The Presentation of the Lord: history, mariology, and liturgical tradition

The Presentation of the Lord is celebrated on February 2nd and is one of the oldest feasts in the Christian liturgical calendar. In the second episode of the Mariology Podcast, Prof. Daniel Afonso traces the history of this celebration from its roots in Jerusalem to its establishment in Rome, demonstrating how the Presentation of the Lord is both a feast of Christ and a feast of Mary.

I. The Biblical Text: Luke 2, 22-40

The foundation of the Presentation of the Lord is the Lucan account of Mary’s purification and Jesus’ dedication in the Temple of Jerusalem (Luke 2, 22-40). Forty days after His birth, in accordance with Moses’ law, Joseph and Mary bring the Child to the Temple, where they offer “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons” (Luke 2, 24). There, they encounter Simeon, a righteous and pious man who had been waiting for the consolation of Israel, and Anna, a prophetess who never left the Temple. This episode encapsulates the meeting between the old and new covenants.

II. The Early Pilgrimage and Jerusalem’s Origins

The earliest testimony regarding the liturgical celebration of the Presentation of the Lord is found in *The Pilgrimage of Egeria*, the account of a 4th-century Spanish pilgrim who visited Jerusalem. Egeria describes the 40th day celebration after Epiphany as a time of great joy, comparable to Easter. Priests preached, and the bishop commented on the Gospel passage where Joseph and Mary bring the Lord to the Temple, encounter Simeon and Anna, and offer the sacrifice prescribed by the Law.This testimony is valuable because it reveals a Christian community in the 4th century that already connected the Presentation of the Lord to the great Easter tradition of the Jerusalem Church. The celebration included a public sermon in the city square, followed by the Eucharist, in a binary rite that united Word and Sacrament in a single liturgical action.

III. Simeon and the Sword That Will Pierce Mary’s Soul

In the narrative of the Presentation of the Lord, Simeon takes the Child in his arms, proclaims the canticle *Nunc Dimittis* (“Now Lord, you can send your servant in peace,” Luke 2, 29-32), and addresses a disturbing prophecy to Mary: “A sword will pierce your own soul” (Luke 2, 35). This word of Simeon is one of the foundational texts for Mariological reflection on Mary’s compassion, her participation in the redeeming suffering of her Son.The patristic and medieval tradition interpreted this sword as the sign of the pain that Mary endured throughout Jesus’ life, culminating on the Cross. The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord is thus a celebration that anticipates Passion: the encounter in the Temple between the righteous Simeon and the Holy Family casts a solemn shadow over the joy of Christmas, reminding us that the Son of Mary came to be “a sign of contradiction” (Lk 2:34).IV. Anna, daughter of Phanuel: the female prophetic testimonyAlongside Simeon, the Gospel presents Anna, daughter of Phanuel, from the tribe of Asher. An eighty-four-year-old prophetess, “who never left the Temple, serving God with fasts and prayers night and day” (Lk 2:37), she takes the floor and speaks of the Child to all those waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. Anna’s presence in the narrative of the Presentation of the Lord underlines the female prophetic dimension in the history of salvation, in parallel with Mary, who is herself the figure of the Church that waits and welcomes.V. The feast reaches Rome: Pope Sergius I and Santa Maria MaggioreThe Presentation of the Lord reached the Western Latin world in the 7th century. Pope Sergius I (687-701), of Eastern origin, introduced the feast in Rome and established the candlelight procession, retaining its Greek name of Hypapante (encounter). The procession set out towards Santa Maria Maggiore, the first basilica dedicated to Our Lady in Western Latin Christendom, in a gesture that united the celebration of the Son with Roman Marian devotion.Daniel Afonso points out that the choice of Santa Maria Maggiore as the destination of the procession is not accidental. The Presentation of the Lord is a feast of Christ who necessarily passes through Mary: it is she who leads the Son to the Temple, she who hears Simeon’s prophecy, she who intercedes for the people gathered in the candlelight procession. Rome grasped this inseparability and inscribed it in the stone of its oldest Marian basilica.VI. The candlelight procession and its Marian dimensionThe candlelit procession that characterizes the Presentation of the Lord has its roots in Jerusalem’s liturgy and Greek tradition. Upon arriving in Rome with Pope Sergius I, it integrated into the West’s Marian spirituality: the lit candles symbolize Christ, “light to illuminate the nations” (Lk 2:32), carried in Mary’s arms as a priest carries the host. As the feast spread throughout the Latin Church, its Marian dimension became increasingly prominent, leading to the popular name of “Candlemas” and reinforcing the link between Mary’s Purification and the Presentation of her Son.VII. A Marian feast at the heart of the liturgical yearThe Presentation of the Lord holds a unique place in the liturgical year: it marks the close of the Christmas cycle and the beginning of Ordinary Time, reminding us that Christian faith is not merely a sentimental devotion to the Infant, but the acceptance of a path that leads to the cross. For Mariology, this feast is of paramount importance: it shows Mary not only as a nurturing mother, but as a woman who obeys the Law, embraces the word of prophecy, and accompanies her Son to the heart of the paschal mystery.The Mariology Podcast invites listeners to rediscover the theological richness of the Presentation of the Lord and all the Lord’s feasts in which Mary is present. Those who wish to delve deeper into these themes from an academic perspective can find in Locus Mariologicus the Master’s Program in Mariology, the only program in Portuguese dedicated to systematic reflection on the Virgin. See *Lumen Gentium* (n. 57): “This union of the Mother with the Son in the work of salvation is manifested from the moment of Christ’s virginal conception to his death” (https://locusmariologicus.org/lumen-gentium/).