In the Company of Mary Our Lady, it is a great feast of the students, who offer to the Virgin the fruits of the year that is ending.

“When Jeanne de Lestonnac opened the school in Bordeaux, her project was so successful that the classes were filled with students. Filled with joy, she wanted to give thanks to the Lord. One day, she was visiting the classrooms, and when she saw so many students eager to learn, she felt the desire to offer to the Lord the first works of the teachers and students.

As the Feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple was approaching, she had an idea: to place the girls under the protection of the Virgin and that Mary would always be their model for life. Jeanne de Lestonnac fulfilled her dream: On November 21, 1610, in the Church of the College, they made the same offer that the Child Mary made in the Temple of Jerusalem. The doors of the school were opened and the girls went out in procession carrying an image of the Virgin. Sung Mass was celebrated. When they arrived at the offertory, all the girls made the consecration to the Lord under the patronage of Mary.

The party lasted all day and became a happy memory of this event for the students.

Remembering this tradition every November brings us back to Mary. Jeanne de Lestonnac wanted to “consecrate the pupils to her and place them under her protection with the promise of imitating her in the state to which God would call them”. In this way, it reaffirms that Mary is a model and example, the companion who, at our side, shows us the way of being and situating ourselves in life. This feast, which is celebrated according to the characteristics of each context, has a common meaning: “the presence of Mary Our Lady in our projects.” (Taken and adapted from the History of the Order).