Presentation of Christ in the Temple

       If you are on the Parish “email list’ you will have received an email last week about today’s celebration of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple/The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary/Candlemas. This feast celebrates the ceremony of purification of Our Lady on the fortieth day after the birth of our Lord, and of the presentation of offering of our Lord to the Eternal Father in the Temple, as also prescribed in the Law of Moses for first-born male children.                    
   The ceremonies of today consists of: the blessing of candles, the procession (at the 10:30 High Mass), and the Mass which follows. The whole ceremony that precedes the Mass, and especially the blessed candles, refers to our Lord as the Light of the world according to the words of holy Simeon, who on the day of the Presentation took the divine Infant in his arms and said of Him: "A light to the revelation of the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel.”
   The feast of the Purification is one of the oldest feasts of the Virgin. At Rome in the seventh century it ranked after the Assumption. it is the last one in the Cycle that shows any connection with Christmas: Mary, wishing to obey the Mosaic law, had to go to Jerusalem forty days after the birth of Jesus (December 25-February 2) to offer the prescribed sacrifice. Mothers were to offer a lamb, or if their means did not allow, "two doves or two young pigeons.”
   The Blessed Virgin took the Infant Jesus with her to Jerusalem. The Candlemas procession recalls the journey of Mary and Joseph going up to the temple to present "The Angel of the Covenant" (Epistle, Introit) as the Prophet Malachy had prophesied, or "the light to the revelation of the Gentiles" (Gospel).
    The wax of the candles signifies the virginal flesh of the Divine Infant," says St. Anselm, "the wick figures His soul and the flame His divinity. "The Purification to which the mother of the Saviour was not obliged to conform, as her motherhood was beyond ordinary laws, is not placed in the foreground by the liturgy and the Presentation of Jesus it he principle object of this feast. (The Church has instituted for Christian mothers the fine ceremony of Churching, the meaning of which is neither a purification of the mother nor a presentation of the child, but a thanksgiving for the birth and a blessing of the mother There is also a Blessing of the Mother in the Ordinariate Form of Holy Baptism).
 
Ideas for celebrating this feast day:
· Go to mass and bring (preferably white) candles to be blessed for use over the next year. Candles of the faithful will be blessed at all masses today.
· Candlemas is known in France as “crepe day”. Make savory crepes for dinner (use whole wheat flour and fill them with ham, cheese, etc.) and sweet crepes for dessert (use white flour and top them with fruit, chocolate, whipped cream). 
· A Candlemas tradition is to spend the day without electric lights - or at least to eat dinner only by candlelight (using your blessed candles!)
· Say a family rosary by candlelight; the Presentation in the Temple is one of the Joyful Mysteries.
· Meditate on the constant fiat of Our Lady of Sorrows, who embraced the will of God even as Simeon predicted that a sword would pierce her heart.
· If you haven’t taken down your Christmas decorations yet, today’s the day! (It’s when I take mine down, or at least will make a start, since its Sunday) Candlemas marks the very end of the liturgical season of Christmas/Epiphany.
(Sources: catholicculture.org; Catholic All Year Compendium by K. Tierney; Catholicstraightanswers.com)
 
Faithfully, Your Friend and Pastor,
The Rev. Fr. Christopher C. Stainbrook, KHS