Righteous Simeon and Anna the Prophetess

On the day after the feast of the Meeting of the Lord, the Church honours the two elders who recognized the forty-day-old Christ in the Temple. Simeon, 'just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel,' had received a promise from the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Anointed. Taking the child in his arms he spoke the prayer the Church sings at every Vespers: 'Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace... for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.' To Mary he prophesied the sword that would pierce her own soul. Anna, daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher, an eighty-four-year-old widow who never left the Temple, 'serving God with fastings and prayers night and day,' gave thanks and spoke of the child to all who looked for redemption. Later tradition elaborated their stories, but Luke's Gospel is our sure source: two lifetimes of waiting, rewarded in a single morning.