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Presentation of Jesus at the TemplePresentation of Jesus at the Temple
Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple falls on 2 February and celebrates an early episode in the life of Jesus. In the Eastern Orthodox Church and some eastern Catholic Churches, it is one of the Twelve Great Feasts, and is sometimes called Hipapante (Lit. “Meaning” in Greek). Other traditional names include Candlemas, the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin, and the Meeting of the Lord.
In the Roman Catholic Church, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord is a feast day occurring between the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle on 25 January and the feast of the chair of St. Peter the Apostle on 22 February. In some Western liturgical churches, Vespers (or Compline) on the Feast of the Presentation marks the end of the Epiphany season. In the Church of England, the Presentation of Christ in the temple is a Principal Feast celebrated either on 2 February or on the Sunday between 28 January and 3 February.
In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, the Presentation is the fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. The episode was also reflected in the once prevalent custom of churching new mothers forty days after the birth of a child.
Paul the ApostlePaul the Apostle
Paul the Apostle, original name Saul of Tarsus, was an apostle (though not one of the Twelve Apostles) who taught the Gospel of Christ to the first-century world. He is generally considered one of the most important apostolic figures of The Apostolic Age. In the mid-30s to mid-50s, he founded several churches in Asia Minor and Europe. Paul used his status as both a Jew and a Roman citizen to advantage in his ministry to both Jewish and Roman audiences.
Fourteen of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament have traditionally been attributed to Paul, and approximately half of the Acts of the Apostles deals with Paul’s life and works. Seven of the epistles are undisputed by scholars as being authentic, with varying degrees of argument about the remainder. The Pauline authorship of Hebrews, already doubted in the 2nd and 3rd centuries but almost unquestioningly accepted from the 5th to the 16th centuries, is now almost universally rejected by scholars. The other six are believed by some scholars to have come from followers writing in his name, using material from Paul’s surviving letters and letters written by him that no longer survive. Other scholars argue that the idea of a pseudonymous author for the disputed epistles raises many problems.
Today, his epistles continue to be deeply rooted in the theology, worship, and pastoral life in the Roman and Protestant traditions of the West, as well as the Orthodox traditions of the East. Among the many other apostles and missionaries involved in the spread of the Christian faith, his influence on Christian thought and practice has been characterized as being as “profound as it is pervasive.” Augustine of Hippo developed Paul’s idea that salvation is based on faith and not “works of the law.” Martin Luther’s interpretation of Paul’s writings heavily influenced Luther’s doctrine of sola fide.