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<center>
<img height='275' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/1213.jpg'> 			 
Our Lady in the Vatican Basilica Issue: 
Presentation of Mary at the Temple 
Scott 1213 (2002) </center>
 
The Feast of the Presentation of Mary is celebrated on November 21. It is based upon non-Biblical, apocryphal writings (such as the Gospel of the Nativity of Mary and Pseudo-Matthew). These writings and tradition suggest that at the age of three Mary was presented by her parents (Joachim and Anne) because of a vow taken on her behalf to have her educated at the Temple in Jerusalem as the future Mother of God. This liturgical feast is recalled both in Latin and Greek traditions and in the latter, it is referred to as “The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos [Mother of God or God-Bearer] into the Temple.”
 
The feast appears to have originated in the East and by the 12th to 14th centuries became better-known. There are parallels between this feast and the Old Testament account of the prophet Samuel whose mother Hannah brought him to the Temple as an offering to God (1 Samuel: 24-28).
 
One religious order takes its name from this event. The Presentation Sisters, officially the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a religious order founded in Cork, Ireland, in 1775. The Order's mission is to help the poor and needy around the world, primarily through the establishment of schools that educate young people, especially young women. The order still oversees schools around the world.
 
The stamp shown above, from the Our Lady in the Vatican Basilica issue of 2002, shows an ancient mosaic of the young Mary being presented at the temple. Another famous depiction of that event was created by the great early Renaissance artist Giotto, whose work "Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple" is shown below. Created around 1303 to 1305, this fresco can be found in 
the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Veneto, Italy:
 
<center>
<img height='375' src='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Giotto_-_Scrovegni_-_-08-_-_Presentation_of_the_Virgin_in_the_Temple.jpg'> 
The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple, by Giotto 
Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Veneto, Italy 
From Wikimedia Commons 
In the Public Domain</center>
 
REFERENCES: 
<li>Wikipedia, <a href='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presentation_of_Mary'>Presentation of Mary</a> 
<li>Wikipedia, <a href='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presentation_Sisters'>Presentation Sisters</a> 
<li>UFN, March 12, 2002, <a href='https://vaticanstamps.org/UFN/images/2002-2-01-1.jpg'>Definitive Mail: Our Lady in the Vatican Basilica</a> 
<li>James C. Hamilton, Vatican Notes, Volume 65, Number 371, pp. 12-29 (esp. Page 18), 2017, <a href='http://vaticanstamps.org/vaticannotes/idisplay.php?p=65-371-12-13&r=0'>Mosaics on Vatican City Stamps</a>

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