Candle blessing

At each worship service this Sunday, February 6, Saint Philip’s will observe the ancient Christian custom of blessing the year’s supply of candles to be used in worship.

This 7th-century blessing marks the celebration of the Feast of the Presentation, often called Candlemas, and is symbolic of Christ the true light who abides with us always.

All are invited to bring candles from home to be blessed. There will be a table near the altar rail where they can be placed upon arrival and collected after the service.

Background

The church celebrates many feasts which are days in the annual calendar recognized as solemn commemorations of our Lord, of the Blessed Virgin, of the apostles, or of martyrs, confessors, and other saints. 

One of the most important of these is the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple. It falls each year on February 2, and as the name suggests, commemorates Mary and Joseph’s humble presentation of their child in the temple on the fortieth day after his birth (see Luke 2:22-39). This was done to fulfill the Law of God and the words of the prophet Malachi: “See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts” (3:1). 

When Mary and Joseph enter the temple with Jesus, they suddenly meet Simeon and Anna, devout and aged, who have spent their lives in prayer waiting in the temple for the appearance of the Messiah, the Anointed One. When they see Jesus, they hold him in their arms and rejoice in God’s promise.

A detail of Fra Angelico's famous work Presentation at the Temple (ca. 1437)

Simeon’s song, the Nunc Dimittis, resounds with joy: “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, […] for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of thy people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32). 

The Feast of the Presentation celebrates the coming of Christ who is the light of the world and the fulfillment of the divine promise of God’s salvation for all people in every place and time—"a light to lighten the Gentiles."

One of eight marble reliefs from Saint Philip's Baptistry (also the Chapel of Saint Benedict) from the workshop of Giovanni Antonio Amadeo (1447 - 1522) who worked in Milan and the surrounding area of Lombardy in Italy.