Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the First Sunday after Christmas

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 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.” (Luke 2:22–35)

Whence it seems wonderful that the sacrifice of Mary was not the first offering, that is “a yearling lamb” but the second since “she could not afford” the first. For as it was written about her, His parents came “to offer a sacrifice” for him, “according to what was written in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves and two young doves.” But in this the truth is also shown to be what was written, that Jesus Christ “although He was rich became a poor man.” Therefore, for this reason, He chose both a poor mother, from whom He was born, and a poor homeland, about which it is said, “And you, Bethlehem, you are the least among the tribes of Judah” and the rest.

Origen, Homilies on Leviticus 8.4.3

The Son came to the servant not to be presented by the servant, but so that, through the Son, the servant might present to his Lord the priesthood and prophecy that had been entrusted to his keeping. Prophecy and priesthood, which had been given through Moses, were both passed down, and came to rest on Simeon. He was a pure vessel who consecrated himself, so that, like Moses, he too could contain them both. These were feeble vessels that accommodated great gifts, gifts that one might contain because of their goodness, but that many cannot accept, because of their greatness. Simeon presented our Lord, and in Him he presented the two gifts he had so that what had been given to Moses in the desert was passed on by Simeon in the temple. Because our Lord is the vessel in which all fullness dwells, when Simeon presented Him to God, he poured out both of these upon Him: the priesthood from his hands, and prophecy from his lips. The priesthood had always been on Simeon’s hands, because of purifications. Prophecy, in fact, dwelt on his lips because of revelations. When both of these saw the Lord of both of these, both of them were combined and were poured into the vessel that could accommodate them both, in order to contain priesthood, kingship, and prophecy.

Ephrem the Syrian, Homily on Our Lord 53.1