The Presentation of the Lord is one of the important holidays in the Christian calendar, celebrated on February 2.
Here are some interesting facts about this holiday:
Biblical Context of the Meeting
The Meeting of the Lord is connected with the event described in the Gospel of Luke (2:22–40). According to this text, 40 days after the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph brought the baby to the temple in Jerusalem to fulfill the requirement of the Mosaic Law - to dedicate the child to God. Here they met the righteous Simeon, who, according to the prophetic revelation, recognized the baby as the Messiah and said the words known to all: “Now you are letting your servant depart in peace, Lord, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation.”
This moment became the basis for the celebration of the Meeting. Righteous Simeon became a symbol of the Old Testament meeting the New Testament—Christ himself. His words, “Now you let go…” became an important part of the services of that day.
History of the holiday and its celebration
In the first centuries of Christianity, the Meeting was not a separate holiday. As early as the 4th century, Constantinople and Rome began to officially celebrate this holiday.
Theological content: Old and New Testament
When the righteous Simeon met Jesus, he proclaimed: “Now you are letting your servant depart in peace, Lord, according to your word.” These words have an important theological implication: the meeting of the Old and New Testaments, where the Old Testament is a symbol of the law, promises, and prophetic revelation, and the New Testament is Christ himself, who brings salvation and fulfills prophetic promises.
Simeon's encounter with Jesus also symbolizes the union of Christ's human and divine natures, for through his humanity he was the link between the Old and New Testaments. This unites the entire history of the salvation of mankind into one whole.
Meeting and the Virgin Mary
One of the features of the Meeting is the special reverence for the Virgin Mary. After all, it was Mary who brought Jesus to the temple, and this moment shows how through Her mediation a person's encounter with God takes place. The Virgin Mary is not only the Mother of Jesus, but also the protector of humanity, so at the Meeting Christians often turn to Her with prayers for intercession and help.
The importance of the holiday
The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord reminds Christians of the importance of God's presence in their lives. This holiday calls people to spiritual purification and enlightenment. It reminds us that Christ is the light that illuminates our hearts, and that we are to be witnesses of this light in the world.
The word “Encounter” comes from the Church Slavonic verb “stritaty”, which means “to meet” or “collision”. In the context of the holiday, it refers to the meeting of the righteous elder Simeon and the prophetess Anna with the baby Jesus in the temple, symbolizing the meeting of the Old Testament with the New. This word emphasizes the importance of this event, when two stages of God’s plan — the Old Testament promises and the fulfillment of these promises in Jesus Christ — meet in a single moment.
Holiday traditions
At the Meeting, candles are blessed in churches. This symbolizes that Christ is the Light of the world (as stated in the Gospel of John: “I am the Light of the world”). The candles symbolize our willingness to be carriers of this light in the world, in the darkness of sins and evil. After the candles are blessed in church, believers take them home, place them in their windows, or light them during prayer, so that this “lamp” may be a symbol of divine protection and grace in their lives.
Today the Holy Church celebrates the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, the event when Jesus Christ was brought to the temple. The Gospel of Luke (2:22 ff.) describes that when the days of purification according to the law of Moses were completed, Jesus' parents brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord, as the law prescribed: "Every male who opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord." According to the law of Moses, the period of purification for boys lasted forty days, for girls sixty. Special attention was paid to firstborns, because the first child in the family was to be consecrated to God. This was an ancient tradition: just as the first fruits of the harvest or the first profits were given to the Lord, so the firstborn were consecrated to serve God.
On the fortieth day after birth, Mary and Joseph brought the Infant to the temple to offer a sacrifice, as required by the law of the Lord, of two turtledoves or two young pigeons. On the icons of the Presentation of the Lord, you can often see how these birds are depicted in a cage, brought to the Jerusalem Temple as a symbol of purification. The Gospel then tells of a righteous and pious man named Simeon, who lived in Jerusalem and hoped for the fulfillment of the promises for Israel. The Holy Spirit rested on him.
Simeon is still revered in Jewish tradition, called the Great or the Righteous Simeon. His sayings even form part of the Jewish Talmud, and Jewish children study them to absorb his wisdom.
According to Christian tradition, Simeon was one of the translators of the Scriptures from Hebrew into Greek. This happened over two hundred years before the birth of Christ. By order of Pharaoh Ptolemy, 72 translators were assembled for the Library of Alexandria, each working separately to ensure the accuracy of the translation. This translation was called the Septuagint, or Translation of the Seventy.
While translating the book of the prophet Isaiah, Simeon came across the words: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel.” He doubted the correctness of this text, believing that it was a mistake, since a virgin could not give birth. He took a knife to cross out the word “virgin” (alma) and replace it with “woman” (isha). But at that moment an angel appeared in his cell, stopped his hand, and said: “Simeon, you will not see death until you see the Virgin give birth.” After that, Simeon lived for over two hundred years, visiting the Jerusalem Temple every day, in the hope of seeing this promised child.
The Holy Spirit was upon Simeon, which helped him recognize the Virgin who had given birth. An important detail: the Spirit was upon him, because he was a man of the Old Testament era. Christians are distinguished by the fact that the Holy Spirit dwells within us, as it is said in the epistles of the Apostle Paul: “The love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” This became possible only after Calvary, when the Son of God shed His blood, purifying the hearts of the faithful.
