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The Presentation of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple
Known as Candlemas and the Feast of the Purification, this feast of our Lord commemorates the presentation of Jesus and the purification of Mary in the Jerusalem Temple forty days after Jesus' birth in accordance with Jewish law (Lev 12:2-8). The feast is celebrated on February 2nd, about forty days after Christmas. According to Luke 2:22-39, the presentation of Jesus was also the occasion when Jesus met Simeon and Anna. Simeon's prayer of blessing is the basis for the canticle Nunc dimittis (BCP, p. 120). Celebration of the feast dates from the 4th century in Jerusalem. It was introduced in Rome in the 7th century, where it included a procession with candles and the singing of the Nunc dimittis. The celebration came to include the lighting and blessing of candles which were carried in procession; thus it became known as “Candlemas.” Source
