NOTE: According to Jewish tradition and early Church tradition, it was not uncommon for some daughters to be presented in the Temple at a young age, to be raised there, and to enter into service at the Temple. They assisted the priests by sewing and cleaning the vestments, preparing other liturgical linens, weaving the veil for the Temple, and spending time in prayer. When the girls reached the age of 14 (marrying age), they were sent away either to a prospective husband or their parents. There were also older women (usually widows like the prophetess Anna) who lived at the Temple as teachers and guides for these young virgins. This is why many early Church Fathers and Doctors of the Church, as well as some mystics, taught that the Virgin Mary was presented to the Temple when she was 3 years old (Feast of the Presentation of Mary on November 21), and given to St. Joseph for marriage when she reached the age of 14.
JOSEPH: HIS LIFE, HIS VIRTUES, HIS PRIVILEGES, HIS POWER by Very Reverend Archdeacon Kinane (1884)
The Blessed Virgin, when only three years of age, was presented in the Temple to God by her pious parents, SS Joachim and Anne; and there lived in silence and prayer, absorbed in holy contemplation, communing with her God. … The Blessed Virgin, long before her Espousals had made a vow of perpetual chastity, had consecrated to God the purity of her body and soul, and as she lived in the Temple it is most probable that the priests were aware of her vow, and hence by divine inspiration selected St. Joseph as the guardian and protector of the Virgin’s purity. The Blessed Virgin, assured and enlightened by a clear revelation from the Almighty, that her vow of chastity would be respected, obeyed the counsels of the priests, and consented to the holy alliance with St. Joseph. This holy alliance had been celebrated on the 8th day of September, that is, over six months before the Incarnation of the Eternal Word; St. Joseph is said, like his holy spouse, to have made a vow of perpetual chastity at the age of twelve years. …
The age of our holy Patriarch, at the time of his holy Espousal with Mary Immaculate, is disputed among the early Fathers, as well as among modern critics. … The high and noble destiny of St. Joseph was to be the guardian of the Blessed Virgin; to be her help and companion in the long and fatiguing journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, before the Birth of our Blessed Saviour; to be the support of Mary and the Divine Infant in the flight into Egypt; and more still, for years in Egypt a strange land, without a friend, as well as at home in Nazareth, to maintain by the labor of his hands the Mother and the Child. Such being the heavenly appointed mission of St. Joseph, we may well conclude that his age and strength were suited to the duties of his mission, thus verifying the prophesy of Isaias, “A young man shall dwell with a virgin.” … The Venerable Maria of Jesus of Agreda thus describes the above event: “St. Joseph was then thirty-three years of age, well-made, and possessed of an agreeable countenance, which expressed an incomparable modesty. He was, indeed, as chaste in his thoughts and deeds as in his inclinations; and having made a vow of chastity when but twelve years of age, his life was pure and holy before God and man.” …
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THE LOWLY LIFE AND BITTER PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST Vol 1 by Anne Catherine Emmerich
There were seven other virgins who were with Mary to be dismissed from the Temple and given in marriage… The priest prayed sitting before a roll of writings, and in vision his hand was placed upon that verse in the Prophet Isaias (11:1) in which it is written that there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse and a flower shall rise up out of his root. Thereupon I saw that all the unmarried men in the country of the House of David were summoned to the Temple… Then the high priest gave to each of the suitors a branch which was to be held in the hand during the offering of prayer and sacrifice. After that, all the branches were laid in the Holy of Holies with the understanding that he whose branch should blossom, was to be Mary’s husband. Now when that youth who so ardently desired to wed Mary found that his branch, along with all the others, had failed to blossom, he retired to a hall outside the Temple and, with arms raised to God, wept bitterly. The other suitors left the Temple…
I saw the priests, after this, hunting through different rolls of writing in their search for another descendant of the House of David, one that had not presented himself among the suitors for Mary’s hand. And there they found that, among the six brothers of Bethlehem, one was unknown and ignored. They sought him out and so discovered Joseph’s retreat, six miles from Jerusalem, near Samaria. … He was told to go up to the Temple. He went, accordingly, arrayed in his best. A branch was given him. As he was about to lay it upon the altar, it blossomed on top into a white flower like a lily. At the same time, I saw a light like the Holy Spirit hovering over him. He was then led to Mary, who was in her chamber, and she accepted him as her spouse.
The marriage feast lasted seven or eight days. The women and the virgins, companions of Mary in the Temple, were present, also many relatives of Joachim and Anne, and two daughters from Gophna. … After the marriage, Joseph went to Bethlehem on some business, and Mary with twelve or fifteen women and maidens went to Anne’s house near Nazareth. They made the journey on foot. When Joseph returned, I saw at Anne’s house a feast at which, besides the usual household, there were about six guests and several children present. … I afterward saw Joseph and Mary in the house of Nazareth. Joseph had a separate apartment in the front of the house, a three-cornered chamber this side of the kitchen. Both Mary and Joseph were timid and reserved in each other’s presence. They were very quiet and prayerful.
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REVELATIONS OF ST. BRIDGET, ON THE LIFE AND PASSION OF OUR LORD, AND THE LIFE OF HIS BLESSED MOTHER (published by D&J Sadlier & Co. in 1862)
[Mary to St. Bridget] Moreover, you ought to know for very certain that before Joseph betrothed me, he understood, in the Holy Spirit, that I had vowed my virginity to God and that I was immaculate in thought, word, and deed. He betrothed me with the intention that he might serve me, treating me as his lady, not as his wife. I too in the Holy Spirit knew for very certain that my virginity would remain forever unharmed even though, as a result of God’s hidden plan, I was being betrothed to a husband.
