Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord which occurs forty days after the birth of Jesus and is also known as Candlemas Day, since the blessing and procession of candles is included in today’s liturgy.
As part of the solemn celebrations for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, St. Peter’s Basilica will be the gathering point for members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. On February 2, 2024, at 5:30 p.m., the Eucharistic Celebration presided over by Holy Father Francis will take place.
This year’s Celebration of Holy Mass will be enriched by the presence of participants in the International Meeting of Consecrated Women and Men in Preparation for Jubilee 2025. From Feb. 1 to 4, in fact, about three hundred representatives of the different forms of consecrated life will gather in Rome to reflect on the theme “Pilgrims of Hope on the path of peace.”
Founded by Pope St. John Paul II in 1997, today is the 28th World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life. He attached it to “Candlemas Day” because the consecrated men and women are to be the light in the world, imitating Jesus, the Light of the World.
Candles are blessed for liturgical use and are also distributed to the faithful. In homes they should be lighted on the occasion of family devotions, in times of storm, household crises, or other dangers; also at the Communion of the sick and at the administration of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. The Church, moreover, wishes these candles to remind us of our baptismal candles; for the candles we held at baptism signified our heavenly adoption and our duties in the lay priesthood of Christ. Year after year we again receive a baptismal candle so that”with burning lamp” we may hasten to meet the Bridegroom when He comes for the heavenly nuptials.
Pope Francis had encouraged world’s religious men and women to go forward in their “prophetic mission” with the richness of their charisms on the 27th World Day for Consecrated Life. He also remarked, “among the People of God sent to bring the Gospel to all men, consecrated persons have “a special role”, which derives from the particular gift they have received of being “entirely dedicated to God and to his Kingdom, in poverty, virginity and obedience”. And that their mission is enriched by the charisms of their respective institutes and societies.
The consecrated life is a prophetic witness to the primacy of God and to the things that do not pass away. Indeed, its value lies more in “being”—from God and for God—than in “doing”—its mission—although there should be no dichotomy between being and doing.
Let us thank God for calling men and women to serve and establish His Kingdom as sisters, brothers, religious priests, consecrated virgins, and hermits, as well as members of Secular Institutes. That they may renew their knowledge and remain united to Him, to respond generously and courageously to do His will and spread the light and love of Jesus Christ through their unique witness of selfless service, such as caring for the poor, the contemplative work of prayer, or through their professional careers and much more be the light to dispel darkness.
