VIRGIN MARY, PRESENTATION OF THE

feast celebrated in the Roman Catholic and Eastern churches on November 21. Based on a legend contained in the Protevangelium of James, a 2nd-century work not included in the Bible, the feast commemorates a visit by the three-year-old Mary to the Temple in Jerusalem, where she was consecrated to the service of God. It was celebrated in the Eastern church in the 6th century but did not become widely accepted in the West until the 15th century. Pope Pius V (156672) suppressed it, but in 1585 Pope Sixtus V reestablished the feast.