The Presentation of the Lord: History, Mariology, and Liturgical Tradition

The Presentation of the Lord is celebrated on February 2 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, showing how the Presentation of the Lord is, at one and the same time, a feast of Christ and a feast of Mary.

I. The Biblical Text: Lk 2:22-40

The foundation of the Presentation of the Lord is the Lucan account of the purification of Mary and the consecration of Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem (Lk 2:22-40). Forty days after the birth, in accordance with the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary bring the Child to the Temple, where they offer “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons” (Lk 2:24). There they meet Simeon, a righteous and devout man who was awaiting the consolation of Israel, and Anna, daughter of Phanuel, a prophetess who never left the Temple. This episode condenses the encounter between the old and the new covenant.

II. The Pilgrimage of Egeria and the Origins in Jerusalem

The oldest testimony to the liturgical celebration of the Presentation of the Lord is found in the Pilgrimage of Egeria, the account of a fourth-century pilgrim from Hispania who visited Jerusalem. Egeria describes the feast of the fortieth day after Epiphany as a celebration of the greatest exultation, comparable to Easter. Priests preached and the bishop commented on the Gospel passage in which Joseph and Mary bring the Lord to the Temple, meet Simeon and Anna, and offer the sacrifice prescribed by the Law.

The testimony of Egeria is precious because it reveals a Christian community that, already in the fourth century, linked the Presentation of the Lord to the great paschal tradition of the Church of Jerusalem. The celebration included public preaching, in the space of the city, followed by the Eucharist, in a twofold rite that joined 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 receives the Child in his arms, proclaims the canticle Nunc dimittis (“Now, Lord, you let your servant depart in peace”, Lk 2:29-32) and addresses to Mary a disquieting prophecy: “a sword will pierce your own soul” (Lk 2:35). This word of Simeon is one of the founding texts of Mariological reflection on Mary’s compassio, her participation in the redemptive suffering of her Son.

The patristic and medieval tradition interpreted this sword as the sign of the sorrow that Mary experienced throughout the life of Jesus, culminating at Calvary. The Presentation of the Lord is therefore a feast that anticipates the Passion: the meeting in the Temple between the righteous Simeon and the Holy Family casts a solemn shadow over the joy of Christmas, recalling that the Son of Mary came to be a “sign of contradiction” (Lk 2:34).

IV. Anna, Daughter of Phanuel: The Feminine Prophetic Witness

Alongside Simeon, the Gospel presents Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. A prophetess of eighty-four years, “who never left the Temple, serving God with fasting and prayer night and day” (Lk 2:37), she begins to speak, telling of the Child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. The presence of Anna in the narrative of the Presentation of the Lord underscores the feminine prophetic dimension in the history of salvation, in a parallel with Mary, who is herself a figure of the Church that waits and welcomes.

V. The Feast Reaches Rome: Pope Sergius I and Saint Mary Major

The Presentation of the Lord reached the Latin West in the seventh century. Pope Sergius I (687-701), of Eastern origin, welcomed the feast in Rome and introduced the procession of candles, preserving its Greek name, Hypapante (meeting). The procession set out toward Saint Mary Major, the first basilica dedicated to Our Lady in the Latin West, in a gesture that joined the celebration of the Son to Roman Marian devotion.

Daniel Afonso stresses that the choice of Saint Mary Major as the destination of the procession is not accidental. The Presentation of the Lord is a feast of Christ that necessarily passes through Mary: it is she who brings the Son to the Temple, she who hears the prophecy of Simeon, she who intercedes for the people gathered in the procession of candles. Rome knew how to grasp this inseparability and to inscribe it in the stone of its most ancient Marian basilica.

VI. The Procession of Candles and Its Mariological Dimension

The procession of candles that characterizes the Presentation of the Lord has its roots in the liturgy of Jerusalem and in the Greek tradition. On reaching Rome with Pope Sergius I, it was integrated into the Marian spirituality of the West: the lighted candles symbolize Christ, “a light to enlighten the nations” (Lk 2:32), carried in Mary’s arms as the priest carries the host. As the feast spread through the Latin Church, the Marian dimension became ever more evident, giving rise to the popular name “Candlemas” and reinforcing the link between the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of her Son.

VII. A Mariological Feast at the Heart of the Liturgical Year

The Presentation of the Lord occupies a unique place in the liturgical year: it is the feast that closes the Christmas cycle and opens Ordinary Time, recalling that the Christian faith is not a sentimental devotion to the Child, but the acceptance of a path that passes through the cross. For Mariology, this feast is of capital importance: it shows Mary not only as a mother who cares, but as a woman who obeys the Law, who welcomes the word of prophecy, and who 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 of all the feasts of the Lord in which Mary is present. Those who wish to deepen these themes from an academic perspective will find at Locus Mariologicus the Postgraduate Program in Mariology, the only program in the Portuguese language dedicated to systematic reflection on the Virgin. Cf. Lumen Gentium, no. 57: “This union of the Mother with the Son in the work of salvation is manifest from the moment of the virginal conception of Christ until His death”.