![[The Presentation of Christ in the Temple]](http://saints.sqpn.com/ncd06892.jpg "detail from 'The Presentation of Christ in the Temple', by Tintoretto, 1550-1555, oil on canvas, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice, Italy")
Also known as
- Our Lady of the Candles
- Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple
- Purification of the Blessed Virgin
About the Feast
The feast commemorates the purifying of the Blessed Virgin according to the Mosaic Law, 40 days after the birth of Christ, and the presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple. The feast was introduced into the Eastern Empire by Emperor Justinian I, and is mentioned in the Western Church in the Gelasian Sacramentary of the 7th century. Candles are blessed on that day in commemoration of the words of Holy Simeon concerning Christ “a light to the revelation of the Gentiles” (Luke 2), and a procession with lighted candles is held in the church to represent the entry of Christ, the Light of the World, into the Temple of Jerusalem. “Candlemas” is still the name in Scotland for a legal term-day on which interest and rents are payable (2 February).
Additional Information
- Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
- Catholic Encyclopedia
- Goffine’s Devout Instructions
- Golden Legend
- Heiligen 3s
- Lives of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler
- New Catholic Dictionary
- Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
- Pictorial Lives of the Saints
MLA Citation
- “Candlemas“. Saints.SQPN.com. 1 February 2013. Web. 23 May 2013. <>