Presentation of Jesus at the Temple

The story in Luke

Luke's Gospel, in its second chapter, tells of the family's visit to the Temple. Forty days after the birth, Mary completed the rite of purification that the Law asked of a mother, and the firstborn son was redeemed, as the Torah required. Luke notes that the couple brought the offering allowed to poor families: turtledoves or pigeons, rather than a lamb. In the Temple they met Simeon, who had been promised he would not die before seeing the Lord's anointed. He took the child and prayed the words now known as the Nunc Dimittis. The prophetess Anna, an elderly woman, also gave praise and told those present what the child meant for Jerusalem.

Candles and blessing

The name Candlemas comes from the candles carried at the Mass on this day. The custom rests on Simeon's prayer, which greets the child as a light for the nations, a phrase that echoes Isaiah. In Western churches a priest blessed beeswax candles on 2 February, and some were handed to worshippers for use at home during the year. In Poland the feast is named for thunder candles, gromnice, lit when storms came and put in windows to turn the weather away. Eastern churches call the day Hypapante and keep a night-long vigil, blessing candles around the morning Liturgy.

Dates and churches

The date follows Christmas. Counting forty days from 25 December gives 2 February, and that is the day in both Eastern and Western calendars. Orthodox churches on the Julian calendar keep it on 15 February. The Armenian Apostolic Church keeps it on 14 February, since Armenians celebrate the Nativity on 6 January. The Church of England allows 2 February or the Sunday falling between 28 January and 3 February. Swedish and Finnish Lutherans have marked it on a Sunday since 1774, between 2 and 8 February, unless that Sunday is the last before Lent, when it moves back a week.

What the day means

The feast is a showing, like Epiphany: the child is made known in the Temple. Simeon's song and Anna's words are the first public recognition of who he is, and the day is counted as his earliest appearance in his Father's house. Catholics count it as the fourth of the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary, and the Roman Rite ties the day to the World Day of Consecrated Life; Pope John Paul II linked the date to the renewal of religious vows. In some places the crib stays out until this day, and in the Liturgy of the Hours the antiphon Alma Redemptoris Mater is sung up to 2 February, when Ave Regina Caelorum takes over.

History and change

Celebration of the feast in Jerusalem reaches back to the fourth century, which makes it one of the oldest in the Christian year. Sermons on the day survive from a line of bishops, among them Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory of Nyssa and John Chrysostom. In the fifth century Pope Gelasius I helped the feast spread further. Later the same story gave rise to a rite called churching, held about forty days after a baby was born, in East and West alike. It has mostly lapsed in the West but is still kept in the Orthodox Church, where babies of either sex are brought to church on their fortieth day.

How Presentation of Jesus at the Temple is kept

Ordinary Sundays aside, the day is kept in church. Western parishes hold a Mass at which candles are blessed and carried in procession. In Eastern parishes the eve brings a vigil through the night; the next morning the priest says five prayers, heads are bowed, the candles are censed and sprinkled with holy water, and handed out before the Liturgy begins. Catholic parishes may mark the World Day of Consecrated Life on the same date. Some families leave the Christmas decorations standing until this day, and in Armenia people carry a flame from the evening service out into the dark, taking it home or lighting a bonfire in the churchyard.

When and where

2 February in most churches, forty days after Christmas. Orthodox congregations using the Julian calendar keep it on 15 February, and Armenians on 14 February. The Church of England allows 2 February or the Sunday falling between 28 January and 3 February, and Swedish and Finnish Lutherans keep it on a Sunday between 2 and 8 February.

Kept wherever Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran and Armenian congregations meet. The feast began in Jerusalem and is strongest in the Eastern churches, where it ranks among the Great Feasts, and in Poland, where the blessed candles have their own name. Armenian communities keep their own date and their own name for the day.

What Presentation of Jesus at the Temple means

The day is about light and welcome. An old man and an old woman recognise a baby that others see as ordinary, and Simeon's prayer speaks of a light for the nations. Candles blessed on this date carry the thought into the rest of the year, into homes and into storms. For the churches that keep it, the feast shows God made known in a human child, brought to the Temple by poor parents who could afford only the smallest offering.

Days Presentation of Jesus at the Temple is marked

Questions people ask about Presentation of Jesus at the Temple

See also

St John's EveBonfires, feasting and worship on the short night before John the Baptist's feastChristmas treeA decorated evergreen or artificial tree placed indoors to mark the Christmas season.Friday the 13thA Western folk superstition regarding the unluckiness of a Friday falling on the 13th.Brigid's crossA cross of woven rushes or straw, made for Saint Brigid's Day on the first of February

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle

• Presentation of Jesus on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.