The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Sunday, February 2 (Candlemas)
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God,
In the mountain of His holiness.
We have thought of Thy lovingkindness, O God,
In the midst of Thy temple.
According to Thy name, O God,
So is Thy praise unto the ends of the earth:
Thy right hand is full of righteousness.
—Psalm 48:1, Psalm 48:9–10
A writing for the Holy Gospel, Luke 2:22-321:
The Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Presentation of our Lord, known also as Candlemas, is one of the oldest feasts in the Western liturgical calendar. Its celebration in Jerusalem in the AD 380s is recorded by Egeria:
But certainly the Feast of the Purification is celebrated here with the greatest honour. On this day there is a procession to the Anastasis; all go in procession, and all things are done in order with great joy, just as at Easter. All the priests preach, and also the bishop, always treating of that passage of the Gospel where, on the fortieth day, Joseph and Mary brought the Lord into the Temple, and Simeon and Anna the prophetess, the daughter of Famuhel, saw Him, and of the words which they said when they saw the Lord, and of the offerings which the parents presented. And when all things have been celebrated in order as is customary, the sacrament is administered, and so the people are dismissed.
—“Pilgrimage of St. Silvia of Aquitania to the Holy Places,” c. AD 385, translated by John H. Bernard.
The feast began as a celebration of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.2 It occurred forty days after the birth of Jesus. Mary’s purification was required by the Law, which stated that a pigeon or turtledoves must be offered as a sin offering. This purification rite would take place forty days following the birth of a male, or eighty days following the birth of a female.
It is upon Mary’s purification in the temple that our Lord was presented to Simeon, a faithful Israelite who had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. The presentation of our Lord also stemmed from the Law, which prescribed that a firstborn son must be consecrated to the Lord. Hence the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of our Lord became a conjoined feast.
The name Candlemas stems from the tradition of blessing candles to be used throughout the remainder of the year. This practice originated sometime in the fifth century. These candles signify the Light of Christ, which can never be extinguished. Accordingly, many churches ignite several candles to light the sanctuary for their liturgical celebration of Candlemas.
The purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary according to the Law’s demands signifies not only her own purification but also the redemption of mankind. Indeed, as she was cleansed from the perceived filth of childbearing, so also man is cleansed from the putrid stain of his sin. We see in the Blessed Virgin Mary’s obedience to the Law a faithful depiction of her Son, who would fulfill the Law perfectly throughout His life and pay the penalty of our sin through His death on the cross.
We do not depart this life without the promise of eternal salvation. We shall not see death until we have been sealed by the covenant of His blood and washed clean in the offering of His sacred body on the cross. Christ gave this promise to us when we were presented in His temple at our Baptism, where our spiritual purification according to the Gospel occurred.
We need not offer turtledoves or pigeons to receive spiritual purification. Our Lord has presented us to Himself by grace in the waters of Holy Baptism, sealed us into the new covenant of His blood, and now presents us pure and blameless before the Father. The Light of Christ dwells richly in us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son of the Father. Christ’s body is the offering for our sins—and it is given to us out of the Father’s grace.
Candlemas is a wonderful reminder that our Lord’s Incarnation is for us. It was for the Blessed Virgin Mary, who by the grace of the Holy Spirit was shielded from impurity and bore the Godman in her holy womb. It was for Simeon, who would not die until He saw the glory of the Lord. It was for Anna, who beheld the Infant Jesus and gave thanks for our redemption. It is for us, who have seen and tasted His glory. It is for us, who have been purified according to the Gospel and freed from the curse of the Law. It is for us, to whom the body of Christ is presented to us for our purification.
Jesus, by Thy presentation,
Thou, who didst for us endure,
Make us see our great salvation,
Seal us with Thy promise sure,
And present us in Thy glory
To Thy Father, cleansed and pure.—TLH 139, “In His Temple Now Behold Him,” v. 3
Martin Luther on Luke 2:22-32:
“His second purpose is to indicate that our dear Lord Christ subjected himself under the Law for our sake, in order that he might redeem us from the Law's curse. He was not conceived or born under the rubrics of what the Law stated concerning the firstborn, for he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin.
