The Tender Humanity of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary

By Sarah Reinhard, Catholic Exchange, Nov 21, 2025

When Sarah Reinhard set off in her life as a grown-up, she had no idea it would involve horses, writing, and sparkly dress shoes. In her work as a Catholic wife, mom, writer, parish employee, and catechist, she’s learned a lot of lessons and had a lot of laughs. She’s online at snoringscholar.com and is the author of a number of books.

Have you ever stopped to picture Mary as a little girl?

No, really.

Not floating on air. Not perfectly manicured. Not glowing.

But as a little girl.

On this Feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, I’m forced to stop and consider that she was…human.

That means she had fingernails, toes, and hair follicles. She may have built castles in the dirt, tripped, and bruised her knees, turned small sticks into dolls and played with them. She might have burned herself learning to cook, or gotten a fever and been drenched in sweat. …