Candlemas, or Hypapante, or The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, or The Purification of St. Mary the Virgin

Adelphoi,

Today is both the Lord's Day and also February 2nd. Let us rejoice.

For, Candlemas, or Hypapante, or The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, or The Purification of St. Mary the Virgin, or all of these, is here!

Today is 40 days from the NATIVITY of Jesus, son of Mary, adopted son of Joseph, and the only-begotten Son of the Father almighty.

Today the Church commemorates the going to the Temple in Jerusalem by Mary and Joseph, taking with them the 40 day-old Jesus, in order to fulfil the ritual and ceremonial requirements of the Law of Moses, concerning the birth of a first son (see the Gospel, Luke 2:22-40) and present him unto the LORD.

Importantly, Jesus, though the Incarnate Son of God, was born under the Law and thus began the fulfilment of the Law in his life and ministry (see Leviticus 12 & Exodus 13 for the presentation).

In the Church of God the 40th day after Christmas is first of all a Festival of our Lord Jesus Christ - thus it is called HYPAPANTE (the Meeting [in the Temple]). The Meeting of the five (Joseph, Mary, Simeon, Anna and JESUS) was the first gathering of the remnant of Israel which now became in and through Jesus the people of the new covenant. The Messiah had come to his Temple (see the Epistle for the day, Malachi 3:15) to be greeted & embraced by his faithful ones.

Although, it did eventually become a Marian Festival in the West and was known in the Middle Ages as "The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary", its popular title of CANDLEMAS pointed not to Mary but to her Son. The procession of lighted candles proclaimed the words of Simeon concerning Jesus, " a Light to bring light to the Gentiles", and thus also recalled the words of Jesus himself, "I am the Light of the world."

So on this day we proclaim several inter-related facts and truths - the proclamation of Jesus as the Light of the world; the proclamation of Jesus as the Messiah of Israel, who fulfils the Law of Moses; the creation of His new people, the new Israel, by his saving work of obedience to the Father; and the crucial role and exemplary nature of Mary, Theotokos, his Blessed Mother.

The full title in the Book of Common Prayer points to all these truths - The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, commonly called [in the West] the Purification of St Mary, the Virgin.

In the words of the Collect, even as the Lord Jesus Christ was presented in the Temple as a human baby, so "may we be presented unto thee [the Father] with pure and clean hearts" by the same Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.


The Rev'd Dr. Peter Toon