Today is the anniversary of when photocopies of the Thirty-Six Volumes of the Writings
of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta were made on February 2, 1996

FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE

Also called:

Purification of the Blessed Virgin (Greek Hypapante)

Candlemas

Observed 2 February in the Latin Rite.

Today is a day of purification, renewal, and hope. On this day, exactly 40 days after Christmas, we commemorate Mary’s obedience to the Mosaic law by submitting herself to the Temple for the ritual purification, as commanded in Leviticus:

Leviticus 12:2-8
Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: If a woman having received seed shall bear a man child, she shall be unclean seven days, according to the days of separation of her flowers. And on the eighth day the infant shall be circumcised: But she shall remain three and thirty days in the blood of her purification. She shall touch no holy thing: neither shall she enter into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification, be fulfilled. But if she shall bear a maid child, she shall be unclean two weeks, according to the custom of her monthly courses, and she shall remain in the blood of her purification sixty-six days.

And when the days of her purification are expired, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, a lamb of a year old for a holocaust, and a young pigeon or a turtle dove for sin, and shall deliver them to the priest: Who shall offer them before the Lord, and shall pray for her, and so she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that beareth a man child or a maid child.

And if her hand find not sufficiency, and she is not able to offer a lamb, she shall take two turtles, or two young pigeons, one for a holocaust, and another for sin: and the priest shall pray for her, and so she shall be cleansed.

Luke 2:22-24
And after the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they carried him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord: As it is written in the law of the Lord: Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord: And to offer a sacrifice, according as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons:

Mary, of course, didn’t need this purification — which Catholic women imitate, in a sense, with the rite of the Churching of Women — but she submitted out of obedience to the Law. Also, as the Lukan verses revealed, Our Lady and St. Joseph presented Jesus to the Temple for His “redemption,” also per the Law:

Exodus 13:2, 12-13:
Sanctify unto me every firstborn that openeth the womb among the children of Israel, as well of men as of beasts: for they are all mine…Thou shalt set apart all that openeth the womb for the Lord, and all that is first brought forth of thy cattle: whatsoever thou shalt have of the male sex, thou shalt consecrate to the Lord. The firstborn of an ass thou shalt change for a sheep: and if thou do not redeem it, thou shalt kill it. And every firstborn of men thou shalt redeem with a price.

Numbers 18:15-16
Whatsoever is firstborn of all flesh, which they offer to the Lord, whether it be of men, or of beasts, shall belong to thee: only for the firstborn of man thou shalt take a price, and every beast that is unclean thou shalt cause to be redeemed, And the redemption of it shall be after one month, for five sicles of silver, by the weight of the sanctuary. A sicle hath twenty obols.

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According to the Mosaic law a mother who had given birth to a man-child was considered unclean for seven days; moreover she was to remain three and thirty days “in the blood of her purification”; for a maid-child the time which excluded the mother from sanctuary was even doubled. When the time (forty or eighty days) was over the mother was to “bring to the temple a lamb for a holocaust and a young pigeon or turtle dove for sin“; if she was not able to offer a lamb, she was to take two turtle doves or two pigeons; the priest prayed for her and so she was cleansed. (Leviticus 12:2-8)

Forty days after the birth of Christ Mary complied with this precept of the law, she redeemed her first-born from the temple (Numbers 18:15), and was purified by the prayer of Simeon the just, in the presence of Anna the prophetess (Luke 2:22 sqq.). No doubt this event, the first solemn introduction of Christ into the house of God, was in the earliest times celebrated in the Church of Jerusalem. We find it attested for the first half of the fourth century by the pilgrim of Bordeaux, Egeria or Silvia. The day (14 February) was solemnly kept by a procession to the Constantinian basilica of the Resurrection, a homily on Luke 2:22 sqq., and the Holy Sacrifice. But the feast then had no proper name; it was simply called the fortieth day after Epiphany. This latter circumstance proves that in Jerusalem Epiphany was then the feast of Christ’s birth.

From the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will

Day 23

A Prophet Reveals the Sorrows of the Sovereign Queen.

