Simeon and Anna

 Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD"), and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."

And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of the Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.  And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.  So he came by the Spirit into the temple.  And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:

"Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,
According to Your word;
For my eyes have seen Your salvation
Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel."

And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him.  Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.  She was of a great age, and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.  And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

- Luke 2:22-38

Yesterday, we read that it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.  This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.  So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.   Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.  So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.  And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.  Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.  Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.  For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be the sign to you:  You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:  "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"  So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us."  And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.  Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.  And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.  But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.  Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.  And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.


Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD"), and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."  My study bible tells us that Mary fulfills the law (Leviticus 12) by bringing Jesus to the temple on the fortieth day.  The law required that an offering of an unblemished lamb be brought or if the mother is not able to bring a lamb, then she brings a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons (Leviticus 12:6-8).  The quotation refers to Exodus 13:2, 12, 15.

And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of the Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.  My study bible say that Simeon represents humanity in waiting for the Consolation of Israel.  He fulfills Psalm 91:16, in which God makes a promise to the one who loves Him:  "With length of days I will satisfy him,/And show him My salvation."

So he came by the Spirit into the temple.  And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: . . .   We look at Isaiah's reception of the burning coal from the angel in Isaiah 6:6-7, and compare it with Simeon's reception of Christ.  My study bible says, "In both cases, a prophet receives the life-giving fire of the offering -- Isaiah received the type, and Simeon receives the fulfillment."

"Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word;  For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel."  This canticle is sung daily at Vespers for many denominations.  "Since salvation has been born into all the world," says my study bible, "all peoples can embrace death (see Philippians 1:23).  For the Christian, death is no longer frightful, but a gateway to everlasting peace."

And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him.  Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."  The "fall and rising of many in Israel" becomes a statement about the sword being brought that is the sword of Christ's truth; it's about the second coming that is promised in the first, and the reckoning of the world.  My study bible says, "for the believer, it will be a resurrection to life; for the unbeliever, it will be a falling into judgment (John 5:29)."  This sword that will pierce Mary's own soul is the anguish she will experience as she witnesses her Son's death.  Her soul will be pierced in grief.  Ultimately, it is the "thoughts of many hearts" that are revealed through the mission of Christ.

 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.  She was of a great age, and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.  And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.  My study bible says of this passage that both men and women are called to proclaim Christ's redemption, and women are the first to proclaim His Resurrection (Luke 24:9). 

In all our recent readings from passages that "surround" the birth of Jesus, the advent of the Light that comes into the world, we have had mysterious movings of the hand of God, the work of the Holy Spirit.  Coming in song and hymns and praise, in prophecy, and light and glory, great things are being shaken up and introduced into the world.  It is coming into what is now a "dry and parched" land, in which things are not as they should be given the spiritual history of Israel.  There is a "king of Judea" who was not born a Jew but rather converted for expediency's sake, in order to take the throne as "ordained" by the Romans.  It has been many, many years since there has been a prophet in Israel.  But now, the light breaks, and even babes in the womb leap at the entrance of Mary who carried the fetus Jesus.  Prophecy returns to Israel in an astounding way:  a child leaps in its mother's womb, a woman (Elizabeth) declares spontaneously that her kinswoman (Mary) is carrying "my Lord" in her womb.  There is the song of Mary that bursts forth, the song that comes from the formerly mute Zacharias, and everything begins with the announcement of angels appearing to human beings:  see the announcement to Zacharias here and here, the Annunciation to Mary, and the angels who appear to the shepherds in the fields.  In today's reading we have Simeon's song and the spontaneous declaration of Anna, two elderly people who have awaited the Consolation of Light and Living Water in a parched land, with great faith.  The Holy Spirit is at work through everyone in these scenes, it is a time of truth and revelation, in the beauty of song and poetry and prophecy.  This is how Jesus' life begins, but the world interferes a little, too.  We see the difference in that there was no room at the inn for these parents, in the "fall and rising" of many, in the sword that will pierce Mary's heart.  Let us remember it is God's holy plan -- especially when our own may go so awry as well.  Let us persist with faith, and the patience asked of us in God's time.

Anna the prophetess

Maestà: The Presentation in the Temple - Duccio di Buoninsegna

Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

- Luke 2:36-38

For today's reading I am continuing with Christmastide as a theme, and I have chosen Luke's Gospel section regarding Anna the Prophetess. This reading follows the verses about Simeon and his beautiful inspired Canticle (see Nunc Dimittis - Simeon's Song).

