Happy Candlemas: Today Is the Feast of Jesus’s Presentation in the Temple
Happy Candlemas! Today is the feast of the Presentation of Baby Jesus in the Temple, which, in the English-speaking Catholic and later Anglican tradition, has long been called Candlemas or Candle Mass. The Presentation is chronicled in the Gospel of Luke, where Jesus’s Mother Mary and His foster-father Joseph bring the baby to the Temple in accord with Jewish law, which required firstborn sons to be presented to God and mothers purified 40 days after birth (see Leviticus 12). While at the Temple, the holy man Simeon prophesied about Jesus and the sorrow His salvific role would bring His Mother. A prophetess, Anna, also bore witness to the Messiahship of Jesus.
Because Jesus says in the Gospels that He is the “light of the world” (John 9:5, 12:46), because Simeon called Jesus “light,” and because in the Old Testament the presence of God was made manifest by a cloud or Shekhinah during the day and a pillar of fire by night, the coming of the God-man Jesus into the Temple is the new manifestation of the Divine Presence and Light. Therefore, the Presentation was always a feast associated with light, which is why Catholics process with lighted candles and priests bless candles today. Hence, “Candle Mass” or “Candlemas.”
According to Britannica, the feast was celebrated in Jerusalem at least by the late 300s, and was moved to its present date (Feb. 2) in the East in the 500s by Justinian I. The practice of processing with lighted candles dates back to the 400s, and the festival was officially instituted in Rome in the 600s by Pope Sergius I. Another name for the feast is the Purification of Mary, referring not to cleansing from sin but to the ritual cleansing prescribed by Jewish law, as mentioned above.
Below is the passage in the Bible describing the events of today’s feast:
“[Luke 2:22-40] And after the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they carried him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord: As it is written in the law of the Lord: Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord: And to offer a sacrifice, according as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons: And behold there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Ghost was in him.
And he had received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when his parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, he also took him into his arms, and blessed God, and said: Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace; Because my eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples: A light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. And his father and mother were wondering at those things which were spoken concerning him. And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.
And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser; she was far advanced in years, and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow until fourscore and four years; who departed not from the temple, by fastings and prayers serving night and day. Now she, at the same hour, coming in, confessed to the Lord; and spoke of him to all that looked for the redemption of Israel. And after they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their city Nazareth. And the child grew, and waxed strong, full of wisdom; and the grace of God was in him.”
May Jesus Christ illumine your hearts, minds, and lives so you can bring His light to the world!