The Diocese of Gaylord celebrated the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, a feast day in the Catholic Church when believers remember when the Christ child was brought to the temple.

The feast day is celebrated 40 days after Jesus’ birth and is also known as Candlemas Day, which was Feb. 2.

“Instituted by Saint John Paul II in 1997, World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life is celebrated in conjunction with the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, also known as Candlemas Day, which commemorates through the blessing and lighting of candles that Christ is the light of the world," the Diocese of Gaylord posted on Facebook. "So too, those in consecrated life are called to reflect the light of Jesus Christ to all peoples."

According to Bible.USCCB, “40 days after his birth, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem and offered a sacrifice of two pigeons.  A man named Simeon met them at the temple and recognized Jesus as the Messiah. An elderly prophetess named Anna also saw Jesus at the temple and thanked God, acknowledging that Jesus would redeem Jerusalem.”

A Jew by birth, Jesus and his parents, Mary and Joseph, were familiar with the Jewish tradition which believed that women were ritually unclean for 40 days following the birth of their child. Following the 40 days of purification, the family traversed to the temple to present Jesus and to signify Mary’s return to celebrating the various religious activities that were traditional. 

The Gospel reading for Candlemas was Luke 2:22-32, which in part is as follows: “When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord, and to offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.”