Candlemas of the Lord and God and our Savior Jesus Christ
Date of celebration: 02/02
This event is recounted by the evangelist Luke in chapter B, v. 22-35. It happened forty days after the birth of the child Jesus. According to the Mosaic law, the Virgin Mary, after completing the time of purification from childbirth, went to the Temple of Jerusalem with Joseph, to perform the formal dedication of the infant to God during the “pan arsen dianogon uteren (i.e. firstborn) saint of the Lord is called” and to offer a sacrifice, which consisted of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
During this transition, the elderly Simeon received Jesus in his arms (see February 3). This fact is another proof that the Lord Jesus Christ did not come to abolish the Mosaic law, as the hypocritical Pharisees and Scribes claimed, but to complement it, to perfect it.
During the night of Ypapanti in Constantinople, the kings used to attend the Temple of Blacherna. This custom continued until the end of the Byzantine Empire.
