Tag Archives: Meeting of the Lord

Children, Candlemas, and Christ

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In 2025 we had a confluence of celebrations on this Lord’s Day, February 2nd. Though it is not the preeminent liturgical event of the day, I will first mention Zacchaeus Sunday, which is our signal that Lent is coming soon, as our homilist reminded us. He took his sermon from the story of Zacchaeus’s coming to Christ, and asked us to contemplate the circumstances of our own individual conversions, or the time when we began to take seriously the faith that we had been baptized into as children.

A 12-year-old catechumen was sitting next to me on the carpet as Father James began his talk, and I pointed out to him the fresco above us on the south wall of the nave, of this story of Zacchaeus. This one below is not ours, but as with many of these icons, the tax collector whom the Bible describes as “short,” and a Sunday school song tells us was “a wee little man,” is depicted as the size of a child. He climbed up into a tree so that he could get a better look at Jesus.

The children of our parish might have wished they had some trees to climb this weekend, because they had lots of extra wiggles to work out, last night and this morning. The rain has been constant for days now, and that kind of weather always seems to result in this phenomenon. Is it only the lack of outdoor play, or is there something in the air — ions? — that makes the little ones more alive than usual? What do you think?

We had at least a couple of dozen children under the  age of five this morning, and many of those families were at Vigil last night, too. It is a huge blessing to have them. I missed last Sunday, and when I came into the beautiful temple for these two services, I was struck afresh by the lavish gift I have been given, to be a member of this parish. After a while, as I was noticing the children happily toddling around, or joining their squeals to the hymns, or sleeping in slings on their mothers, it came to me how much I love my church family at this particular time, when these babies are just the age that they are. There will never be another moment like this one.

Because we we stand during the services, the children have as much liberty as their parents want to give them, to walk around and feel at home in God’s house, which is their house, too. To teach them what is appropriate and reverent behavior is work that spans the years; I am often amazed at how patient and gentle the parents are, as they get them used to church etiquette to whatever degree is realistic, given their changing level of maturity.

from the internet

Many other people help the parents in this; one way it frequently happens is to literally step in and lead a toddler in another direction, when he is about to have a collision with a procession, or encroach on the altar space. We want the children to stand up close, so they have a better view than of the backs of legs, but it takes a while for them to get a feeling for how close is too close. Yesterday evening one little guy made a break for it and was headed right up through what is usually a kind of open space before the altar, and I was nearby in the best position to head him off. I scooped him up and brought him back ten feet, and held him in my arms for the next fifteen minutes or so.

It was the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord, or The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, and I have written before about how moving I find this account of Christ the firstborn son brought to the temple with an offering to God: Simeon had been waiting his whole life to meet the Messiah, and God told him that he would not die until he did. When the 40-day-old Jesus was revealed to Simeon as The One:

“Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
     ‘Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
     For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
     A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.” (Luke Chapter 2)

Candlemas Day by Marianne Stokes

It seemed that we had more children than usual in church for this feast, which would be so fitting, wouldn’t it? — and so many of them again and again were taken up in the arms of one or another parishioner, among whom I was only too happy to be counted. How nourishing to their young souls, to be in a community where so many people are ready to love and hold them.

The third overlapping event we were participating in was Candlemas, which is actually not a separate feast, but just another name for it, which we Orthodox don’t usually use. But it has candle in the name, and we do always bless candles on this feast. Candles are certainly a symbol of Christ, whom Simeon recognized as the Light of the world. It is not a coincidence that Groundhog Day is the same day; it derived from the feast after its celebration spread to Germany. But you can read about that elsewhere, or watch this podcast of Jonathan Pageau talking about Groundhog Day with Richard Rohlin: “The Deep Symbolism of Groundhog Day.”

I read recently about how some Christians leave their Christmas decorations up until this feast, and I’d decided to take down my tree today. Not sure I will finish, having taken quite a while to assemble this post, but I have begun putting away the ornaments at least. And this little poem about all that just came to me, identified only as “an 18th century poem”:

When New Year’s Day is past and gone;
Christmas is with some people done;
But further some will it extend,
And at Twelfth Day their Christmas end.
Some people stretch it further yet,
At Candlemas they finish it.
The gentry carry it further still
And finish it just when they will;
They drink good wine and eat good cheer

And keep their Christmas all the year.

We Orthodox don’t fit in with the attitude of “the gentry” referenced in these verses; now that Zacchaeus Sunday has heralded the approach of Lent, we leave the feasts of Christmas, the Circumcision of Christ, Theophany, Epiphany and Candlemas behind us. Anyone who holds to the more ancient and traditional mode of life, where feasts punctuate ordinary or regular time, will know that feasts are most elevating when one has prepared for them. My next step in preparing for Holy and Great Pascha is to remove the Christmas tree — but I’ll keep the candles burning.