It was revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Messiah. Inspired by the Spirit, he came to the temple every day to find this child. The Scripture says: “And he came into the temple by inspiration.” This was not a mandatory requirement of the law, but a deep inner calling. We should also strive to go to the temple with the same inspiration as the psalmist David wrote: “My soul rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”
At that time, the righteous Simeon had outlived all his relatives and friends. Generations were changing one after another, and he felt like a man from ancient times, left alone among new people. The new generation had different habits, a different culture, and it was difficult for him to accept this. He had reached such an age that he was tired of living a long life, as will become clear later, because these years had become a burden for him, and he felt himself saturated with life.
Once, inspired by the Holy Spirit, Simeon came to the temple. At this time, the parents brought the Baby Jesus to perform the rite over Him according to the law. If the circumcision took place on the eighth day, then on the fortieth day the child was brought to the temple for the sacrifice of two turtledoves or young pigeons and the blessing of the priest. When Jesus was brought into the temple, Simeon, filled with the Holy Spirit, took the Baby in his arms and immediately understood: before him were the Virgin Mary, who gave birth to the Savior, and Jesus Himself, the Son of God. He blessed God and said: “Now you are letting your servant go, Master.” In these words, you can feel the deep fatigue of a man who has lived a long life and is now ready to die. He seems to be saying: “I am tired of life, nothing else keeps me here except the happiness of seeing the God-child.”
Simeon continues: “Now you are letting your servant depart, Master, according to your word, in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.” This testifies that the Holy Spirit revealed the truth to him: before him was not just a child, but the Savior of the world. He saw Jesus and recognized Him as the Savior. It was also revealed to Simeon that Christ came not only for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles. In the Old Testament, the Word of God was preached only to the Jewish people, but before the ascension, Christ will say to his disciples: “Go and preach to all nations.” This vision was also revealed to Simeon, and he ends his prayer with the words that Christ is the glory of Israel.
The Holy Fathers explain that the true Israel are those Jews who accepted Jesus Christ as the Son of God. These are the Virgin Mary, Joseph, the apostles, Simeon the God-Receiver, the prophetess Anna, who also came to the temple by inspiration to rejoice in meeting the Lord. The psalmist David wrote: “If You, Lord, descend to the earth, the mountains will melt before Your face.” And Solomon, consecrating the temple, said: “Lord, can I build You a house, if the heaven of heavens cannot contain You?” And then a miracle happened: the Infant Jesus, the eternal God, was brought into His temple.
This event has a Eucharistic significance. When during the service the cup with Holy Communion — the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ — is brought out, we experience a new encounter with the Lord. The Lord descends onto the bread and wine, which become His true Body and Blood, and we, with the fear of God and faith, approach Holy Communion.
Joseph and Mary were amazed at the words spoken about the Infant. Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, His mother: “This Child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for the subject of controversy.” Indeed, the Lord came so that some would be resurrected to life in Christ, follow Him, and others would turn away, falling into the tragedy of unbelief. Those who did not accept Christ cried out: “Crucify Him! His blood be on us and on our children.” This fall became a terrible curse for them and their descendants. The history of the Jewish people for almost two thousand years is filled with persecutions and sufferings from various nations: Romans, Persians, Babylonians, Greeks, Germans and others.
The Lord became a stumbling block, as He Himself said: “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” The faith of Christ separates the righteous from the unrighteous, and this is true. Simeon, prophesying, addressed Mary: “And a sword will pierce through your own soul also, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
When did this sword pierce the soul of the Most Holy Virgin Mary? When she saw her Son being crucified on Golgotha. Every nail that pierced the Savior's hands and feet, the spear that pierced His ribs, became the sword that passed through Mary's heart, as the righteous Simeon foretold.
We read further: “There was also Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity, and was a widow for eighty-four years. She did not depart from the temple, serving God with fasting and prayer night and day.” Anna, faithful to her husband even after his death, was constantly in the temple, and at the moment of meeting the Infant, she praised the Lord, telling everyone about the Savior.
We see two prophets of God — the righteous Simeon and the prophetess Anna, who testified about the Infant Christ, recognizing Him as the long-awaited Messiah, the Savior of the world. The Feast of the Meeting poses an important question for us: have we had an encounter with the Lord? Have we felt His presence in our lives? For Orthodox Christians, such an encounter is Holy Communion, when Christ enters our hearts as into a temple, sanctifying us and renewing God’s image in us.
The Feast of the Meeting is also a meeting of generations. СThe older generation must pass on its faith to the younger ones. The role of elderly women, grandmothers and great-grandmothers, who, like the prophetess Anna, remain faithful to God and pass on the faith to the next generations, is especially important.
The encounter occurs when a person first confesses or reads the Holy Scriptures. Great Lent is approaching, and this is a wonderful opportunity to encounter Christ through repentance, prayer, and charity, in order to worthily enter the bright day of Easter.
The Gospel readings preceding Great Lent prepare us spiritually. We read about Zacchaeus, a sinner who found mercy from God, about the publican and the Pharisee, where the humble publican received forgiveness, and about the prodigal son who returned to his father. And today, on the day of the Meeting, we hear about the Last Judgment, a test of our conscience, whether we have been merciful. The entry into Lent ends with Forgiveness Sunday, because only by forgiving others can we ourselves receive forgiveness.
The Holy Church liturgically prepares us for Great Lent, filling our consciousness with spiritual truths. As the Holy Fathers said: fasting is the spring of the soul.
