Sretenskaya candle

On the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, February 15, candles are lit in a special way in churches. Such candles are called “Sretensky”. This custom came to the Orthodox Church in the 17th century. The Sretenskaya candle symbolizes the Light brought by Jesus to our land.

Sretensky candles differ from the usual ones, which are sold in church shops, only in the order of lighting. If a simple church candle is consecrated at any time, then the Sretensky candle is consecrated only once a year. In the old days, the Sretensky candle was kept for a whole year in the red corner of the hut behind the icons or in a chest with family heirlooms.

Candle- this is our small sacrifice to God. Fire candles, this is the fire of our faith. Any Church Candle must include: oils– symbolizing Divine mercy towards people, and beeswax– symbolizing the sweetness of communication with God, the softness of the wax expresses a person’s readiness to submit his will to God.

Church practice shows that any prayer to the Lord Jesus, the Mother of God, or to the saints, during the lighting and burning of the Sretensky candles, has special beneficial power, and if accompanied by the sincere faith of those praying, leads to the speedy fulfillment of what is requested.

The Sretenskaya candle, like any church candle, is intended purely for lighting it during prayer. Usually, Sretensky Candles are lit only on special occasions: when we pray when solving important life problems (choosing a life partner, choosing a profession, getting a job, purchasing a house, car, etc.), when we are overcome by illness, grief, sadness, or with the obvious action of demonic forces on a person.

Any church candle is a sacrifice to God, therefore the candle is placed with a prayer: “Lord, accept this sacrifice for Your servants (for whom you put your name).” If a candle is lit for a saint, then pray: "Holy servant of God (name), pray to God for me(or about us and list names)."

Church candles are consecrated and dedicated to God, therefore they should burn only for God, THEREFORE YOU CAN'T To take church candles to grandmothers, healers and sorcerers is sacrilege and blasphemy towards the Holy Place, and in the end leads to the completely opposite result.

Those cinders that remain with you after lighting candles at home cannot be thrown away, they must be brought to the temple for melting.

Sretenskaya candle. Prayer for the blessing of Sretensky candles

The Orthodox world celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on February 15. Water and candles blessed on this day acquire very special qualities. They help our prayers gain grace-filled power that gives help when turning to God. They are carefully stored throughout the year and used only on special occasions. It is very important to remember that they cannot help us on their own. Sretenskaya water and candles acquire their healing properties only in combination with our faith and willingness to follow the commandments of God.

Ancient Jewish law

But first of all, let us turn to the event in memory of which the church established this holiday. From the Gospel we learn that on the fortieth day after the birth of the baby Jesus, they brought him to the temple, as required by ancient Jewish law. A rite of dedication to God awaited him. At the door of the temple, the Virgin Mary and her son were met by an old man named Simeon. He was predicted to live to see the day on which he would be honored to see God incarnate from the Virgin. With him was the same old seer Anna, just like him.

Having seen through the Holy Spirit the promised Messiah in the baby Jesus, Simeon solemnly told his mother and everyone present about this. This event marks the first direct meeting (meeting) of God with people. In addition, Simeon and Anna are Old Testament saints. Thus, another meeting took place - the Old Testament and the New Testament of Jesus Christ. A holiday was established in memory of these events.

Meeting of the Lord in the Orthodox Church

The Orthodox world celebrates this event on February 15, that is, forty days after the celebration of the Nativity of Christ. It belongs to the group of immutable holidays, as it is celebrated every year on the same day. In Rus', the holiday has been known since the 10th century. The word “sretenie” is Slavic and means “meeting”. Church candles blessed on this day are called Sretensky candles.

How does the Sretensky candle differ from the one that every parishioner can buy in a church shop on all other days of the year? The only difference is that ordinary candles can always be blessed, and Sretensky candles can be blessed once a year on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. This is done in a special manner. The Orthodox breviary, which every priest uses, contains a prayer for the consecration of the Sretensky candles and the entire text accompanying this rite.

Water is also blessed on this day. It is curious that in the old days it was customary during the Sretensky service to bless water collected from melted snow or from a drop. It was considered especially healing.

The day when winter and spring meet

In general, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, symbolizing the promised meeting of God with people, in addition to the rites prescribed by the Orthodox Church, has always been filled with elements of folk fantasy, bordering on obvious remnants of paganism. The fact is that in the old days in the villages the official church holiday was perceived to a certain extent as a lord’s holiday. Among the peasants, this day was a celebration of the first meeting of winter with the approaching spring, because it was celebrated in the last winter month, when the first signs of future warmth were already appearing.

