
The Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, also known as Candlemas, often slips quietly past our modern consciousness. But like so much in our Catholic faith, there is more there than we might at first recognize. Celebrated on February 2nd, this feast recalls Mary and Joseph presenting the infant Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem, as prescribed by Jewish law. It is a moment marked by humility, obedience, and the fulfillment of divine promise, and it is a moment of prophetic mystery as we hear Simeon tell Mary that, “you yourself a sword will pierce—so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
The Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple is the fourth decade of the Joyful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary, and it is one of my favorites. I think I love this mystery because I can imagine Mary and Joseph fulfilling the “law of the Lord” by bringing their son to the Temple, but also because it is something, in a small way, that is familiar to me.
When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple for His presentation, they were fulfilling God’s law and entrusting their Child to Him. As a parent, this moment resonates with me because I, too, have followed the Church’s teachings by presenting my children for their sacraments—offering them to God, trusting in His grace, and doing my best to raise them in faith. We can recognize in this feast a beautiful reminder that our children ultimately belong to God.
God calls us each by name. He calls us to vocation. Whether we are married, are parents, are single, are religious; whatever it is that God calls us to, we can respond with humble obedience.
To understand the message of the Presentation, it is helpful to look at the entire Scripture passage that describes the purpose and reason that Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple:
When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord, and to offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus
to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:“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.”The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
“Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
—and you yourself a sword will pierce—
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.
Luke 2:22-39
Why Does This Event Matter To Us?
Candlemas reminds us that our belief in God is often lived out in honoring the observances of our faith. Mary and Joseph’s act of bringing Jesus to the Temple was a simple one, yet it resonated with profound meaning. They were obedient to God’s law, despite Mary’s unique holiness as the sinless Mother of God and Jesus’ divinity. Their willingness to submit to the law of Moses demonstrates how even they lived out their faith in humble, ordinary ways.
What Does It Mean To Live Our Faith In Ordinary Ways?
Well, it means different things for different people. As a mother of nine children—most of them now grown, with five married—I have experienced how challenging it can sometimes be to honor the observances of our faith. There were times when just getting to Mass felt like an insurmountable task. Sacramental years brought meetings and preparation that sometimes felt burdensome, and even when my children married, there were still paperwork and logistics that involved tracking their Baptism and Confirmation records, notarizing consent to marry documents, etc.
Yet, in hindsight, I can see that these little “burdens” were like small acts of faith. They become opportunities to deepen our relationship with Christ and reflect our belief in the guidance of the Church and the sacraments. They are ways of acknowledging God’s providential care and expressing our trust in Him.
Each of us, whether married or not, in our own vocations, is called to participate in the life of the Church and in her feasts because they matter in our lives. We all have a story (to risk sounding cliché) that we live out as individuals but also as a Church. The Church’s liturgical calendar and her feasts offer us a path in which to order our lives—in and out of each year—and through the years we build on that trust in God’s Providence in our lives.
If we allow ourselves even just a little time to ponder this feast of the Presentation, we see how He cares for us in the small ways as well as in the big ones.
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Why Are Candles Blessed On This Feast?
It is customary on Candlemas to bless candles which can be used throughout the liturgical year. When Jesus was presented in the Temple, Simeon took him in his arms and said, “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 sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people, Israel.”
Inspired by this scriptural motif, it is traditional on the feast to bless and light candles, which remind us that the darkness shall not overcome the light of Christ. As Christians, we are called to be light in a world that is overshadowed by darkness. Candles became part of the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord as early as the 4th or 5th century, particularly in Jerusalem and later Rome, where a candlelit procession was introduced.
The Entrance antiphon for the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord is:
Your merciful love, O God, we have received in the midst of your temple. Your praise, O God, like your name, reaches the ends of the earth; your right hand is filled with saving justice.
Entrance Antiphon (Ps. 48:10-11)
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A Day To Commemorate Religious
The feast of the Presentation is also a day for the celebration and commemoration of religious communities. Pope John Paul II instituted the World Day for Consecrated Life in 1997, a celebration held in conjunction with the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Our Lord is the Light of the World, Whose coming is celebrated through the candles we light on Candlemas. Likewise, consecrated persons, through their lives of prayer, work, and devoted service, bring this Light into the world in a particular and powerful way.
Pope John Paul II, in his Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata: On the Consecrated Life and its Mission in the Church and in the World, articulated what it means for religious to hear God’s call and humbly follow Him in obedience to His holy will:
In every age there have been men and women who, obedient to the Father’s call and to the prompting of the Spirit, have chosen this special way of following Christ, in order to devote themselves to him with an “undivided” heart (cf. 1 Cor 7:34). Like the Apostles, they too have left everything behind in order to be with Christ and to put themselves, as he did, at the service of God and their brothers and sisters. In this way, through the many charisms of spiritual and apostolic life bestowed on them by the Holy Spirit, they have helped to make the mystery and mission of the Church shine forth, and in doing so have contributed to the renewal of society.
Vita Consecrata
Reflecting On Candlemas Throughout The Liturgical Year
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, the Presentation of Our Lord is one of my favorite mysteries of the Rosary. By praying the Rosary, and especially by meditating on this mystery, we can reflect on this feast day throughout the year.
For me, this is a special mystery because in it, I can unite my prayers with those of the Blessed Mother, who, in holy obedience to the teachings of her own faith, is an example for us as Christians. Her model of devotion to her family and to her beliefs as a young Jewish mother can help me approach the daily observances of my own faith with gratitude and cheerfulness, even when they feel like small, unnoticed tasks. I think this is true for all vocations. Each of us can offer the small moments and acts unique to our own vocation to Our Lord as Mary and Joseph did.
Pope St. John Paul II in his letter on the Rosary (Rosarium Virginis Mariae) explained how the mysteries present us with a “compendium of the Gospel” and are a “sweet chain linking us to God.” In particular, he wrote about the Presentation in the Temple in the following way:
The Presentation in the Temple not only expresses the joy of the Child’s consecration and the ecstasy of the aged Simeon; it also records the prophecy that Christ will be a “sign of contradiction” for Israel and that a sword will pierce his mother’s heart (cf Lk 2:34-35).
Rosarium Virginis Mariae
The Rosary was a favorite prayer of Pope John Paul II, who said that meditating on the events in the life of Christ and His Mother brings us closer to the Lord.
I look to all of you, brothers and sisters of every state of life, to you, Christian families, to you, the sick and elderly, and to you, young people: confidently take up the Rosary once again. Rediscover the Rosary in the light of Scripture, in harmony with the Liturgy, and in the context of your daily lives.
Rosarium Virginis Mariae
Celebrate Candlemas
Candlemas challenges us to find meaning in obedience and to honor the quiet rhythms of our faith. It calls us to the humility and holiness reflected in the simple act of devotion and love of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus in the Temple. Through this feast, we encounter a moment in Christ’s life, along with Simeon and Anna, who recognized the Light of World in their midst. Let us desire to be bearers of that Light—not only in the beautiful devotions and feasts of the Church, but in the way we live every day.