For mine eyes have seen:
Thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared
Before the face of all people,
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles
And to be the glory of thy people Israel.
Today as we live in our modern world, we are probably unaware that on February 2nd the Church throughout the world celebrates an ancient feast, the feast of Candlemas. 
Candlemas is the culmination of a pagan festival and a Christian festival; many of our Christian festivals did indeed begin life as a non Christian celebrations and thus the early Church “adopted” these dates into the Christian calendar and so just as Christmas coincided with a pagan festival, this festival of Candlemas comes together with the timing of the Church wishing to celebrate the end of the Christmas season.
Candlemas is the culmination of a pagan festival and a Christian festival; many of our Christian festivals did indeed begin life as a non Christian celebrations and thus the early Church “adopted” these dates into the Christian calendar and so just as Christmas coincided with a pagan festival, this festival of Candlemas comes together with the timing of the Church wishing to celebrate the end of the Christmas season.The original festival of Candlemas was to dedicate and have blessed the church candles for the forthcoming year, hence the name Candlemas. Though now this feast’s immediate reference is to the event when Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem forty days after his birth to perform the prescribed sacrifice of purification.
When I was at school I sang in “Cantores” which was the Chapel choir. On the fourth Friday of each month we were the visiting choir at St Albans Cathedral, where we sang Evensong. It was a special experience and a real privilege to sing in the cathedral, especially when you think about the hundreds of years of music and Christian worship that had gone before.
One Friday evening, we walked from school to the cathedral, we rehearsed the usual order of service for Evensong; we practiced the plain chant for the Psalm and then quickly ran through the musical setting of the Magnificat and the Nunc Dimittis. Then we would make sure that we had the right “gear” on, as it were and collect our music folders and line up ready to process in for the service.
In the winter there was always a magical feeling in the Abbey; by 5.30pm kick off time, it would be dark outside and the Abbey would be lit and as we arrived at the Quire the candles would be burning and dancing around in the draft, as we processed into the pews and then they would continue throughout the service to burn brightly and enable us to read our music.
Once I had got over the initial fear of being set alight by the candles, whilst finding my seat and arranging my folder on the desk in front of me, I actually found the flickering candle mesmerising!
As the service progressed, we came to the point where we would sing the Nunc Dimittis, or the song of Simeon. The words that we heard this morning from Luke’s gospel, where Simeon speaks the well known words and those words have been set to many, many different tunes and arrangements over the hundreds of years that they have been included in Christian worship.
That Friday evening, as we sang these beautiful words, I quite suddenly, possibly for the first time, began to think about the meaning of the words which were floating tunefully forth from my mouth!
That Friday evening, as we sang these beautiful words, I quite suddenly, possibly for the first time, began to think about the meaning of the words which were floating tunefully forth from my mouth!
At first I though that they were sad words; Simeon was saying to God “let me depart in peace”, let me die in peace, according to your word.
Then as I sang on there was the joyful declaration: For mine eyes have seen the salvation, prepared for all, Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, saint and sinner.
It isn’t just about the revelation that the young Jesus was the salvation for all people, but that He, Jesus, was the light of life, the one who would bring light into the lives of many, many people.
However the passage from Luke’s gospel continues on from those words, telling of Simeon’s words of warning. As Simeon is speaking both Mary and Joseph were stood there wondering at the things that were being said about Jesus, then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary “you see this child: he is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and destined to be a sign that is rejected – and a sword will pierce your own soul too – so that the secret thoughts of many are laid bare.”
In just a few sentences Simeon manages to give a kind of summary of the work and destiny of Jesus:
He will be the cause whereby many will fall.
He will be the cause whereby many will rise.
And He will meet with much opposition.
I wonder what Mary and Joseph made of this? I wonder if they understood the significance of Simeon’s words.
The Jews regarded themselves as the nation of Israel; the nation of God, some of them believed that because of being God’s people that one day they were going to be rulers of the world and lords of all nations.
But how would this happen?
Maybe some great celestial power would descend upon the earth; some believed that there would arise another king of David’s line and that all the old glories would be revived and some believed that God himself would intervene directly into history by supernatural means.
However, in contrast to the belief that there would be violent battles, great armies with banners and of battles for power and supremacy, there were a few people who were known as “the quiet in the land”; I guess they could be described as pacifists?
They believed in a life of constant prayer and devotion, waiting patiently and quietly upon God.
Simeon lived his life in prayer, worship and in humble and faithful expectation.
He was waiting for the day when God would send a “comforter” to His people. God had promised Simeon through the Holy Spirit that his life would not end before he had seen God’s own Anointed King.
In the baby Jesus, Simeon recognised that King and rejoiced. He could now depart in peace,
So those words which within the church are now known of as the Nunc Dimittis, a great and precious hymn of joy not of sadness!
The Gospel of Luke goes on to tell us about the prophetess Anna. She was a widow, advanced in age and we are told she never left the Temple. She too was one of “the Quiet in the land”. We know little about her other than that she served God day and night in prayer and fasting. She prophesised and praised God, Jesus was the child who would be the deliverer of Jerusalem.
Anna never ceased to worship God and to pray to him; she was like Simeon in that they were expectant and hoping for the redeemer of the world to come. They never lost hope, belief or trust that God would send a deliverer, a redeemer, a saviour, a King.
So this feast is rich in meaning with several related themes running through it. The strongest theme and attraction of Candlemas is the bitter-sweet nature of what it celebrates. It is a feast rejoicing in the revelation of the baby Jesus in the Temple. Though nevertheless the words of Simeon speaking of the fall and rise of many and of the sword that will pierce, lead us on to think of the passion and towards Easter.
The words of Simeon come as a direct reference to the future of Jesus and coming at the end of the Christmas season, with Lent close by, they make Candlemas into a pivotal occasion in the Christian year.
We can take one last look back to Christmas and now turn towards the cross!
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