Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Congratulations with the wonderful and joyful feast of the Meeting of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Today’s feast is called the meeting because we remember how two people, the Holy Righteous Elder Simeon and the Holy Righteous Prophetess and Eldress Anna, came to recognize in the forty-day-old infant Jesus Christ the incarnate God, the Saviour of the world. Their whole lives, as was the case with all the Old Testament saints, were spent in waiting for this meeting. After many years of waiting, they were counted worthy of this meeting in their old age. The Holy Evangelist Luke writes that Saint Anna was a widow for 84 years, that is, she was older than a hundred years, and that Simeon was promised to see Christ before his death. We can only wonder with what deep joy these ancient people greeted Him whom they awaited their entire lives!

One could ask the question, why is it that only those two people recognized Jesus Christ, while all the other people (the citizens of Jerusalem, the many pilgrims, the priests and Levites) noticed nothing? The Apostle Luke answers this question when he notes that Anna, as well as Simeon, was righteous and of a great age. Many years lived in chastity, patience, the reading and rigorous study of Holy Scripture, prayer, fasting, and attendance at the Divine Services brought forth fruits – holiness and a refined sense of the spiritual, which allowed them not only to recognize the incarnate God, but also to take Him into their embrace.

Of course, today’s feastday is marvelous not only in that this meeting occurred, but also because our Lord Jesus Christ wishes for a similar meeting personally with each of us. For this reason He was born and lived here on earth amongst us. Let us endeavour to emulate today’s saints and loose ourselves not from an earthly husband or wife, but from that which distracts us from God and ties us to things temporal. Let us become widows to sin and live righteously by fasting, praying, and continually attending church. If we act in such a manner, perhaps our spiritual eyes will also be opened and the divine light of Christ will enlighten us, as happened with Simeon and Anna many years ago.

priest Alexis