Folk customs on the holiday

On this day, funny fist fights were organized to help spring. One group of fighters dressed up in spring clothes, and the other in winter clothes. Whoever wins was seen as a prediction of early or late spring. On this day, housewives fed their chickens oats, as it was believed that this would help them lay eggs well all year. And on a holiday morning, peasant children ran out into the street and asked the sun to bring spring quickly. If at the same time it looked out from behind the clouds, then it was believed that their request would be fulfilled.

Roman origins of the holiday

In the popular calendar, the Orthodox holiday of the Presentation of the Lord is most bizarrely combined with the ancient holiday called Gromnitsa. Probably many people are familiar with this name. Incredibly, the holiday celebrated in Rus' goes back to the ancient traditions of Rome. The fact is that in the 17th century, Metropolitan Peter Mogila edited the text of the Trebnik, that is, the book according to which services were performed in the church. As a model, he used the Roman analogue, which described in detail the processions on this day with lit candles in their hands. The Metropolitan, taking the described action as a basis, put into the Sretensky candles, the use of which had not yet become a custom, another meaning - the sanctification and purification of the world by the light of Christ.

In the minds of our ancestors, these candles were endowed with magical properties. It was believed that the Sretensky candle could protect against all manifestations of hostile forces, including lightning and thunder. Hence its name - thunderstorm. However, the Orthodox Church warns against parishioners attributing any magical or miraculous properties to them. This would be extremely frivolous.

Prayer is the path to Divine Grace

It is not the candles themselves, but fervent and sincere prayer in their light that can bring the desired benefit. The same fully applies to Sretensky water. It is healing, but it will never be sold in pharmacies, since the beneficial properties of water appear only if there is a deep religious feeling in the one who resorts to its help.

This should also be understood by those who try to use Sretensky candles without faith in God. They are trying to translate their meaning into the plane of various esoteric theories that are fashionable in our time. For example, to neutralize the negative energy surrounding us, they recommend using Sretensky candles. Prayer addressed to God, and only it, can deliver from all visible and invisible enemies of the human race - this is what the Holy Orthodox Church teaches us.

The true sacrifice to God is our soul

In addition, it is necessary to understand that the Sretensky candle, like any other church candle, is, first of all, our sacrifice to God, that is, what we give free of charge, without hoping to receive equal compensation. In this case we are talking about the material sacrifice we make. We spend our own money and buy a candle with it. This is where the temptation lies in wait to reduce our sacrifice to a purely monetary equivalent. Simply put, buy the Grace of God with money.

It seems to us that the more expensive the candle we set, the more money we spent (invested), the closer we are to the Kingdom of Heaven. This is a deep mistake. We forget that everything material that we have is given to us by God, that is, even without our sacrifice, it belongs to Him. God needs from us not the Candlemas candle, not those banknotes that we put into the church mug, but our souls, our devotion and our love. Candles are only a symbol of sacrifice. They are certainly needed, but their light only helps us tune our consciousness to the perception of the invisible Divine light, to see which is the goal of the life of every true Christian. Sretensky candles, the use of which is undoubtedly beneficial, are still just a tuning fork that helps us tune in to the perception of the great Divine harmony.

Temple of the Prophet Elijah

ABOUT SRETENSKY CANDLES

In the Orthodox breviary of a clergyman there is a special “Rite of blessing candles for the Presentation of the Lord.” Someone may ask: what is the difference between an ordinary church candle and a “Sretenskaya” candle? Only by the rite of consecration, because simple church candles that are sold in shops are also consecrated.

For a better understanding, we can draw an analogy with the blessing of water. So, for example, when water-blessing prayers are served in a church: the water is blessed in a small rite, one might say “ordinary.” But there is also such a thing as the consecration of water with a great rite, and this is done only once a year - on the feast of the Epiphany. It’s the same with the “Sretensky candles” - they are consecrated only once a year with a special rite.

The Sretenskaya candle, like any church candle, is intended exclusively for lighting during prayer. Usually the Sretensky candle is lit on special occasions when asking for God's help in solving life problems: choosing a life partner, choosing a profession, getting a job, buying a house, as well as in illness and sorrow. Church practice shows that any prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ, to the Mother of God, or to the saints during the lighting and burning of the Sretenskaya candle, has a special grace-filled power, and if accompanied by the sincere faith of the person praying, it leads to the speedy fulfillment of what was asked.

