Sermons on the Presentation of Christ
Today I will share with you one of the most beautiful yet misunderstood texts of our Church. It is the homily of Saint Amphilochius of Iconium, a great 4th-century Hierarch who was a close friend of Basil the Great. If you search the internet, you will notice that most Greek websites only upload a single fragment of this discourse—the one speaking about the Prophetess Anna, marriage, and widowhood. This happens because in older volumes (such as Migne's Patrologia Graeca), the text is written continuously, as one long speech, and most people isolate only the second half, which carries a more social interest. Modern research, however, demonstrates to us that it actually consists of two distinct sections that complement one another: The first part brings us deep into the meaning of the feast. It explains why Christ obeyed the Law, what the two turtledoves offered at the Temple symbolize, and analyzes that staggering moment when the Elder Simeon prophesies to the Virgin Mary that a s...
