Did you know that the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord was originally celebrated on February 14? During the first centuries of Christianity, when the Nativity was not yet celebrated as its own feast, the feast of Nativity was being celebrated on January 6, the feast of Epiphany. Consequently, the Presentation of the Lord, the Baptism of the Lord (Theophany), and the feast celebrating Christ’s first miracle at the wedding in Cana were all celebrated on the same day, February 14, forty days after the Epiphany. On the last quarter of the fourth century, the Nativity acquired its own feast day on December 25 and, consequently, the feast of the Presentation was moved to February 2, forty days after the Nativity.

The feast of the Presentation of the Lord was first observed in Jerusalem and discovered by the nun Egeria during her pilgrimage to the Holy Land (381–384). She reported that 14 February was a day solemnly kept in Jerusalem with a procession to Constantine I’s Basilica of the Resurrection, with a Divine Liturgy and a homily preached on Luke 2:22 which says: “And when the day came for them to be purified in keeping with the Law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.” This feast was a minor feast but then, after the city of Constantinople survived the plague through the glorious celebration of the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, it was made into a major feast to be celebrated in the whole Eastern Empire by Emperor Justinian I in 542.

In Rome the feast of the Presentation of the Lord appeared during the eight century carrying the title of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This title has been the known name of the feast in the Latin rite of the Catholic Church until the Vatican II changed it and put back the original title of the feast, the Presentation of our Lord. Part of the celebration of the feast was the procession of the faithful with lighted candles from a certain place outside the church going to the church and upon arrival, the Holy Mass was celebrated. For this reason, the feast is also known as the Candlemas and the traditions of blessing the candles and the procession to the church are still being observed in many of the parish churches.

The procession with the lighted candles during the Feast of Presentation is connected to the words of St. Simeon about Jesus Christ when he saw Christ being presented by Mary and Joseph in the temple. This old holy man who was promised by God not to die without having seen the Messiah, put the child Jesus in his arms and, blessing God, he said the now famous Nunc Dimittis (Lk 2:29-32): “Now, Master, you are letting your servant go in peace as you promised; for my eyes have seen the salvation which you have made ready in the sight of the nations; a light of revelation for the gentiles and glory for your people Israel”. Jesus Christ is the Light. For this reason, the lighted candles symbolize Christ as the light, life and salvation of all Christians.

On this Feast of the Presentation of our Lord, the church also celebrates the World Day of Consecrated Life/Religious Life. The consecrated religious are those who have consecrated themselves to the Lord with the public vows of living the virtues of Poverty, Celibacy and Obedience. There are three kinds of consecrated religious – the ordained religious or the religious priests of different congregations, the religious brothers and sisters or nuns of different congregations, and the contemplative monks and sisters who stay all their lives inside the monasteries. They are of great help to the Catholic Church as they are usually the missionaries who preach the Gospel of Christ in the mission areas and are the prayer warriors that support the activities of the Church and sanctify the Church’s members.

Prayer for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

(By Abbot Gueranger.)

O Blessed Mother,

the sword is already in your heart.

You foreknow the future of the Fruit of your womb.

May our fidelity in following Him

through the coming mysteries of His public life

bring some alleviations to the sorrows of your maternal heart.