Important Dates in the Lives of Jesus and Mary 

much greater importance in the Jewish religious calendar than the first day of Nisan, (and easier to mark in 

one's memory), they simply counted the number of Passovers since an important event, like the rebuilding of 

the temple, rather than counting the number of Nisan 1 dates which had passed. In this way, the Jews counted 

the 46 years with each Passover marking the completion  of a year, and with the first partial year, in effect 

counting as a full year. (See chapter 6 for a similar example in the counting of Christ's age in Sacred Scripture.) 

    Notice also that the length of time, 46 years, is given to us in Sacred Scripture without the word  about  and 

without any words to indicate that this was an approximate length of time. Since Sacred Scripture is entirely 

true, accurate, and without error, the time of the Passover must have been counted as 46 years exactly, not 

45  years, nor as some other approximation. If the years were counted by the number of Passovers, then the 

first Passover of Christ's Ministry was exactly the 46th year, because it was exactly the 46th Passover. 

The Festival at the Completion of the Temple 

    Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich describes the events surrounding the Immaculate Conception of the 

Virgin Mary. Saint Joachim and Saint Ann, the Virgin Mary's parents, had been apart for several months. 

They did not meet again until the end of a feast in Jerusalem.

492

 Joachim and Ann met in a passageway under 

the Temple of Jerusalem. They held one another in a holy and chaste embrace.  Both Joachim and Anne were 

in a supernatural state. I learned that, at the moment in which they embraced and the light shone around 

them, the Immaculate Conception of Mary was accomplished. 

493

 Blessed Anne Catherine is saying here, and 

I also say, that the Virgin Mary was conceived of both Saint Joachim and Saint Ann, in a miraculous and 

virginal manner, solely by a miracle of God and not in the usual way, in a passageway under the temple.

494

 For 

more details on this point of theology, see my booklet, the Virginity of Jesus and Mary.

495

     I saw that because of the feast the whole Temple was open and decorated with garlands of fruit and 

greenery . 

496

 Blessed Anne Catherine tells us that the Immaculate Conception occurred at the end of a 

religious feast involving the Temple of Jerusalem. At one time, she said that this was the Feast of 

Tabernacles.

497

 But on another occasion she thought it  was the Feast of the Dedication of the Temple 

(Hanukkah).

498

 In her visions from God, Blessed Anne Catherine saw the Immaculate Conception of the 

Virgin Mary occurring sometime in the autumn, and earlier than December 8 (the day of the celebration in the 

Church's liturgical calendar).

499

 But she does not give the exact day or month for the Immaculate Conception. 

She does state that the Immaculate Conception occurred in Jerusalem, in a passageway under the temple, at 

the end of a some type of religious festival related to the Temple of Jerusalem.

500

    The Feast of Tabernacles generally ends no later than the end of October (and then only when Passover 

begins at its latest, in late April). In the year 31 

B.C.

, the Feast of Tabernacles (Tishri 15 22) fell in early 

October (Oct. 4 11).

501

 The Immaculate Conception could not have occurred at the end of the Feast of 

Tabernacles, in mid October, as this is too early to account for an August 5 birthday for the Virgin Mary. The 

length of time from Oct. 11 to Aug. 5 is 298 days, which is closer to 10 months, than to 9. Also, 90% of all 

births today take place 266 days from conception, plus or minus two weeks. The time period of 298 days is 

more than four weeks (32 days) beyond 266 days. Therefore the Virgin Mary was not conceived at the end of 

the Feast of Tabernacles. 

    On the other hand, the feast of the Dedication of the Temple (Hanukkah) begins on Kislev 25, and occurs 

no earlier than the last week in November. However, in 31 

B.C.

, the feast of Hanukkah began on Dec. 12 and 

ended Dec. 19.

502

 Blessed Anne Catherine does describe the Immaculate Conception as taking place at the end 

of a celebration at the Temple in Jerusalem. But this celebration could not have been the feast of Hanukkah, 

because Hanukkah occurs too late in the year to fit the date of August 5 for the Virgin Mary's birthday. There 

are less than 8 months (229 days) from Dec. 19 and August 5. This time period is over four weeks (37 days) 

less than 266 days. Therefore the Virgin Mary was not conceived at the end of Hanukkah. 

    Now Sacred Scripture indicates that the Immaculate Conception coincided with the completion of the 

rebuilding of the Temple. And the ancient historian Josephus describes a great festival which occurred at that 

time.

503

 This festival in honor of the completion of the rebuilding of the Sanctuary of the Temple was certainly 

a type of dedication of the Temple. This feast was a very special rededication of the Temple to God after its 

rebuilding. 

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