Tag: feastofthepurificationoftheblessedvirgin

Posted in CHRIST the LIGHT, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, ONE Minute REFLECTION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 2 February – We must be burning with love and radiant with good deeds

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 2 February – The Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, Candlemas – Mal 3:1-4, Luke 2:22-32

“And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God …” – Luke 2:27-28

REFLECTION – “Your lamps must be burning in your hands” (Lk 12:35). By this outward sign let us remind ourselves of the joy of Simeon, carrying the Light in his hands … We must be burning with love and radiant with good deeds and so, take up Christ in our hands with Simeon … Let us discuss this charming custom of the Church of bearing lights aloft on this feast day … Could anyone hold up a lighted candle in his hands on this day, without at once remembering that old man, who on this same day, took up in his arms, Jesus, God’s Word, clothed in flesh like a candle-flame clothed in wax and affirmed Him to be “the Light which would be a beacon for the Gentiles.” Surely he was that “burning and radiant lamp” (Jn 5:35; 1,7) which bore witness to the Light. For this purpose he came in the Spirit, who had filled him, into the temple, that he might “receive, O God, your loving-kindness in the midst of your temple” (Ps 48[47]:10) and declare him to be loving-kindness indeed and the light of your own people.

Truly, O holy Simeon, in the quiet contentment of old age, you carried this Light not simply in your hands but in the very dispositions of your heart. You were like a lamp-standard, seeing so clearly how much the Gentiles would one day be lit up, while reflecting … the bright rays of our faith. Old, yet still sincere, you can now be happy, in that, you really see what once you but foresaw. Gone is the world’s gloom, “the Gentiles bask in this light of yours,” “the whole earth is full of his glory” (Is 60:3; 6:3).” … Blessed Guerric of Igny O.Cist. (c 1080-1157) Cistercian Abbot

PRAYER – Almighty, eternal God, we humbly beseech Your majesty that, as Your only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in the nature of our flesh, so may You grant us to be presented to You, with purified minds. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Thought for the Day – 2 February – The Purification of Our Lady

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 2 February – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Purification of Our Lady

“Today, the Church commemorates the Presentatio of the Child Jesus in the temple ad the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
These ceremonies were carried out, in order to comply with a twofold Mosaic law.
One part of this law referred to women who had become mothers; the other pat was concerned with first-born male children.
According to the first law, a mother was officially regarded as impure for forty days after she had given birth to a child.
When this period was over, she had to present herself in the temple and make an offering of a lamb and a turtledove.
If she were poor, she could substitute a second young pigeon for the lamb (Cf Lev 12).
The second law (Cf Es 13:2, 34:19; Num 8:16; Lev 27:26) commanded the mother to offer and consecrate to God, her first-born son.
She was to do this in memory of the miracle in Egypt when the Angel of God destroyed all the first-born sons of the people of the country and spared those of the Israelites.
In later times, when the ritual worship of God became the special obligation of the tribe of Levi, the first-born sons of the other tribes, had to be presented in the temple and bought back by an offering.

It is quite clear, that Jesus and Mary were not bound by this twofold law.
But they voluntarily subjected themselves to it, in order to give an example of humility and obedience.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

Part One here:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/02/02/thought-for-the-day-2-february-the-purification-of-our-lady/

Posted in FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MARIAN DEVOTIONS, MARIAN PRAYERS, Our MORNING Offering

Our Morning Offering – 2 February – Prayer for the Feast By Servant of God Abbot Prosper Guéranger

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 2 February – The Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin and the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple

Prayer for the Feast
By Servant of God Abbot Prosper Guéranger OSB (1805-1875)

O Blessed Mother,
the sword is already in your heart.
You foreknow the future
of the Fruit of your womb.
May our fidelity in following Him,
through the coming mysteries,
of His public life
bring some alleviations
to the sorrows
of your maternal heart.
Amen

Posted in FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MARIAN DEVOTIONS, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES

Feast of the Purification of Our Lady, the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple – Candlemas Day – 2 February

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Feast of the Purification of Our Lady, the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple – Candlemas Day – 2 February

Master of Saint Severin c 1490

Besides commemorating the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, this day has another meaning, for it is called Candlemas Day. The candle is one of the most widely used sacramentals in the Church; one blessed in a special Mass.

We use candles at Baptism, at Mass and other church devotions, at the Ordination of a Priest, the Consecration of a Bishop, at Easter, at Christmas to signify the coming of Christ. Two blessed candles should be in every home, to use in times of sickness, death, storms and calamities.

In the blessing of candles, the Church reminds us, that the candles signify light; they are blessed for the service of mankind, for health of body and soul, for those who desire to carry them in their hands with honour. Christ, the true Light and Fire of Charity, is asked to bless these candle,; to dispel the darkness of night, to free us from the blindness of vice and to discern what is pleasing to Him and profitable for our salvation.

On the Feast of Mary’s Purification, we greet her with lighted candles – shining with faith and understanding, burning with love and zeal, as Sion welcomed Christ the King; today we go to Christ through Mary, to Christ, the new Light that gives Faith, Hope and Charity to us all.

The two-fold Jewish rites, to which the Holy Family submitted on this occasion, were the legal purifying of the mother after childbirth and the offering of the first-born male child to the Lord. They showed reverence for the Father’s Law, by fulfilling its obligations and so, the Mother submitted to the Purification in all humility.

Angels beheld in wondering awe, what was the greatest event the Temple had ever witnessed. It was nothing less than the second coming of the Lord to His Temple, which the prophets had foretold. At the Presentation, God the Son made Man, took possession of the Temple built for His Father’s glory and so, ratified the worship which is offered to God in sacred courts, churches.

This simple ceremony is the link between the mystery of the Incarnation and the Redemption; here the Saviour renews the oblation of Himself; “Sacrifice and oblation Thou wouldst not but a body Thou hast fitted to me. Then, I said: “Behold, I come: in the head of the book it is written of me, that I should do Thy will, O God.”

Jesus really begins His Passion in this mystery of the Presentation and so, too, Mary begins her dolors. It is by Mary’s hands, that Jesus makes the oblation, which is the prelude to His Sacrifice. We honour the Presentation among the Joyful Mysteries but it is also, first in place among Mary’s Sorrows.

Simeon enlightened by the Holy Spirit, understood the mystery and so, too, did Mary. After his first transports of joy at seeing the Messiah, he blessed them and said to His Mother, “Behold this Child is set for the fall and the resurrection of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be contradicted and thy own soul, a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.”

This prophecy reminds us, that Mary is always to be associated with the destiny of Jesus, the one solitary partner of His lot, singled out to suffer with Him. Heresies that pierced the Son have trans-pierced the Mother. The early Church guarded the doctrines of Jesus by defining Mary’s titles; today, those who repudiate the honour of Mary, turn from the Son also; in the mind of satan as in the mind of the Church, the honour of Son and Mother go together.

The Church of Jerusalem was the first to celebrate this Feast. On this day, also, a procession was held to the Constantinian basilica. The Armenians still keep the day on 14 February and call it “The Coming of the Son of God into the Temple.” The Greeks called it “Hypapante” the meeting of the Child Jesus and His Mother with Simeon and Anna in to Temple.

This Feast reminds us how intimately Mary is associated with her Son in the work of Redemption. We welcome Her Child to our hearts with love and faith, we bless the Mother, too, for she had “not spared her life by reason of the distress and tribulation of her people but has prevented our ruin, in the presence of our God.”