Theophanies: Christ’s Presentation and ‘Be Thou My Vision’

“‘A light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.’…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’.” —Lk. 2:32,34-35

Today is the feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple and the Purification of Mary. It marks the arrival of the Holy Family to fulfill the Jewish law requirement for the consecration of a new child — and the ritual cleansing of the mother — during which two prophets, Simeon and Anna, testified to Christ’s divinity and His salvific mission.

In the Roman Catholic and Anglican calendars this feast, which is the end of the Christmas season, is still sometimes called “Candlemas,” because worshippers traditionally light candles and hold processions in honor of Jesus as the light of the world. The Presentation as related in Luke 2 is what Byzantine Catholics and Orthodox Christians call a “Theophany,” which in Greek means an appearance of God. God the Father sometimes chose a particular moment to testify directly or through a prophet to His Son’s identity and mission, and the Presentation is one such Gospel event.

Simeon’s canticle, quoted above, is justly famous, but more than 500 years later Christ’s redemptive work inspired another holy man, the blind Irish monk and bard St. Dallán Forgaill, to write a Gaelic poem translated as “Be Thou My Vision.” Dallán’s vision was necessarily entirely spiritual, but that enabled him to perceive most clearly how Christ, the light of the world, pierced through the darkness of a world plagued by sin:

You can read a longer reflection on this feast and Dallán’s hymn at PJ Media.