Simeon the Righteous

relates that Mary was purified according to the religious law, followed by Jesus's presentation in the Jerusalem temple, and this explains the formal names given to the festival.

In the liturgy of Evening prayer in the Anglican communion, tens of millions of Anglicans recite the Nunc dimittis - or sing it in "Evensong" in the canticle known as "the Song of Simeon" - almost every single evening. It is also used in the Roman Catholic Compline and Orthodox Vespers. The "Nunc dimittis" has been set to music by many notable composers, such as Rachmaninoff ("All-Night Vigil").

The feast on 2 February is often referred to as "Candlemas", as in honor of the ritual purification of the Virgin Mary, candles (of beeswax) which will be used for the entire year are brought into a church and blessed. In the Roman Catholic Church, the Presentation is the fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. In the Church of England, the Presentation of Christ in the Temple is a Principal Feast. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, it is one of the twelve Great Feasts.

February 2

This feast day has a number of different names:
* "The Meeting of Our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ" (Eastern Orthodox Church)
*"The Coming of the Son of God into the Temple" (Armenian Apostolic Church)
* "Feast of the Purification of the Virgin" (Eastern Rite Catholic Churches)
* "The Presentation of the Lord" (Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church)
* "The Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in The Temple" (Episcopal Church of the United States)
* "Presentation of Our Lord" (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
* "The Presentation of Christ in the Temple" (Anglican Church of Canada)
* "The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary" (Anglican Church of Canada)
* "The Presentation of Christ in the Temple" (Church of England and Anglican Church of Australia).

February 3

Simeon the Righteous is commemorated in his own right on 3 February. In the Anglican Communion, Simeon is not venerated with a festal observance, and 3 February is set aside to recognize Anskar (801–865), a missionary, Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen and first Bishop in Sweden, 864.

In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Simeon is commemorated with Anna the Prophetess on February 3 on the "Feast of the Holy and Righteous Simeon the God-Receiver and Anna the Prophetess".

February 15

As mentioned above, the Orthodox Church celebrates St. Simeon on the day after the Feast of the Presentation, that is to say, February 3. However, for those churches which follow the traditional Julian Calendar, February 3 falls on February 15 of the modern Gregorian Calendar.

While both the Orthodox Church in the East and Western Christianity agree on the setting of the date of Candlemas on the 40th day after Christmas (in accordance with the Mosaic Law), the difference in the dates for Christmas—25 December in the West and 7 January in the East—results over a theological dispute related to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar over the older Julian Calendar. The Gregorian calendar was developed after the Great Schism between the Eastern and Western Christian churches in 1054. As a result, many Orthodox Christians celebrate St. Simeon's feast day on 15 February.

The Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates the Nativity of Christ on 6 January, and so their celebration of the Presentation, which they call "The Coming of the Son of God into the Temple" is on February 14.

References

ee also

* Nunc dimittis otherwise known as the "Canticle of Simeon."
* Anna (Bible)
* Baptism of the Lord
* Candlemas
* Christmas
* Circumcision of Christ
* Epiphany
* Liturgical year
* Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
* Rosary

External links

* [http://www.westsrbdio.org/prolog/February3.htm Entry for February 3] from the Prologue from Ohrid with a brief hagiography of St. Simeon.
* [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsIcon.asp?IP=february%2F0203simeon%2Ejpg&FSM=2&FSD=3&SN=SIMEON&LN=Holy+and+Righteous+Simeon+the+God%2DReceiver Icon] and [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=100409 hagiography] from the website of the Orthodox Church in America.
*CathEncy|wstitle=Holy Simeon