SEASONAL
Encounter of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
On February 2nd, our Holy Church celebrates the Feast of the
Encounter of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Church also
refers to this Feast as the Meeting of Our Lord in the temple.
In accordance with the Mosaic law, 40 days after the birth of a
male child the mother is required to present the child in the
tabernacle and offer as a sacrifice either a lamb or a pair of
doves or pigeons for her purification. The presentation of a
first-born son also signified redemption or buying back, for all
first-born creatures (both humans and animals) was considered to
belong to God.
Mary and Joseph obeyed this precept of the law. They brought
Jesus to the Temple where he was met and blessed by a very old
Holy man. On that day in the Temple, both Simeon and a woman by
the name of Anna, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, recognized
the infant Jesus as the Messiah and Savior of the world. Simeon
had been promised by God that he would live to witness the
coming of the Messiah to the world. These events are described
in Luke 2:22-40.
Imagine this blessed
scene, of an old man - barely able to hold himself upright due
to his advanced years- fully attired in the Traditional clothing
of the High Priest of the Temple, cradling the infant Jesus in
his arms. It is the meeting of the Old Testament Priesthood in
the Temple with the New Testament Priesthood in Christ, and
hence the naming of this Feast day as the Meeting of Our Lord in
the Temple.
The Church today calls each one of us to make our Soul a Temple
of God, where the Holy Virgin can bring her Divine Child. And
each one of us should, like Simeon, take the Child in our arms
and say to the Father:
“My eyes have seen your salvation, now let your servant depart
in peace”.
This Prayer of Simeon is used every day in the Vespers services
of our Holy Church. But this prayer should be more to us than a
description of someone who has been allowed to see and hold the
Christ child requesting a peaceful departure. It should also
mean for us, in particular, that having seen and touched the
Savoir, we are released from the hold that sin has on us, and in
peace, we can leave the realm of evil.
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"As
the deliver of captives and the defender of the poor, healer of the infirm
and champion of kings, victorious great martyr George intercede with Christ our
God for our souls salvation."
Troparion of
St. George
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