Join us for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist on The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany: The Presentation of the Lord. The cornerstone of our week, this celebration of the Holy Eucharist prepares us for the week ahead. The Very Rev. Douglas Michael preaches and the Rev. Canon Peter Case presides. Sunday school is offered for children and youth. All baptized Christians are invited to receive communion. Available in-person and online.
Music includes When to the Temple Mary Went by Johannes Eccard, Noel Rawsthorne's Festive Eucharist, and Charles Marie-Widor's spine-tingling Finale from Symphonie no. 2. The hymn at the offertory will be The candles were lighted on Candlemas day. Read about that lovely (but quite long -- 13 verses!) hymn in Phil Rogers' Music Notes by clicking here. We hope to see you!
About the Feast of the Presentation:
Today’s feast is sometimes known as the Purification of Saint Mary the Virgin, and also as Candlemas. In the Orthodox Church it has also been called the Meeting of Christ with Simeon. Such a variety of names is ample testimony to the wealth of spiritual meaning that generations of Christians have discovered in this small incident.
The title “The Presentation” reminds us of the Jewish law (Exodus 13:2; 22:29) that every firstborn son had to be dedicated to God in memory of the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt, when the firstborn sons of the Egyptians died and those of Israel were spared.
When Mary placed her infant son into the arms of Simeon, it was the meeting of the Old and New Dispensations. The old sacrifices, the burnt offerings and oblations, were done away; a new and perfect offering had come into the temple. God had provided himself a lamb for the burnt offering (Genesis 22:8), his only Son. The offering was to be made once for all on the cross. At every Eucharist, those who are in Christ recall that sinless offering and unite “themselves, their souls and bodies” with the self- oblation of their Lord and Savior.
It is traditional that candles are blessed on this day, for use throughout the rest of the year, which is why the feast is also sometimes known as “Candlemas.”
—Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 2022
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