Light Enters The World

Readers undoubtedly will hear something about groundhogs today. They are less likely to learn that February 2 marks a Christian festival day. It is known in the western Catholic tradition as the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin or Candlemas, and more often in the Protestant world simply as The Presentation of Our Lord.

The festival marks the fortieth day following the birth of Jesus. Under Mosaic law, it was a day for temple rites completing the purification of a woman following childbirth. It was also the day to present the firstborn son for redemption in the rite of  pidyon haben.

The Candlemas tradition emerges from Luke 2:22-39 where Simeon prays over Jesus with words that would become known as the Song of Simeon or Nunc Dimittis:

Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, 

 you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
 For my eyes have seen your salvation,

 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

   and the glory of your people Israel.

Beginning around the third century following the birth of Jesus, the blessing of candles and their procession about the church on this feast day became a symbol of Jesus as the light of the world. The practice did not emerge in the western church for at least another seven hundred years.

 

Here is a remarkably beautiful hymn for the day by the American composer, Morton Lauridsen. Nice visuals as well. Click on the "show more" link for a description and translation of the piece:

This day has other interesting attributes. It is the end of Christmas (Epiphany) in the Christian calendar. It is also the mid-point of Winter, a cross-quarter day filled with pagan traditions symbolizing fire and the "return of the light"

In OTR's house, the last of the Christmas greenery will be removed and stored for another time. Later, he'll build a fire in a fireplace that seems naked without its trimmings  of red, green, gold and glass. But there will be light and warmth, both spiritual and physical, as this joyous season comes to a close.