Mary at the Age of 1
When Mary first began to walk, Anna created a sanctuary in her bedroom necessitated by the demands of the law of holiness of the temple, which applied to both priests and nazirites. It was up to Anna to arrange this for Mary because it was her vow that had dedicated Mary to God as a nazirite all the days of her life and this began at her conception. Anna was compelled to create the sanctuary as Mary was still in her infancy.
When Mary was only one year old, Joachim organized a feast and the priests, and the high priests of the temple came to visit her (Protevangelium 6.2). This already indicates that the priests had a great interest in Mary.
The priests bless her in unison and say, ‘O God of our fathers, bless this child and give her an illustrious name for ever in all generations.’
The high priests also bless Mary in unison and say, ‘O God Most High, look upon this child and bless her with the utmost blessing, which shall be for ever’.
These are done in unison for these are ritual blessings. The priests are interested in Mary and as seen later (Protevangelium 10.1) they are also interested in other young girls, like Mary, who are descendants of the house of David.
They bless Mary as someone who might be a potential mother of the Messiah while the high priests bless her in a more specific way for they give her a messianic blessing (Isaiah 32:16–17). The context implies that Mary is of the house of David, as will be formally stated by the high priest in Protevangelium 10.1.
Anna, later sings a song strongly suggesting that she, as well as Mary, are matrilineal descendants of Rachel. It is significant that David is also linked to Rachel through matrilineal descent.
Even at a very young age, the trajectory of Mary’s life is being guided by the priests of the temple. They appear to have high hopes for her, possibly because of the nazirite vow that Anna made for her that dedicated her to God. One may also be suspicious that the priests and Anna may be consciously working together to make the vision of the Messiah come true.
