Mary in the Temple (IX)

The king was seduced by your beauty When she who was to feed with her breasts the Christ God to be born of her, was weaned from the breast and had attained the age of three, her holy parents brought her to God's Temple, and consecrated her as an offering to God, according to a vow they had made before she was born. In Psalm 44, David alludes for the first time to his King and Son, saying, "They placed a princess at your right hand" (Ps 45: 9). This verse alludes to the presentation to the Temple, the placing at the right side of the altar in the Holy of Holies, which was actually considered to be the right hand of God. He describes her as "beautiful clothed in brocade" (Ps 45: 11 and 14), [..] her beauty pleased the king who lived by her side. "Listen, my daughter, attend to my words and hear" (Ps 45:10). Listen to the first proclamations of the prophets about you, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and to the new stories about your parents, their barrenness and decrepitude, their prayers and petitions, and the announcements from God concerning your birth, and by his grace your unexpected and wonderful birth. And may your thoughts not remain on this Jewish people and your father's house. "Forget your own people and your ancestral home" (Ps 44:11) and all that which belongs to this world, and put on a new thought and a solid hope, and "then the king will fall in love with your beauty" (Ps 45:11), and you will be worthy to be truly called his mother. Moreover, He enriched his own prophecy by teaching that rich men would send gifts and come to serve her; this is why the psalm reads, "the richest of peoples [will court your favor with gifts] with jewels set in gold" (Ps 45:13). And in your exterior attitude we can see the deeper and more glorious interior. The psalm not only shows the inner richness of her virtues but also the unutterable abundance and beauty of those graces from the Spirit, which are deeper than thought.