Candlemas: The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord – Holy Spirit Tempe

Forty days following the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), the Church celebrates Candlemas, also known as the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. It is when we commemorate the Virgin Mary first bringing her child, Jesus, to the Temple as part of the Jewish ritual custom and the Prophet Simeon proclaiming Jesus as “a light for revelation to the Gentiles” upon seeing Jesus brought to the temple, and so candles are blessed on this day, representing a light to the world.

To celebrate this feast, we will have a candlelit mass at 8pm on Friday, February 2nd with a blessing of candles. We invite parishioners to bring to the church new candles they wish to have blessed at the ceremony. If you are bringing a candle, please tag it with your name and arrive to the church no later than 7:50pm to place it on the tables outside. The blessed candles will be available to be picked up following the mass.