Today we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation, a day in which we hear about Mary and Joseph bringing the baby Jesus to the Temple as required for first-born sons by the law. They came with two pigeons to sacrifice - not much, but what was required for those without means. What a surprise it must have been to have the elderly Simeon and prophet Anna praise God and speak of the child to the people around as well as to them! I would love to meet Anna, especially, and hear the story from her perspective.
- Malachi 3:1-4
- Hebrews 2:14-18
- Luke 2:22-40
- Psalm 84
- or Psalm 24:7-10 (Thanks to the Lectionary Page.)
On this feast day at the convent, we celebrate the profession anniversary of one of our sisters, which adds another special note.
And, lucky me, I got to celebrate - which also means I got to wear my favorite chasuble with the amazing embroidery.
I found a blessing and dismissal for this feast on the Church of England at http://www.oremus.org/ (marvellous site worth your support). They are not from their Book of Common Prayer (1662 version, still in use!) or from Common Worship (their modern language version). I think The Promise of His Glory must be a sort of Enriching Our Worship, English style, though far more traditional. Fortunately, this blessings and dismissal lend themselves well to being sung, as we prefer to do on feast days.
THE DISMISSAL | |||||
| 9 | The president may say THIS BLESSING. Christ the Son of God, born of Mary, fill you with his grace to trust his promises and obey his will; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you always. Amen. [8] | ||||
| 10 |
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You can find this and the rest of their liturgy here as well, including a couple of post-communion prayer options.
I also found a nice solemn blessing from Common Worship on the C of E website, but it might have required my passing out a copy to everyone so they could come in properly with the Amens. (Yes, the sung tone really does cue you, but early in the morning, extra help is always nice.)
It's on the very last page of this pdf document.
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| one last view of the baby Jesus for this liturgical year |
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| Where's the baby Jesus? I swear he was here just a moment ago... |
With or without liturgy, we rejoice with Simeon and Anna and Jesus' parents today as we remember that moment and seek to incorporate it into our own lives.
May the One who was presented in the Temple be so welcomed into the heart of each one of us.
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