“Nevertheless, with his mother he submitted to purification in accord with the Law. And it is a very great comfort for us that Scripture sketches and portrays Christ to us as being like us in all things, only without sin. The deeper we plunge Christ into the flesh of mankind, the better for us. For he subjected himself under the meanest purification Law, in order to show that he was an ordinary human being, yet a pure, holy person who places himself under the Law for our sake. As St. Paul says (Gal. 3:13), "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, A being made a curse for us."
“So it is, also, with the law requiring that the firstborn be presented to the Lord. That law rules that all children are from birth sinners and subject to death. For this reason they were to be promptly brought to the temple and presented for sacrifice, that is, to death. Here now Christ enters in to shoulder not only the law of purification, but also the law requiring the firstborn's presentation for sacrifice, bearing not only the burden of our sins, but allowing himself to be condemned to death for our sake, for the Law required that the payment be death. Thus, to redeem one's firstborn son, offering had to be made to buy him back. Under the old covenant this was the second offering.
“Thus Christ took upon himself the judgment to be condemned to death just like any other human being. We see from this what we are by nature, with our own reason and free will. The Law subjects us to death and snatches away the primary, the best and noblest treasure of all, indicating thereby that there is nothing good in the individual, even though he was privileged to be the firstborn among his brethren. Because Christ has done this, placed himself under the Law, he thereby has freed us from the Law so that we would not be guilty of death, much less unrighteousness. For he did not break the Law, he is no sinner, and the Law has no right to condemn him to death. Since now the Law has laid hold of him, like other children conceived and born in sin, he nonetheless was set apart from all other children since he was not conceived by human seed but by the Holy Spirit, nor born of an ordinary mother but of a pure virgin; and for this reason the Law has no claim on him, yes, he is the Lord of the Law. Thus, he redeemed us from the curse of the Law, so that the Law does not condemn us to death, when we are baptized in Him and believe on His name.”
—Martin Luther, “Sermon for The Day of Mary’s Purification,” taken from Luther’s House Postils; from Vol. 7 of The Complete Sermons of Martin Luther, published by Baker Books.
Hymn of the Day for Candlemas3:
1. In peace and joy I now depart
As God doth will it,
For full of comfort is my heart,
Soft and stillèd,
As the Lord hath promised me,
And death is made my slumber.
2. ’Tis Christ that wrought this work for me,
My faithful Savior,
Whom Thou hast made mine eyes to see
By Thy favor.
Now I know He is my Life,
My Help in need and dying.
3. Him Thou hast unto all set forth
As their Salvation
And to His kingdom called the earth,
Ev’ry nation,
By Thy dear and wholesome Word,
In ev’ry place resounding.
4. He is the Hope and blessed Light
Of lands benighted;
By Him are they who dwelt in night
Fed and lighted.
He is Israel’s Praise and Bliss,
Their Joy, Reward, and Glory.
—Martin Luther, 1524; tr. Leonard Woolsey Bacon, 1884, alt.
Collect of the Day for Candlemas:
Almighty and ever-living God, we humbly beseech Thy Majesty that, as Thine only-begotten Son was this day presented in the Temple in the substance of our flesh, so we may be presented unto Thee with pure and clean hearts; by the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
The Lutheran Service Book (LSB) lectionary appoints Luke 2:22-32 as the Gospel reading, but many historic Lutheran lectionaries end the reading with verse 32. This is the pattern followed by The Lutheran Missal (TLM), the liturgical and lectional patterns of which this blog largely follows.
“Candlemas,” Catholic Encyclopedia, published by New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03245b.htm.
While Candlemas has always observed the presentation of our Lord, Candlemas is historically considered a Marian feast. This emphasis on Mary’s obedience to the Law magnifies Christ and His fulfillment of the Law in the flesh.