The Presentation of Christ-2013

The presentation of Christ in the temple, commonly called thePurification of Saint Mary the Virgin

The Collect

Almighty and everliving God, we humbly beseech thy Majesty, that, as thy only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in substance of our flesh, so we may be presented unto thee with pure and clean hearts, by the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Old Testament Reading: Malachi 3.1-5

Psalter: Psalm 84

Epistle Reading: Galatians 1.1-24

Gospel Reading: St. Luke 2.22-40

Massey Hamilton Shepherd, Jr.: “This is appointed in the Gregorian Sacramentary, and it clearly reveals the original purpose of the celebration as a feast of our Lord. His first appearance and presentation in the Jewish Temple came to be viewed in retrospect by the Church as a mystery symbolizing His fulfillment of the Old Covenant with its outward cult of sacrifices and the inauguration of a new Temple, namely, His Body (cf. John ii.19-22), through which the redeemed of the New Covenant offer to God ‘spiritual sacrifices’ (“The Oxford American Prayer Book Commentary,” 233).