The Presentation in the Temple.
Luke 2:22-24
When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him 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.
On the church calendar we observe the purification of Mary and the presentation of Jesus in the temple
This day brings to an end our observation of the great events of Christmas and Epiphany. Saint Luke is the only one of the Evangelists to describe the event (see Luke 2:22-40), something likely unfamiliar to most of his Gentile readers. According to the Gospel, Mary and Joseph took the Baby to the Temple in Jerusalem forty days after his birth to consecrate Jesus to God and to complete the ritual purification of Mary, both because of the command of God’s Law (Exodus 13:1-2, 11-16; Leviticus 12).
Upon entering the temple, the family encountered the devout and holy Simeon. Luke records that he was promised that “he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. (Luke 2:26)” Simeon took Jesus into his arms, prayed the prayer that would become known as the Nunc Dimittis, or Canticle of Simeon, blessed the parents, and prophesied regarding Jesus and Mary.
The prophetess Anna (2:36-38) was also in the temple. She, too, offered prayers and praise to God for sending the Savior.
In the Western liturgical calendar, the Presentation of Our Lord falls on 2 February because this is forty days after Christmas, the celebration of His birth. It is the last festival determined by the date of Christmas and thus shows that the Epiphany season is drawing to a close.
Almighty and ever-living God, as Yo9ur only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in the substance of our flesh, grant that we may be presented to You with pure and clean hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Sources:
Simeon in the Temple copyright Ed Riojas, Higher Things
https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2010/02/the-purification-of-mary-and-the-presentation-of-our-lord-in-the-temple
Treasury of Daily Prayer copyright 2009 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis
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