February 2nd – The Presentation of the Lord
For over 30 years as a Priest in a number of countries and provinces, I have experienced February 2nd in a number of different ways. What stands out for me were parishes who would hold a Service on February 2nd, where all the candles that the church might use for the year – pavement candles, altar candles, torch candles and the special ones for a Baptism or Marriage — would be blessed. People would also bring candles from home and we would celebrate Candlemas together. I brought this Service to St. Mark’s in the Hydrostone during my 7 ½ years there. It would be a wonderful celebration for any church.
Its origins go back to Luke’s Gospel [Luke 2:21 – 38] where following Jesus’ naming in Bethlehem, his parents had to take him to Jerusalem. The chief title “The Presentation,” comes from the ancient Jewish law that every firstborn son had to be dedicated to God’s service. The Law of Moses allowed parents to redeem their child by offering something else in his stead. In Jesus’s case, Mary and Joseph offered the redemptive substitute which the law appointed for the first-born of poor parents, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”
Luke also records how the Christ-child was greeted by Simeon and the prophetess Anna, two figures who represented Israel’s longing to see the Redeemer promised by God. Simeon took baby Jesus in his arms and offers a prayer of Thanksgiving the — Nunc Dimitti — Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to your word — BCP],
which acclaims Jesus as the saving Light of God. This has been a staple Canticle in our Service of Evensong. To symbolize the enlightening truth of Christ, the western Church developed the custom of blessing candles on this feast — hence its other title, Candlemas.
In celebrating the feast of the Presentation, the people of the Church become like Simeon, who cradled the infant Light of salvation in the crook of his arm and knew him to be as fragile as a candle-flame. In baptism, in meditating upon Scripture, and in the Eucharist, Christians cradle the same Light and take responsibility for the life of Christ in our world.
February 5th –
The Martyrs of Japan
On this day in 1597, twenty-six Christians were crucified near the Japanese city of Nagasaki. We remember their faithfulness under great suffering and honour them as the martyrs of Asia. Jesuit missionaries had been active in Japan for over forty years, and they had converted large numbers from every class of Japanese society. The ruling Shogun eventually banned all missionary activity because he feared that the growth of the Christian Church among his people would prepare the way for an invasion by Europeans.
The Jesuits took care not to offend the Shogun and were able to continue with their work by becoming as much like the Japanese in dress and habits as they could. But in 1593 a group of Franciscans arrived, who openly violated the decree against missionary activity. In 1597 the Shogun, tired of their open proselytizing, ordered the arrest of six Franciscans monks and twenty Japanese Christians. The prisoners were subjected to torture, then marched from Osaka to Nagasaki to be crucified. For the next 20 years missionaries enjoyed peace.
However, persecution was renewed in waves during the first half of the seventeenth century and continued even after Japan’s rulers closed their country to foreigners. Nevertheless, when Europeans once again entered Japan in the mid-nineteenth century, they found many pockets of Japanese who had preserved in secret, some living vestiges of Christian faith and practice.
