This weekend we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which takes precedence over the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time. This feast is celebrated 40 days after the birth of Christ. In Judaism, a mother is considered ‘unclean’ for 7 days after childbirth, and then for thirty-three days if she had a son, she is in the ‘state of blood purification’. It’s 66 days following the birth of a daughter. During this time, a woman in the Jewish faith may not enter a holy place or touch anything holy. So, today is the 40th day after Christmas (7 days plus 33 days) and the day that Mary would have gone to the Temple to be purified after giving birth. A sin-offering of a dove or pigeon was common – even though ‘sin-offering’ is not a very good term for it, as the Jewish faith does not consider any portion of childbirth or procreation between a husband and wife to be ‘sinful’. The firstborn male child is presented at this time, also, according to Jewish law with a history that goes back to one of the plagues in Egypt during Moses’ time. I won’t go into that right now – but feel free to google it. It is really an interesting process that they did.
Back to our Feast now! The Presentation of the Lord is often referred to as Candlemas and can begin with a procession involving the blessing of candles. In Simeon’s canticle in the temple, he states that this child Jesus is “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and glory for your people Israel”. This reference to ‘light’ is where the tradition for a blessing of candles on this day comes from.
Our songs this weekend refer to the Presentation. “In His Temple Now Behold Him” is a hymn specifically composed for this feast. The tune should sound familiar as it is the same tune that the text for Tantum Ergo is assigned. At offertory, we sing “Christ, Be our Light”, once again referencing Simeon’s canticle of Jesus as the ‘light’. The second Communion song, while somewhat unfamiliar, is another one specifically for this feast. It is once again, Simeon’s canticle, the text that he sang to praise God when presented with the infant Jesus. This text is also sung as part of the office hours throughout the year.
We conclude our Mass with a general hymn of praise, just as the Jewish people would have done in the temple at the presentation of Jesus. Granted, our song of praise is Catholic as it references the Trinity!
What’s the ‘take home’ from this weekend? One could ask: How do we return to God what is His? How do we thank Him for all He has done for us and given freely to us?