The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Local faithful observe Mexican holy day
According to the Catholic Church liturgical calendar, February 2nd is celebrated as the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple. This date is chosen since it is 40 days after the birth of Jesus Christ, which according to Mosaic Law prescribed that every firstborn male in Israel was to be consecrated to God 40 days after birth and redeemed with a sum deposited in the Temple treasury. February 2nd has also been known as the Feast of the Purification of Mary, even though Our Lady was preserved by God from original sin and the pangs of child birth. However, as a Jewish mother she chose to submit to the Law of the Lord and therefore along with St. Joseph went to the Temple to offer “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons” (Luke 2:24) to the Lord. This offering of two pigeons from the poor shows Mary’s prompt obedience to God’s laws.
The Gospel according to St. Luke gives us an account of Jesus’ presentation in the Temple. St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin
Mary with Jesus in her arms entered the Temple to present the child to God. Jesus was welcomed into the Temple by two elderly people, Simeon and the widow Anna. They both embody Israel in their patient expectation of the long-awaited Messiah. Some even name this special day the Feast of Saint Simeon, the old man who burst into a song of joy which the Church still sings at day’s end.
At the beginning of the 8th Century Pope Sergius I inaugurated a candlelight procession to mark this day with the blessing and distribution of candles, giving the feast the popular name of Candlemas, or “La Candelaria” in Spanish. The elderly Simeon proclaimed that Jesus is the Savior, “prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation of the Gentiles (Luke 2:32). These words commemorate the arrival and manifestation of the divine light of the world, Jesus Christ. The lighted candles and procession are an expression of Christian life which is a pathway illuminated by the light of Christ.
Mexicans have adopted this feast and on this day
they bring the child Jesus to the church to be presented and blessed. So, on February 2nd the sanctuary of St. Patrick Church wass filled with statues of the baby Jesus which were then taken home to be placed on makeshift altars in people’s homes right next to Our Lady of Guadalupe. The baby Jesus and his mother, La Virgen de
Guadalupe, protect and fill the Mexican homes with love and graces. In addition, Mexicans have made the idea of the Presentation a wonderful custom. Forty days after the birth of children, parents and godparents bring the child to Mass where the newborn is then presented to God and the congregation as Jesus was.
The custom comes from the Bible as Jesus was presented 40 days after his birth, but also for a country where the infant mortality rate is high there is a special dimension that this blessing is given in thanksgiving for the life of the child. In addition, there is also a “Three-Year Presentation” for the continued well being and health of the child, but also this custom comes from the Protoevangelium of St. James that documented that the Blessed Virgin Mary was presented in the Temple when she was three years old.
The Rev. Gus Puleo is pastor of St. Patrick Church in Norristown and served as an adjunct professor of Spanish at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia. He is a graduate of Norristown High School and attended Georgetown University, where he received B.A. and B.S. in Spanish and linguistics. He has master’s degrees in Spanish, linguistics and divinity from Middlebury College, Georgetown University and St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. He holds a Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of Pennsylvania.