‘The fortieth day after the Epiphany is undoubtedly celebrated here with very highest honour, for on that day there is a procession in which all take part, in the Anastasis (Resurrection), and all things are done in their order with the greatest joy, just as at Easter. All the priests, and after them the bishop, preach, always taking for their subject that part of the Gospel where Joseph and Mary brought the Lord into the Temple on the fortieth day, and Simeon and Anna the prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, saw Him —treating of the words which they spake when they saw the Lord, and of that offering which His parents made. And when everything that is customary has been done in order, the sacrament is celebrated, and the dismissal takes place.’ (The pilgrimage of Etheria).
This testimony is that of a Christian woman of the fourth century who wrote down in her travel diary what she saw during her pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Like many other feasts connected with specific places in Jesus’ life, that of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple originated there; it was celebrated as a continuation of the birth of the Lord. We read in Lukes Gospel (2:22), ‘When the days were completed for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.’ After the birth of a boy [first born], the purification of the mother took place after forty days. This event was celebrated on the fortieth day after the Epiphany. When this feast spread to the West, it was placed forty days after Christmas, that is to say, on February 2nd.
Original called ‘The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary’ up until 1969, it is now called ‘The Presentation of the Lord.’ And so, has clearly returned to its original orientation: it is a celebration of the Lord that concludes the solemnities of the Nativity. The procession itself has today, lost much of its importance, and may be replaced by a solemn entrance of the priest — after the singing of the antiphon — ‘Behold, our Lord will come with power, to enlighten the eyes of his servants, alleluia.’ After this, candles are blessed. If a procession is to take place — all process carrying lighted candles— ‘A light for revelation to the. Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.’ Also known as Candlemas. The light of Candlemas announces that of the Paschal candle. Its brilliance that shines for all the nations helps us to discover the true face of every human being, so often ignominiously disfigured, in which we must recognise the face of Christ, in whose image all have been created.
This feast of the Presentation of the Lord is surely a prolongation of the feast of the Nativity. But it has a definite paschal colouration — the acclamation of Christ as Light — a prelude to that which will flow unrestrained in the liturgy of the Easter Vigil: the Encounter with God coming among us, in his Son made human, and its prolongation and fulfilment in the encounter that the Risen Christ is preparing for us at the end of our earthly pilgrimage, in a pasch like his.
What we read today, is what is called ‘Luke’s Infancy Narrative.’ It is made up of seven tableaux, it is a sort of prologue to the whole Book. An attentive reading of these carefully crafted passages reveals their great doctrinal and spiritual riches. The story of the Presentation in the Temple holds a special importance. It sketches some major traits of the Lord’s mission and destiny; it underlines the importance of the Old Testament and the role of the Law.
‘When the days were completed for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.’
Luke’s way of introducing the story contains, in its very simplicity, several important teachings. First of all, we notice that attention is entered, right away, on Jesus. Mary’’s purification is simply mentioned, whereas the evangelist dwells on what concerns the infant. The infancy narratives are really Gospel, that is to say, an announcement of the mystery of Christ that they unveil, if only a little. What is said here already sheds light on what the book will develop. The evangelist emphasised that Jesus, by submitting to the prescription of the Law imposed on first born sons, manifested as soon as he entered this world his obedience to God, his Father.
Second, we are struck by the place Mary occupies. As mother of the Saviour, she is naturally prominent in the stories of the birth and the infancy of Jesus, but with a remarkable discretion and self-effacement. Luke recorded few of the Virgins words:— at the Annunciation and at the time when, with Joseph she found Jesus in the Temple among the doctors. Luke also attributed to her the song of the Magnificat in response to Elizabeth’s salutation, but this is all for the some three months she spent with her cousin. There was no word of hers at the birth or the presentation of Jesus. She was there, intently involved in the mystery with which she is associated, but silently. ‘Mary, kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.’ Such would be her attitude during the whole ministry of Jesus. Luke did not even explicitly mention her among the faithful woman who followed Jesus to Calvary, (although we know she was there). On the other hand, he noted her presence with the apostles, some women, and close relatives in the ‘upper room’ in Jerusalem where the little group dwelt after the resurrection and Ascension of the Lord. She was there, always silent, when the Spirit, who came down upon her so that she might become the mother of Jesus, came down again so that the Church might be born.
Such is Mary in the unfolding of the plan of salvation, today as yesterday. Associated in a unique manner with her Son’s work, she is self-effacing so that Jesus may be seen in the place of honour for which no creature can contend. Through her attitude of humble servant of the Lord, Mary shows the rightful place she is to occupy in Christians’ piety, and how the Church, whose perfect image she is, must understand its own vocation and assume its God-given mission
‘Now, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah of God.’ This last notation and the advanced age of the prophetess Anna, who came upon the scene after him, have led interpreters to see Simeon as an old man. Be this as it may, Simeon was the representative of all the just of Israel full of hope of seeing the One sent by God, announced by the prophetic oracles collected under the title of ‘The Book of Consolation of Israel’ (Isa 40-45) In order to express the object and spirit of Simeon’s expectations, Luke used the same device he used in the narratives of the visit of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth and the birth of John: he had Simeon sing a canticle of praise.
‘Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples, a light for the revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.’
In the same line of inspiration as Isaiah, Simeon saw salvation as the dawning of light on the nations. How eagerly the pagans welcomed the good news! But this eager welcome on the part of many could not hide the fact that Jesus and his messengers would also be rejected. ‘Simeon blessed them,’ then he said to Mary, ‘Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself, a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.’ The reading of the Gospels and the Acts, as well as that of Church history from its beginning, plus numerous personal experiences, confirm that the necessity of opting for or against Christ brings division, even within one and the same family.
What Simeon said to Mary, has a general scope. Mary here represents all believers, ‘who hear the Word of God and observe it.’ She is their model because she ‘believed that what was spoken to [her] by the Lord would be fulfilled.’ All generations proclaim her blessed.
After Simeon had finished speaking, a woman approached, ‘Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the Temple, but worshipped night and day with fasting and prayer.’ Her heart leapt for joy at the sight of this child. She proclaimed the praises of God and hurried to share her exultation with ‘all those who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.’ She was there as the second witness required by the Law. She corroborated what Simeon had explicitly declared. This was enough.
The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple lasted only for the time of the fulfilment of the prescribed rites. But the light of this brief liturgical encounter had already revealed in the child Jesus the Lord who came to save the nations.Twelve years later, again in the Temple, he declared for the first time that he had come to do the work of his Father. At that time Joseph and Mary didn’t understand what he meant, but would progressively accede to the understanding of his mystery with more encounters; as is the same for all of us — In the silence of Nazareth —the assiduous reading of the Scriptures —His mission — and especially in the reception of the Eucharist in which we participate.
The Feast of the Encounter—the name the Eastern Churches give to the Presentation of the Lord— unveils for us, all its riches to anyone who attentively reads and ponders the scriptural texts offered by the liturgy.
God had promised to send a messenger to purify the Temple, the priesthood, and the people. He sent his own Son. A ‘merciful and faithful ‘ high priest, the Son delivered humankind from the weight of sin and from the anguish of death at the end of a life of slavery. A light that illuminates all nations, he enables all who welcome him to become children the light, children of God. His risen body is the new Temple into which everyone may enter to at last render to God a ‘worship in spirit and truth.’
Such is the feast we celebrate today — The Presentation of the ‘Light of the world’
HAPPY FEAST.
