The Diocese of Orlando 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.

“Today we celebrate the Presentation of the Lord! This feast emphasizes Jesus’ first appearance in the temple – celebrated 40 days after the observance of His birth,” the Diocese of Orlando shared on Facebook. 

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.”