Chapter 6: Mary’s First Year

1Day by day, the child grew stronger. When she was six months old, her mother stood her on the ground to see whether she could stand. Mary walked seven steps and came to her mother’s breast. Her mother caught her up and said, “As the Lord my God lives, you won’t walk on this ground again until I bring you into the Temple of the Lord.”

2Anna made a sanctuary in her bedroom and did not allow anything sacrilegious or impure to pass through it. She called the pure daughters of the Hebrews, and they played with Mary.

3When the child was one year old, Joachim held a great feast and called together the chief priests, the priests, the scribes, the elders, and all the people of Israel. Joachim brought the child to the priests, and they blessed her, saying, “God of our ancestors, bless this child and give her a name that will be spoken forever among all generations.”

4All the people said, “So be it. Amen!”

5They brought Mary to the chief priests, who blessed her, saying, “Most High God, look upon this child and bless her with a final blessing that cannot be surpassed.”

6Her mother took her up to the sanctuary in her bedroom and put the child to her breast. Anna made a song to the Lord God, saying:

7“I’ll sing a holy song to the Lord my God, because God has visited me and removed the criticism of my enemies.

8“The Lord God has given me the fruit of God’s justice, singular yet manifold before God.

9“Who will report to Reubel’s people that Anna nurses a child? ‘Listen, listen, twelve tribes of Israel: Anna nurses a child!’”

10Anna rested in the sanctuary of her bedroom. Then she went and ministered to them. When dinner was finished, they went down rejoicing and glorifying the God of Israel.