The Lost Books of the Bible, Chapter IV summary

What happens

1. After three years and the completion of her weaning, Mary's parents bring her to the temple with offerings.
2. Fifteen stairs, corresponding to fifteen Psalms of Degrees, lead toward the outdoor altar on the mountain.
3. While her parents change into cleaner garments, Mary climbs from the first stair to the top without help.
4. The narrator describes the ascent as the Lord's miracle and evidence of Mary's destined greatness.
5. Her parents offer their sacrifice, fulfill their vow, and return home, leaving Mary with the other virgins.

In this chapter

The key line

“Thus the Lord, even in the infancy of his Virgin, worked this extraordinary deed, and by this miracle gave evidence of how great she was destined to become.”The narrator

The narrator explicitly treats the ascent as divine action rather than ordinary childhood ability. It gives Mary's arrival religious significance.

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