As recorded in the gospel of Luke 2:22-40, this feast celebrates Joseph and Mary bringing Jesus into the temple 40 days after his birth as required by mosaic law. At this time, Jesus is beheld by Simeon who was promised by God not to die until he saw the Messiah and upon seeing Christ, he cried, "My eyes have seen your salvation, now let your servant depart in peace".
Readings: Hebrews 7:7-17 and Luke 2:22-40.
For the Little Ones: In the west, this feast is referred to as the Candlemas (for in "about 450 AD in Jerusalem, people began the custom of holding lighted candles during the Divine Liturgy of this feast day" see here). For Christ is He who will bring light to the Gentiles and is the glory of his people Israel. It is traditional in many parts of Europe to feast on crepes on this day.
An ideal craft for this feast would be to make candles. Dependent on how little your kids are, this may or may not be feasible. However, tea cup candles are very easy to make and little ones can help with various aspects of it (securing the wick, picking out the cups at a thrift store). Best of all, these are great gifts to give to the neighbors and you can tie a little note to the handle with the hymn of St. Simeon on it.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Epiphany (or Theophany), Jan 6
Well, my son is getting baptized sunday on this great feast. My husband is out of town currently in an intensive French language program in Monterey (though he'll be back this weekend for the baptism before taking off again) and I have been having extended family come in and out of town a lot recently. So, my preparation for this particular feast is sadly very little. Actually, nonexistent. I promise improvement next year. Please feel free to post any ideas you have, though! I'll try to do a follow up post sometime next week.
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