Girolamo Romanino, 1529
Translation of the Gospel of Luke (2:22-32)
At that time, after the days of Mary’s purification according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they carried Jesus to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord; as it is written in the law of the Lord: Every male opening the womb, shall be called holy to the Lord; and to offer sacrifice, according as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons. And behold there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Isræl, and the Holy Spirit was in him: and he received an answer from the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when His parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he also took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said: Now Thou dost dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word in peace; because my eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples; a light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Isræl.
A Message From St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica III, Q. 37, A. 4.
Objection: 1. It would seem that it was unfitting for the Mother of God to go to the Temple to be purified. For purification presupposes uncleanness. But there was no uncleanness in the Blessed Virgin, as stated above (Questions 27, 28). Therefore she should not have gone to the Temple to be purified.
Objection: 2. Further, it is written (Lev 12:2-4): If a woman, having received seed, shall bear a man-child, she shall be unclean seven days; and consequently she is forbidden to enter into the sanctuary until the days of her purification be fulfilled. But the Blessed Virgin brought forth a male child without receiving the seed of man. Therefore she had no need to come to the Temple to be purified.
Objection: 3. Further, purification from uncleanness is accomplished by grace alone. But the sacraments of the Old Law did not confer grace; rather, indeed, did she have the very Author of grace with her. Therefore it was not fitting that the Blessed Virgin should come to the Temple to be purified.
On the Contrary: is the authority of Scripture, where it is stated (Luke 2:22) that the days of” Mary’s purification were accomplished according to the law of Moses.
Antonio Ermolao Paoletti, 19th c.
I Answer That: As the fulness of grace flowed from Christ on to His Mother, so it was becoming that the mother should be like her Son in humility: for God giveth grace to the humble, as is written Jam 4:6. And therefore, just as Christ, though not subject to the Law, wished, nevertheless, to submit to circumcision and the other burdens of the Law, in order to give an example of humility and obedience; and in order to show His approval of the Law; and, again, in order to take away from the Jews an excuse for calumniating Him: for the same reasons He wished His Mother also to fulfil the prescriptions of the Law, to which, nevertheless, she was not subject.
Reply to Objection: 1. Although the Blessed Virgin had no uncleanness, yet she wished to fulfil the observance of purification, not because she needed it, but on account of the precept of the Law. Thus the Evangelist says pointedly that the days of her purification according to the Law were accomplished; for she needed no purification in herself.
Reply to Objection: 2. Moses seems to have chosen his words in order to exclude uncleanness from the Mother of God, who was with child without receiving seed. It is therefore clear that she was not bound to fulfil that precept, but fulfilled the observance of purification of her own accord, as stated above.
Reply to Objection: 3. The sacraments of the Law did not cleanse from the uncleanness of sin which is accomplished by grace, but they foreshadowed this purification: for they cleansed by a kind of carnal purification, from the uncleanness of a certain irregularity, as stated in the I-II Q. 102, A. 5; Q. 103, A. 2. But the Blessed Virgin contracted neither uncleanness, and consequently did not need to be purified.