I find these verses quite poetic, and their inclusion in Luke's Gospel a wonderful part of our tradition. First we have Simeon, who as an aged man has awaited all of his life the Consolation of Israel. We were told that "it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ." So we have an elderly man, looking toward the light of the Christ, whose hope is fulfilled in the temple. And also in the temple is Anna, the subject of today's reading.

Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years. . . Like Simeon, Anna is also aged. We are told "she was of great age." Also like Simeon, she is touched by the Holy Spirit - she is a prophetess. She fulfills, therefore, a special role in the great economy of God. Her age and her circumstances would deeply limit that role in human social circles: she had been married but seven years, a widow for eighty-four! Yet, Anna plays an important role. Moreoever, we are told she is the daughter of Phanuel. While we do not know about Anna's father, we understand the name, which means "Face of God." In the Book of Enoch, Phanuel is a name given to an archangel. And Asher means "Happy." So, with this brief information, in a setting in which all names are important and filled with meaning, we are given some great hints about Anna. And there is poetry in these hints, because from her external circumstances, the information we understand is quite different in contrast to these meanings in the names. She is extremely aged and hasn't been a part of family life for eighty-four years - and therefore not ranking very much in a social sense. She is of the tribe of Asher. Asher was considered one of the Ten Lost tribes of Israel since the Assyrian Conquest. So, given her personal circumstances, Anna is "lost" in terms of secular community life both as an individual woman and as a member of the tribe of Asher.

But if we put this information together, we are given a great picture of the reality of God's blessings and work in the world. The name of Phanuel, reminding us of an archangel called the "Face of God," gives us a hint about Anna in relation to the Gospels. In Matthew's Gospel, we are told the story of Jesus teaching His disciples to come before God "as little children" and practice humility before God. Jesus says, "Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven." Anna, of great age, is one of those who come before God in humility, whose angel always sees the face of "my Father who is in heaven." Rather than simply a woman of great age, Anna is in fact one of the "little ones" whom Jesus praises. And rather than being "lost" and without a family, we are told that Anna serves a great function.

. . .who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. My study bible notes that "God reveals Himself to those who do not depart from Him. This woman has served God for many years, and she is prepared to meet her Messiah. For the elderly and lonely who wonder what they can do to serve God, Anna's fastings and prayers are a wonderful example." Anna is a stunning example of how all belong to the family of God, an illustration of a repeated teaching in the Gospels - that those who may be excluded from the social structures are always included at the table of God, and particularly illustrated here, in the home of God. Anna has a function and an important role, and she is rewarded for this role.

And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Because she is there, always serving in the temple, she is ready for the great blessing, the gift of the Christ in the Child who is in the temple on this day of Dedication. Like Simeon, she is blessed with this revelation in her old age, and it gives her one more new and important role to play: she went out and "spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem." Anna becomes an evangelist, spreading the good news.

"Anna" is also the name "Hannah" in the Hebrew, and it means "favored one." So, Anna the prophetess becomes another "favored woman" of the bible. The Hannah before her was childless and well into old age, a beloved and devoted wife, when God favored her with her child Samuel. Mary's Magnificat, the inspired prayer that begins, "My soul magnifies the Lord" is a reflection of Hannah's before her. Anna and Mary meet in the temple, the mother of the Babe and the woman of great age who has served and waited upon God night and day. But in this scene, the Child becomes the Child for both of them. He is the Child that both of them have been awaiting. Just as He is the Consolation for Simeon, so He is also the good news for Anna. In this story, we have the good news for all the people, but especially for the outcast, whose shame consists in some form of social failure. As Elizabeth puts it, "Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people." There is no "outcast" with God, but only those who are like the beautiful "little ones" whose angels always behold the face of God. They are the humble who serve, who have life and joy and consolation. The figures fill the bible in this image, from Hannah, to Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist, to Anna the prophetess. All find hope in this Child. All are a part of the love of God, and the work of the Spirit is evident in the life of each one. In the "greatly aged" face of Anna, we imagine the joy that lights her eyes, and the gift of Life Itself brought to her by the Spirit, in her life of great service. (I love the figure of Anna, with her hand raised and the smile on her face, in the painting above.) May we all live with such consolation, and the joy of that light, and her good news. The Gospels bring us the great stories of these women, and we should understand them for the great blessings and good news they bear for each one of us, and to all who "look for redemption" today.