In
the written scroll it is prescribed for me – to do your will,
O
my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart!
— Psalm 40:8-10
40 days
after the birth of Our Lord, it was time for Joseph to take his wife and son to
the temple at Jerusalem. The Law stated that after the birth of a child, the
mother had to be purified, and though Mary herself was Immaculate, she willed
to submit herself to the rite of Purification, just as her son was subjected to
the circumcision. The Presentation was a ceremony in which the father would
present his son to be redeemed under God. The child would be “ransomed” with an
offering to the Lord, Joseph and Mary seeking to follow the Law as it was prescribed.
When the days of her purification
were fulfilled according to the Law of Moses,
they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord . . . — St. Luke
2:22
♔ SIMEON ♔
St. Joseph
brought his family to the Jerusalem Temple to be Purified and Presented under
the Law, not knowing what was in store. At the temple was Simeon, a devout
priest of Jerusalem who, according to the Gospel of St. Luke, was awaiting the
coming of the Messiah with great anticipation. We are told that he was quite
old and wished desperately to see the “consolation of Israel” before he died.
His prayers were answered when he was given a revelation from the Holy Spirit
stating that the time would come for him to behold the Promised One. Simeon was
the first man at the temple to recognize and revere the Saviour and hold the
Child Jesus in his venerable arms, praising and thanking God for granting him this
honour:
“Now thou dost dismiss thy servant,
O Lord, according to thy word, in peace;
because my eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples: a light
of revelation to the Gentiles, and a glory
for thy people Israel.” — St. Luke 2:29
♔ HEARTS OF SORROW
INTERTWINED ♔
After
hearing this Canticle of Simeon and marveling at his words, the venerable
priest went on to prophesize to Mary and Joseph the future of this child as
well as words concerning the very soul of Our Lady, which would one day be
wounded:
“Behold this Child is destined for
the fall and for the rise of many in Israel, and
for a sign that shall be contradicted. And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that the thoughts of many
hearts will be revealed.” — St. Luke
2:34-36
Jesus being
a sign of contradiction would cause concern in his parents’ hearts as this
would come to mean that one day men would blaspheme against their son, who had
come to redeem mankind. Knowing these things would inflict great sorrow within
his mother’s Immaculate Heart, for the future of her son, and for those who
would reject him. Mary’s very soul would be pierced along with her son’s, and
this would be realized years later as she watched in horror as Jesus was
whipped, beaten, and spat upon, but worse was to come. She would be at the foot
of the cross to which her only Son was nailed. What mother wouldn’t want to
kiss her son’s bruises and alleviate his pain? Her heart would be wounded with grief
beyond measure, and her husband would not be there for her to lean on.
The most
Humble Heart of Joseph would be in full union with that of his spouse, which
together would carry a unique agony known only to them. Besides sharing this
with Mary, St. Joseph had his own private affliction of knowing that he would
not be there to protect his suffering boy or comfort Our Lady. Since he was not
mentioned in Simeon’s prophecies, he knew that he would not live to witness
these events. He knew that he would not be there to shield and protect those
whom the Lord had lovingly entrusted to him. These hearts of Joseph and Mary brought
together, by the Will of the God, in love, were now intertwined in sorrow, each
one to be the consolation of the other.
The holy spouse Saint Joseph was, by
these prophecies, made to see many of
the mysteries of the Redemption and of the labors and sufferings of Jesus. … However Saint Joseph was not to be
an eyewitness of them during his
mortal life.
— Venerable Maria de Agreda
♔ PROPHETESS ANNA ♔
After
contemplating these things, the priest Simeon blessed and prayed over Mary,
giving St. Joseph a special blessing as well. After these words, God sent to
Joseph and Mary a consolation by means of Anna the prophetess who bore public
witness to the greatness of God. It is traditionally held that Anna knew the
Blessed Virgin when she was a child, teaching her in the ways of the Lord.
There was also Anna, a prophetess .
. . She was of great age, having by herself
as a widow to eighty-four years. She never left the temple, with fastings and prayers . . . And coming up
at that very hour, she began to give praise
to the Lord, and spoke of him to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. — St. Luke 2:36-93
♔ JOSEPH PRESENTS HIS SON ♔
Joseph
fulfills the Law’s requirement to present his son to God to be redeemed by a sacrifice
of two turtledoves. St. Joseph had just fulfilled his second official act as
father to Jesus, having presented and consecrated him at the Temple of
Jerusalem. Just as with the circumcision of Jesus, the Law required that the first-born
son be redeemed. Joseph brought Jesus into the Inner Court of the Temple, in
which women were not allowed, Our Lady waiting outside. He carried into the
temple the True High Priest though no one would recognize the child as such nor
would they pay him homage. In the midst of the temple was the Messiah
Himself—the one’s arrival the Jews were earnestly praying for, though it was
only the venerable Simeon and Anna who saw the Redeemer in this child. Jesus
was to become the Sacrificial Lamb who years later would carry the cross upon
which he would die for the redemption of the world. At the Presentation, his
burden is not yet apparent as he is carried into the temple by his most
faithful servant Joseph, consecrated to his Heavenly Father.
The Lord spoke to Moses and said,
“Consecrate to me every firstborn that opens
the womb . . . for it belongs to me.”
— Exodus
13:1-2
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