Mine eyes hath seen thy salvation

[Tyburn]

...and so in the Liturgical Callendar the Festival of Christmas, and Epiphany-tide come to an end Forty days after the Birth of Christ.

At this point, the Holy Family left Bethlehem and went to Jerusalem to present their newborn in the Jewish Temple...its a rite of passage, think of it like infant baptism...its a dedication ceremony. The Parents turn up an present child, and make a sacrifice ( Birds ) ...I imagine its also quite possibly where circumcision happens if the child is Male...and its regarded with extreme importance if the presentation is of a first born male...like Christ was.

We Celebrate this with the Feast of Candle Mass (the Eucharist of Candles) which is a reference to something a passerby said during the presentation of Jesus. An old man, recognised Christ as the Messiah aparently (so the Gospels tell us) GOD mad a promise to this Elderly man that he would see the Messiah before he died.

We call his response to seeing Christ "The Nunc Dimitis" also known as Song of Simeon...as that was the name of the Old Man who said that Jesus would be responsible for the rise and fall of many in Israel...that there would be a lot of opposition to him...and that Mary would face great sorrow because of it.

"Lord now lettest thou thy servant Depart in peace; according to thy Word. For mine eyes hath seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, to be a light, to lighten the gentiles and be the glory of thy people Israel."

Me thinks he probably went home and died later that day Simeons Song is sung every day at the fall of Dusk during Choral Evensong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE1qHKz08K4

[Play The Man]

I think that Jewish male infants are circumcised on the eighth day; thus, New Year's Day marks the day of the circumcision of Jesus.

[Tyburn]

Originally Posted by Play The Man

I think that Jewish male infants are circumcised on the eighth day; thus, New Year's Day marks the day of the circumcision of Jesus.

oh your probably right...might that mean that they left the stable less then a week after the birth?? we know that they returned home (as in not back to the stable) after the Temple presentation...ergo we finally know when they got home (forty days later) and that would put the Magi visit in Naz...not in Beth