must have been October 23, 

the 80th day inclusive from August 5. The Virgin Mary was born on a Tuesday, so the Purification of Saint 

Ann occurred on a Thursday. 

    In 30 

B.C.

, October 23 coincided with the Jewish date of Heshvan  16.

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 Recall that the Immaculate 

Conception occurred at the end of the feast celebrating the rededication of the Temple Sanctuary after its 

rebuilding that feast occurred from Heshvan 15 until Heshvan 21 or 22. So, this event, called the Purification 

of Saint Ann, occurred about one Jewish calendar year after the Immaculate Conception. (It was not a Jewish 

leap year, so the length of time was 12 lunar months, which is somewhat less than one solar year.) 

The Presentation of the Virgin Mary 

    The day of the Virgin Mary's Purification, when she presented the Christ child in the Temple of Jerusalem 

on the 40th day from His Birth, is called the Presentation of the Lord. Jewish Law required that a male child 

be presented to God in the Temple on the 40th day (Lev 12). This celebration is also called the Entrance of the 

Lord into the Temple, because it was the first time that Jesus Christ, as God Incarnate, entered the Temple of 

Jerusalem. 

    The same passage from Sacred Scripture, which requires a woman to present her new born son to God in 

the Temple on the 40th day from birth, also requires a woman to present her new born daughter to God in the 

Temple on the 80th day from birth (Lev 12). This event, the day of Saint Ann's Purification, should be called 

the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, because it is the same type of Jewish religious ceremony, required by the 

same passage of Sacred Scripture, as the Presentation of the Lord Jesus Christ. This event could also be called 

the Entrance of the Virgin Mary into the  Temple, just as the Presentation of the Lord is also called the 

Entrance of the Lord into the Temple, because it is the first time since her Immaculate Conception that the 

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