Feast of the Presentation

Today we celebrated the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. From Catholic Culture:

The feast was first observed in the Eastern Church as "The Encounter." In the sixth century, it began to be observed in the West: in Rome with a more penitential character and in Gaul (France) with solemn blessings and processions of candles, popularly known as "Candlemas."

The Presentation of the Lord concludes the celebration of the Nativity and with the offerings of the Virgin Mother and the prophecy of Simeon, the events now point toward Easter.
"In obedience to the Old Law, the Lord Jesus, the first-born, was presented in the Temple by his Blessed Mother and his foster father. This is another 'epiphany' celebration insofar as the Christ Child is revealed as the Messiah through the canticle and words of Simeon and the testimony of Anna the prophetess. Christ is the light of the nations, hence the blessing and procession of candles on this day. In the Middle Ages this feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or 'Candlemas,' was of great importance.

The specific liturgy of this Candlemas feast, the blessing of candles, is not as widely celebrated as it should be, except of course whenever February 2 falls on a Sunday and thus takes precedence. There are two ways of celebrating the ceremony, either the Procession, which begins at a 'gathering place' outside the church, or the Solemn Entrance, celebrated within the church."— Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year

Today, Phil and the kids brought a box of candles to be blessed at Mass. We bought pillar candles in the various liturgical colors to use on our table throughout the liturgical year. Elizabeth wrote a beautiful piece a few years ago about the connection between the Presentation and candles:

"When Our Lady took Jesus to the temple and Simeon greeted them, he recognized the light first. He said that Jesus was "the light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel." Then, he told the Blessed Mother that she would suffer: "Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted and you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

She did not understand but she did know that she knew the Light, the Lord, was hers in her suffering. When we suffer, we turn to the Lord, who came as light and life to the world. And we can light a candle to remind us of those words of Simeon who coupled forever the suffering with the Light. What beautiful sacramentals candles can be in the domestic church!

I've always loved candles; I am drawn to light and beauty. In candlelight, the hard edges of the world are softened. Now, I feel drawn to them as I'm drawn to prayer. Christ settles over the candlelit room and softens the edges of the harsh world while illuminating my soul with His holy will. We appeal to our senses when we prepare our homes with candles to use throughout the year."

For tea time today, we made edible candles in honor of Candlemas...pirouette cookies standing in a donut. The felt flame obviously wasn't edible, but I forgot to pick up some icing or candy corn.

We read the story of the Presentation in the Bible. Then we listened to Todd Agnew's song "He Is Called Jesus", and discussed what it might have been like for Simeon to lay eyes on the Messiah.

Ava thought sure she was supposed to blow them out!