Feast of the Presentation, February 2

Feast of the Presentation, February 2

February 2, in the Northern Hemisphere marks the half way point between the Winter solstice and the Vernal Equinox (The first day of spring). For this reason The Church has marked this halfway point in winter with the Feast of the Presentation. The Presentation celebrates the event recorded in Luke 2:22-40 when Jesus is presented in the Temple. The placement of the Feast effectively marks the end of the readings of the infancy narrative in the daily readings, and thus officially closed the Christmas Cycle.

 

In Luke 2 Mary and Joseph take the infant Jesus from Bethlehem to the temple forty days after his birth.  Luke’s story combines the circumcision on the eighth day with the dedication of the first male child, and the purification of Mary. According to Jewish law (Leviticus 12, Exodus 13:12-15) a woman after childbirth was to present herself before a priest on the fortieth day for purification. Mary and Joseph are described as offering a pair of turtledoves or pigeons instead of a lamb in accord with Leviticus 12:8 for the ritual sacrifice because of the Holy family’s impoverishment. Because the story of Luke contains the account of Jesus’ circumcision on the eighth day after his birth we commemorate the Feast of Circumcision and the Name of Jesus with this same reading on January 1. Jesus was born in Bethlehem since Joseph had been obeying the Roman law concerning the taxation ordered by Caesar Augustus. Jesus is also born under the laws of Judaism as Mary the mother of Jesus and her husband Joseph the guardian of our Lord, follow the laws as prescribed by Moses.

The Feast of Presentation in the Church became the occasion for the rite of the Churching of women, a Christian rite which prayed for women who had recently given birth to children, and which like the rite in Judaism officially marked a woman’s reintegration into the worshiping community following childbirth. The Feast of Presentation also became known as “Candlemas” or the Mass of Candles. In Great Britain University terms are often still designated as the Michaelmas term marked the Feast of St. Michael on September 28 in the fall, and the Candlemas term, marked by the Feast of the Presentation and Candlemas on February 2, in the winter.

Candlemas became the customary time for the blessing of candles for the entire Church year since the day in the Northern Hemisphere marks the halfway point between winter and spring. This day often became associated with wild animals and natural signs which could help predict the end of the long winter. The connection with metrological forecasts by groundhogs or the common woodchuck is only an American version of European folklore which held that certain mammals and parts of nature can predict the end of winter.