As we celebrate the feast of Christ’s Presentation in the Temple on February 2, we also celebrate the World Day for Consecrated Life. We invite you to meditate with us on this beautiful feast and to listen to some of our Sisters’ own vocation stories
(click here).
The Presentation of the Lord When the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph brought the infant Jesus to the temple to be presented to the Lord “in accordance with Scripture,” they were acting in obedience to what the Lord told His people through Moses: “Every first-born male who opens the womb will be dedicated [consecrated] to the Lord” Ex.13: 2-12. Because of this, the feast day of the Presentation in the Temple has been marked in our Church as the day of Consecrated Life.
Candles as a Symbol of Consecration On this day, historically referred to as “Candlemas”, it is tradition to have a ceremony at the beginning of Mass to bless all the candles which will be used for prayer and the liturgy during the upcoming year. Candles are a sign of religious consecration and bring light to darkened spaces. At our baptism, we received a lighted candle to represent the life of grace in our souls. The slowly consumed wax reminds us that our lives are a holocaust offering to the Light of the World. The malleability of hot wax and the total self-giving of a candle are strong analogies for the consecrated life – a life radically dedicated to the Lord. Hear stories – from some of our very own Sisters – of their calling to a deepening of their baptismal consecration through religious life.
As Mary and Joseph present the Infant Jesus in the Temple, let us recall our baptismal consecration and ask Our Blessed Virgin Mother to present us to the Father, that our lives may be consummated in the service of Love and Light.