Candlemas - The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

Today, February 2, the Church celebrates the feast of the Presentation of the Lord Jesus in the Temple, an event remembered in the fourth joyful mystery of the Rosary. Here is a brief review of the story:

At the end of the fourth century, a woman named Etheria made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Her journal, discovered in 1887, gives an unprecedented glimpse of liturgical life there. Among the celebrations she describes is the procession in honor of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple.

Under the Mosaic Law, a woman was ritually “unclean” for 40 days after childbirth, after which she was to present herself to the priests and offer sacrifice—her “purification.” In obedience to the Law of Moses, Mary and Joseph also presented Jesus to God in the temple. The long wait of Israel for the Messiah was ended. So too was the waiting of old Simeon, who blessed the child and his parents, having been promised by the Spirit that he should not die until he had seen the Lord’s Anointed One. Anna, a faithful widow, had also prayed and fasted much for this day, and she rejoiced in it. Simeon and Anna embody Israel in their patient expectation; they acknowledge the infant Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah. Early references to the Roman feast dub it the feast of St. Simeon, the old man who burst into a song of joy which the Church still sings at the end of every day.

The observance of this feast spread throughout the Western Church in the fifth and sixth centuries. In the eighth century, Pope Sergius inaugurated a candlelight procession during the Mass, to symbolize the revelation to all people of Christ as the Light of the world. At that same Mass, the celebrant would bless candles and give them to the people, a custom which continues this day, giving the feast its popular name: Candlemas.

The first reading of the day, from the prophet Malachi, proclaims:

Thus says the Lord God:
Lo, I am sending my messenger
to prepare the way before me;
And suddenly there will come to the temple
the LORD whom you seek,
And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.

Malachi 3:1

In the Gospel reading, as he holds the infant Jesus in his arms,
old Simeon sings joyfully, 

"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 revelation to the Gentiles,
and glory for your people Israel."
 Luke 2:29-32