Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Presentation of the Lord
The feast of the Presentation of the Lord is kept on Tuesday 2nd February and it marks the very end of the Christmas Season. This feast is celebrated forty days after Christmas and it is the day when we remove the Christmas Crib from the Church.
We remember how the baby Jesus was presented by his parents in the Temple and where they made the necessary sacrifice for him. We recall how the Prophet Simeon took Jesus in his hands and sang out the song of praise we know as the Nunc Dimittis: “Now let your servant depart in peace because my eyes have seen your salvation.”
This feast is also known as Candlemas because on this day we bless the candles used in the Church during the coming year.
In modern times it is also kept as a special; Day of Prayer for those who have embraced the Consecrated Life. We keep this commemoration on the Feast of the Presentation because of the strong parallels between Christ’s consecration to God in the Temple and the special consecration made by those who have entered Religious Orders.
Father Alex McAllister
​