Today's "Great Feast": The Presentation in the Temple

Sadly, this feast will probably not be celebrated as it should be in the Catholic churches/parishes where I live. St. George Orthodox Cathedral prayed Great Vespers last night and offers the Divine Liturgy this morning. We will have the Blessing of Candles after Low Mass tonight in the Extraordinary Form at St. Joseph Catholic Church, but I don't think we will have the procession before Mass. In my recollection, I've participated in the fuller form of this feast once at my home parish, because February 2 "fell" on a Sunday--otherwise it's been a daily Mass celebration. (Which is, of course, a great mystery and feast in itself!)

Note that in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church this feast is either called The Purification of Mary or The Presentation of the Lord--or Candlemas, because of the blessing of candles to be used in prayer. It's the 40th day after Christmas and time to take down all the holly and the ivy, etc. Eastern Rite Catholics celebrate this feast too.

In fact, this is a Great Feast--it's one of 12 in the Orthodox Churches, called by a different name:

The Feast of the Meeting of the Lord is among the most ancient feasts of the Christian Church. We have sermons on the Feast by the holy bishops Methodius of Patara (+ 312), Cyril of Jerusalem (+ 360), Gregory the Theologian (+ 389), Amphilocius of Iconium (+ 394), Gregory of Nyssa (+ 400), and John Chrysostom (+ 407). Despite its early origin, this Feast was not celebrated so splendidly until the sixth century.

In 528, during the reign of Justinian, an earthquake killed many people in Antioch. Other misfortunes followed this one. In 541 a terrible plague broke out in Constantinople, carrying off several thousand people each day. During this time of widespread suffering, a solemn prayer service (Litia) for deliverance from evils was celebrated on the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord, and the plague ceased. In thanksgiving to God, the Church established a more solemn celebration of this Feast.

Church hymnographers have adorned this Feast with their hymns: Saint Andrew of Crete in the seventh century; Saint Cosmas Bishop of Maium, Saint John of Damascus, and Saint Germanus Patriarch of Constantinople in the eighth century; and Saint Joseph, Archbishop of Thessalonica in the ninth century.

According to Dom Prosper Guaranger, the Extraordinary Form uses a Latin translation of a Greek (Orthodox) antiphon at the beginning of the Procession:

Adorna thalamum tuum, Sion, et suscipe Regem Christum: amplectere Mariam, quæ est cœlestis porta; ipsa enim portat Regem gloriæ novi luminis; subsistit Virgo, adducens, manifub Filium ante luciferum genitum; quam accipiens Simeon in ulnas suas, prædicavit populis Dominum eum esse vitæ et mortis et Salvatorem mundi.

Adorn thy bridechamber, O Sion, and receive Christ, thy King. Salute Mary, the gate of heaven; for she beareth the King of glory, who is the new Light. The Virgin stands, bringing in her hands her Son, the Begotten before the day-star; whom Simeon receiving into his arms, declared him to the people as the Lord of life and death, and the Savior of the world.

It's also wonderful to note that J.S. Bach wrote several Cantatas while he was in Leipzig for this feast as celebrated in the Lutheran Church, including BWV 82, Ich habe genug (It is enough), performed here by Philippe Herreweghe and the Choir & Orchestra of La Chapelle Royale with soloist Peter Kooy. Text and translation here. More about other Bach cantatas for this feast here and more about the Lutheran readings for this feast (which are those used in the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite also) here.

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.

Image Credit (public domain): Painting from the Menologion of Basil II (c. 1000 AD)