Mary’s Unneeded Temple Purification and the Gift of Obedience, by M.C. Holbrook

By M.C. Holbrook, Catholic Exchange, Feb. 2, 2026

M.C. Holbrook is a homeschooling mother of ten and author of the series, The Safe Haven: Scriptural Reflections for the Heart and Home. Originally from New York City, Holbrook received a Bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies from Cornell University, and a Master’s degree in School Counseling from New York University. Holbrook enjoys meals with her family, prayer with her friends, and a hot cup of coffee each morning with the Word of God.

Author’s Note: This article was adapted from a chapter of 26 Steps With the Mother of God: A Treatise on the Life of Mary, available from Amazon.

After the forty days required for purification came to an end, Mary went to the temple to present her Son. Biblically speaking, the number forty often represents a time of preparation (the rains of the Great Flood fell for forty days; the Israelites wandered the desert for forty years; Jesus fasted in the desert for forty days).

A New Mother

But in the case of a woman who had just given birth, not only would forty days have been about the time any postpartum bleeding would have ceased (thus explaining the reason for the purification ceremony taking place then), but it would have also been about how long it would have taken her to begin to establish a routine and regain a sense of “normalcy” with the new little one she had brought into her home. Forty days is about how long it would have taken for a new mom to get her face washed and her teeth brushed before noon! Forty days is how long it would have taken for her to start to feel “herself” again. …