The righteous man and the prophetess who met the Lord in the Temple · Feast: 3 February
Open in the Daily Word app“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation,” Luke 2:29–30
On the day after Mayaltho, the Entrance of our Lord into the Temple, the Syro-Malankara Church remembers the two people who were waiting there when Mary and Joseph carried in the child Jesus. All that we know for certain about them comes from a few verses of St Luke (Luke 2:25–38).
Luke writes of Simeon: “this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him.” The Spirit had revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Guided by the Spirit he came into the Temple, took the child in his arms and blessed God. He called the child a light for the Gentiles and the glory of Israel. Then he told Mary that her son would be a sign opposed by many, and that a sword would pierce her own soul. Luke does not tell us Simeon's age or his work. That he was an old man is the Church's constant understanding, drawn from his words about dying, and that he was a priest is a later tradition.
Anna was a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She had lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage and had then remained a widow; Luke gives the figure of eighty-four years. “She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day.” She came up at that very moment, praised God, and spoke about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
Nothing reliable is known of their lives before or after that hour, and the stories told of them later are tradition or legend. Their place in the Church rests on what they did: they waited, they recognised Him, and they spoke of Him. Simeon's song has been prayed by Christians, East and West, for many centuries, often at the close of the day.
Simeon and Anna kept hope for many years, and God kept His word.
Simeon came to the Temple at the right hour because he listened to the Holy Spirit.
God gave two aged people the first sight of the Saviour in His Temple.
Anna could not keep quiet; she told everyone who was hoping.
When Mary and Joseph brought the offering of the poor to the Temple, an unknown man took the child from them, blessed God and said he was now ready to die. Joseph and Mary, Luke says, were amazed at what was being said about Him (Luke 2:33).
Anna, after long years of fasting and prayer in the Temple, came up at that same moment. She became one of the first to speak about the child to others, to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem (Luke 2:38).
A later Eastern legend says that Simeon was one of the seventy translators of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. Coming to the prophecy that a virgin would conceive, he doubted, and he was told he would not die until he had seen it fulfilled. The story has no historical basis, but it shows how the Church loved to think of his long wait.
The old man carried the child, but the child guided the old man.
An ancient antiphon of the Church for this feast, in substance
A lifetime of hope is not wasted (Luke 2:25).
The Spirit opens our eyes to a child in His mother's arms.
Anna told all who were waiting (Luke 2:38).
Dear friends, yesterday we kept Mayaltho, when our Lord was brought into the Temple as a child. Today our Church turns to the two people who were waiting for Him there, Mar Shem'on and Morth Hanna. We know them only from a few verses of St Luke, and yet the Church has never forgotten them.
Think how many people passed through the Temple that morning. There were priests, traders and pilgrims, and a poor couple with two birds and a baby. Only two people noticed who that baby was. Simeon saw because the Holy Spirit rested on him. Anna saw because she had spent her life in fasting and prayer. Holiness had trained their eyes.
Simeon took the child in his arms and said: “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation.” He was ready to die, because he had seen what he lived for. Do we live in a way that makes us ready to meet the Lord? And Anna went and spoke about the child to all who were looking for redemption. An old widow became a preacher of the Good News.
Let us honour the old people in our families and parishes, whose prayers hold up more of the Church than we know. Let those who are lonely or tired of waiting take courage from these two, because God does not forget a promise. And in the Holy Mass / Holy Qurbana, when we receive in our hands and on our lips the same Lord whom Simeon held in his arms, let us ask for the same peace and the same joy in telling others about Him. Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ, light of the nations and glory of Israel, you came to your Temple and were received by Mar Shem'on and Morth Hanna. Through their prayers teach us to wait for you with patience and to recognise you when you come. Let us receive you with clean hearts, speak of you to all who hope, and at the end depart in peace. Amen.