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, “I am the light of the world:
he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness,
but shall have the light of life.”
(John 8:12)

Let us be candles pure and sweet.

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As part of our celebration of the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, in the Orthodox Church we bless candles. Maybe some other Christian traditions still do this, as it is the ancient feast of Candlemas, and many cultures and nations have their many practices around it. I’d be interested to hear of any that linger among my readers’ communities.

As to candles, I found this helpful article from St. Gabriel Orthodox Church in Ashland, Oregon, about some of the symbolism in our use of of them, “handed down to us from St. Symeon of Thessaloniki (c. 1381–1429).”

1 – As the candle is pure (pure beeswax), so also should our hearts be pure.

2 – As the pure candle is supple (as opposed to the paraffin), so also should our souls be supple until we make it straight and firm in the Gospel.

3 – As the pure candle is derived from the pollen of a flower and has a sweet scent, so also should our souls have the sweet aroma of Divine Grace.

4 – As the candle, when it burns, mixes with and feeds the flame, so also we must struggle to achieve theosis.

5 – As the burning candle illuminates the darkness, so must the light of Christ within us shine before men that God’s name be glorified.

6 – As the candle gives its own light to illuminate a man in the darkness, so also must the light of the virtues, the light of love and peace, characterize a Christian. The wax that melts symbolizes the flame of our love for our fellow men.

So let us pray that the Light of Christ may illumine us as well!

In a monastery.

They become resplendent.

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At the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, we bless candles in church. I liked this letter from Abbot Tryphon in which he reminds us that the Light of Christ is what our lamps and candles represent, and what makes the saints shine:

“Vigil lights are placed before the icons of the saints, according to Saint Symeon the New Theologian, as a way of showing that without the Light, Who is Christ, the saints are nothing. It is only as the light of Christ shines on them that they become alive and resplendent.

St. Symeon the New Theologian

“The saints show us what a glorious destiny we have in God, and through the example of their lives, point the way to our becoming ‘partakers of divine nature.’ The saints, as the cloud of witnesses in heaven, are present in the divine services, worshiping the Holy Trinity with us. They, as our friends, intercede before the Throne of God on our behalf, having won the good fight, and we are encouraged by the memory and example of their lives, as we struggle on our own path to God.

“It has been said that there are two kinds of people in the world: sinners who think they are saints, and saints who know they are sinners. A saint is a Christian who lets God’s light shine through, and whose life has been transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

“We venerate the saints as we seek their intercession with God, but we adore and worship only God in Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We venerate the images (icons) as well as the relics of the saints and martyrs. Yet according to the decisions and Canons of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, this veneration relates not to the icons as such, but to their prototypes, or to the persons whom they represent.

“The interior walls of our temples are adorned with the icons and frescoes of the saints as a reminder that we are surrounded by the cloud of witnesses, the saints, and that the Church Militant (here on earth) is not separated from the Church Triumphant (in heaven). In Christ, death does not divide us, for the saints are not dead, but alive in Christ Jesus.

“Glory to Jesus Christ, Who is glorified in His saints.

“With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon”

So we too were at once freed.

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“Our lighted candles are a sign of the divine splendor of the one who comes to expel the dark shadows of evil and to make the whole universe radiant with the brilliance of his eternal light. Our candles also show how bright our souls should be when we go to meet Christ. The Mother of God, the most pure Virgin, carried the true light in her arms and brought him to those who lay in darkness. We too should carry a light for all to see and reflect the radiance of the true light as we hasten to meet him. The light has come and has shone upon a world enveloped in shadows; the Dayspring from on high has visited us and given light to those who lived in darkness. This, then, is our feast, and we join in procession with lighted candles to reveal the light that has shone upon us and the glory that is yet to come to us through him. So let us hasten all together to meet our God.

“The true light has come, the light that enlightens every man who is born into this world. Let all of us, my brethren, be enlightened and made radiant by this light. Let all of us share in its splendor, and be so filled with it that no one remains in the darkness. Let us be shining ourselves as we go together to meet and to receive with the aged Simeon the light whose brilliance is eternal. Rejoicing with Simeon, let us sing a hymn of thanksgiving to God, the Father of the light, who sent the true light to dispel the darkness and to give us all a share in his splendor.

“Through Simeon’s eyes we too have seen the salvation of God which he prepared for all the nations and revealed as the glory of the new Israel, which is ourselves. As Simeon was released from the bonds of this life when he had seen Christ, so we too were at once freed from our old state of sinfulness.

“By faith we too embraced Christ, the salvation of God the Father, as he came to us from Bethlehem. Gentiles before, we have now become the people of God. Our eyes have seen God incarnate, and because we have seen him present among us and have mentally received him into our arms, we are called the new Israel. Never shall we forget this presence; every year we keep a feast in his honor.”

St Sophronius of Jerusalem, c. 560 – 638