Today is Candlemas. That term isn’t common among American Lutherans. We use the title The Presentation of Our Lord. I’ll explain Candlemas a bit later.

Leviticus 12 commands a woman to present herself at the temple and make an offering forty days after the birth of a male child. So Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem to make the required offering forty days after the birth of Jesus. If we celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25, then February 2 is the day celebrating the offering of Mary. Luke describes the event, but there’s more. A priest named Simeon comes upon the family when Mary and Joseph come to the temple. He blesses the child Jesus and praises God with a song we call the Nunc Dimittis, “Lord you let your servant depart in peace.” Also they encounter an elderly woman, the prophet Anna, who tells people about the child.

The last line of Simeon’s song is  “A Light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of his people Israel.” That led to the practice in Western Christian churches of blessing all the beeswax candles (lights) that were to be used in the church during the year. Some of the candles were distributed to church members. So came about the term Candlemas for this day.  Traditionally, it marks the end the Christmas celebration as poet Robert Herrick recounts in “Ceremony upon Candlemas Eve.”

Down with the rosemary, and so
Down with the bays and misletoe ;
Down with the holly, ivy, all,
Wherewith ye dress’d the Christmas Hall.

Blessed Candlemas!

Read Luke 2:22-38 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne