Mass schedule to come
One of the most ancient observances in the Christian calendar, this feast commemorates the day when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem to be presented according to Jewish Law. We mark this day with a solemn blessing of candles and a procession. The presentation of Christ in the Temple forty days after his birth commemorates the entry of the 'True Light' into the world.
The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary
In the Law of Moses, a woman who bore a son was ritually unclean for 40 days (Leviticus 12). The artwork shows St. Joseph holding two turtledoves or pigeons (Luke 2:24). The Holy Family could not afford a lamb, so they offered these for the purification ritual (Leviticus 12:8). Though the Blessed Mother had no sins to repent, she fulfilled the Law.
The Presentation of the Temple by Philippe de Champaigne oil on canvas painting in 1648
Nunc Dimittis, Canticle of Simeon
Found in St. Luke's Gospel (ii, 29-32), is the last in historical sequence of the three great Canticles of the New Testament, the other two being the Magnificat (Canticle of Mary) and the Benedictus (Canticle of Zachary).
The title is formed from the opening words in the Latin Vulgate, "Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine" etc.). ("Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord" etc.). The circumstances under which Simeon uttered his song-petition, thanksgiving, and prophecy.
Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine
Secundum verbum tuum in pace: Quia viderunt oculi mei
salutare tuum Quod parasti
ante faciem omnium populorum: Lumen ad revelationem gentium,
Et gloriam plebis tuae Israel.
Now dismiss Thy servant, O Lord,
in peace, according to Thy word:
For mine own eyes hath seen
Thy salvation, Which Thou hast prepared
in the sight of all the peoples,
A light to reveal Thee to the nations
and the glory of Thy people Israel.
If the Magi offered frankincense, gold, and myrhh, why couldn’t the Holy Family afford the lamb?
The visit of the wise men does not take place immediately following Jesus’s birth. In fact, the visit seems to have taken place a year or even two years after the birth of Jesus. Hence when Matthew gives his description of the wise men showing up in Bethlehem (see Mt 2:1-12), we need to understand that this is taking place a good while after the nativity, even though most of us tend to merge these events together in our imaginations!
As for the idea of Jesus already being one or two years-old when the wise men arrive, this is indirectly corroborated by the infamous edict of Herod, which only occurs after the wise men have visited: “[H]e sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under” (Mt 2:16).