My dear child, do not move from my side; follow Me everywhere. Forty days from the Birth of little King Jesus are about to sound when the Divine Fiat calls Us to the temple in order to fulfill the Law of the Presentation of My Son. So, we went to the temple. It was the first time that we went out together with My sweet Baby. A vein of sorrow opened in My Heart: I was going to offer Him as Victim for the salvation of all. We entered the temple, and first we adored the Divine Majesty; then we called the priest, and placing Him in his arms, I made the offering of the Celestial Baby to the Eternal Father – offering Him in Sacrifice for the salvation of all. The priest was Simeon, and as I placed Him in his arms, he recognized that He was the Divine Word and exulted with immense joy; and after the offering, assuming the attitude of prophet, he prophesied all My Sorrows. Oh, how the Supreme Fiat sounded over My Maternal Heart – thoroughly, with vibrating sound, the cruel tragedy of all the Pains of My Little Son! But what pierced Me the most were the words that the holy prophet spoke to Me: “This Dear Baby will be the salvation and the ruin of many, and will be the target of contradictions.”

If the Divine Will had not sustained Me, I would have died instantly of pure pain. But It gave Me Life, and used it to form in Me the Kingdom of Sorrows, within the Kingdom of Its Will. Therefore, in addition to the Right of Mother which I had over all, I acquired the Right of Mother and Queen of all Sorrows. Ah, yes, with My Sorrows, I acquired the little Coin to pay the debts of My children, and also those of the ungrateful children.

Now, My child, you must know that in the Light of the Divine Will I already knew all the Sorrows I was to suffer – and even more than that which the holy prophet had told Me. But in that Act, so Solemn, of offering My Own Son, in hearing it being repeated to Me, I felt so pierced that My Heart bled, and deep lacerations opened in My soul.

Now, listen to your Mama: in your sufferings, in the painful encounters which are not lacking for you, never lose heart; but with Heroic Love let the Divine Will take Its Royal Place in your pains, that It may convert them into little Coins of infinite Value, with which you will be able to pay the debts of your brothers – to ransom them from the slavery of the human will, and make them enter again, as free children, into the Kingdom of the Divine Fiat.

The soul:

Holy Mama, in your pierced Heart do I place all my pains; and You know how they pierce my heart. O please, be my Mama, and pour the Balm of Your Sorrows into my heart, that I may share in your same Destiny of using my pains as little Coins in order to Conquer the Kingdom of the Divine Will.

Little Sacrifice:

Today, to honor Me, you will come into My arms, that I may pour in you the First Blood that the Celestial Baby shed in order to heal the wounds caused by your human will; and you will recite three acts of love in order to mitigate the spasm of the Wound of Baby Jesus.

Ejaculatory Prayer:

My Mama, pour your sorrow into my soul, and convert all my pains into Will of God.

CANDLEMAS

Presentation of the Lord

The feast was first observed in the Eastern Church as “The Encounter.” In the sixth century, it began to be observed in the West: in Rome with a more penitential character and in Gaul (France) with solemn blessings and processions of candles, popularly known as “Candlemas.” The Presentation of the Lord concludes the celebration of the Nativity and with the offerings of the Virgin Mother and the prophecy of Simeon, the events now point toward Easter.

“In obedience to the Old Law, the Lord Jesus, the first-born, was presented in the Temple by his Blessed Mother and his foster father. This is another ‘epiphany’ celebration insofar as the Christ Child is revealed as the Messiah through the canticle and words of Simeon and the testimony of Anna the prophetess. Christ is the light of the nations, hence the blessing and procession of candles on this day. In the Middle Ages this feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or ‘Candlemas,’ was of great importance.

“The specific liturgy of this Candlemas feast, the blessing of candles, is not as widely celebrated as it should be, except of course whenever February 2 falls on a Sunday and thus takes precedence. There are two ways of celebrating the ceremony, either the Procession, which begins at a ‘gathering place’ outside the church, or the Solemn Entrance, celebrated within the church.”

— From Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year

The Canticle of Simeon

(Luke 2:29-32)

 Now dismiss Thy servant, O Lord,
In peace, according to Thy word:
For mine own eyes hath seen Thy salvation,
Which Thou hast prepared in the sight of all the peoples,
A light to reveal Thee to the nations
And the glory of Thy people Israel.

Latin Version: Nunc Dimittis
Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine
Secundum verbum tuum in pace:
Quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum
Quod parasti ante faciem omnium populorum:
Lumen ad revelationem gentium,
Et gloriam plebis tuae Israel.

Reading 1 Mal 3:1-4