However, this does not mean that the “Sretensky candles” should be given any magical or miraculous meaning. Orthodox Christians light “Sretensky candles” during home prayer, like other church candles. After all, any candle, if you pray fervently, warms the prayer.

HOW TO PLACE A CANDLE CORRECTLY

Any church candle is a sacrifice to God, and therefore is lit with the words of the following short prayer: “Lord, accept this sacrifice for Your servants (the name for whom you pray).”

A sacrifice is what a person gives away from his material condition without receiving in return the material equivalent of what was given. For example: if in a store you give the seller a certain amount of money and receive in return some product worth that amount, this is not a sacrifice. In fact, you did not give anything away, but only exchanged one form of property (money) for another (goods). If you buy a candle and burn it at home, using its light for reading or just for illumination, this is not a sacrifice.

If you bought a candle in a church and set it to burn in front of some icon or shrine, this is a sacrifice. If you gave alms to a beggar, or put money in a “church mug” for the restoration of a temple, this is a sacrifice.

Sacrifice is a gift, an expression of our love for the one to whom we bring this gift. And only then is our sacrifice pleasing to God when it is offered from a pure heart. It doesn't matter what the material cost of this sacrifice is.

When a child gives his father a hand-made drawing or craft for his birthday, it is no less pleasing to the father than if the child gives him an expensive tie or shaving cream bought with money given by his mother.

Some try to enter into a “commercial relationship” with God, for example: “Lord! Do this and that for me, and I will light you the thickest candle in church!”

God does not need thick or thin candles. God needs loving hearts. We need candles as an opportunity to express our love for God, as a symbol of our fervent prayer, rushing towards Him like a candle flame, as an opportunity to prove that we are able to sacrifice the material for the sake of the spiritual.

But sometimes we see a pagan attitude towards candles and blessed water.

If a person is deprived of faith in the True God, then no matter what he believes, he is a pagan. The sister of paganism is magic - that is, a person’s desire to subjugate the spiritual world. The shrine in magic is considered as an automatic accumulator of grace, a guarantee of success, a talisman. Magic begins where everything fits into simple rules and advice. For example: “So that a child does not get sick, you need to baptize him”, “In order for trade to run successfully, you need to dedicate an office”, “Our Father” is a strong prayer, but the Jesus prayer is stronger”, “If you keep a consecrated willow in the house, then no evil will come.” will be able to enter the house."

REMEMBER: Church candles are consecrated and dedicated to God, and therefore they should under no circumstances be carried to “grandmothers”, “healers and sorcerers”. This is considered as blasphemy towards the shrine, and will lead to absolutely the opposite result.

The cinders remaining after lighting candles at home must be brought to the temple for melting.

We remind you that you can purchase Sretensky candles in the church shop of the Elias Church.

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Temple address: 393740, Tambov region, Michurinsk city, Sovetskaya street, 349

Using the Sretensky candle for prayers: what effect can be achieved?

The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord is celebrated on February 15 and candles blessed on this day in the church acquire special meaning and have a gracious power that helps when turning prayer to God.

The Candlemas candle, that is, a candle consecrated once a year on the feast of the Presentation, symbolizes the Light brought by the Lord as a gift to people. All church candles are a symbol of our sacrifice to God, and lighting them means our readiness to subordinate our will and actions for the good. Even the very composition from which they are made has a deeply symbolic meaning.

Along with the paraffin base, the basis of the strength of Faith, oil is necessarily added - which characterizes the gracious mercy of Christ, as well as beeswax - which signifies the sweetness of the Lord's closeness and the readiness of man to become soft wax in the divine hand of Providence. Well, Sretensky candles are truly considered a gift from God and they are filled with the power of healing, love and grace.

After all, the holiday of the Presentation itself means the long-awaited meeting of Jesus Christ with people, which once took place in the Jerusalem temple, and today symbolizes the divine reunion in the heart of every individual believer and seeker of the Lord’s mercy.

Therefore, the candles that are blessed on this day before the liturgy are filled with very special power and can become a guide for people in turning to God’s help in difficult moments of life. These candles are carefully stored throughout the year in the red corner behind the icon and are used only in cases of emergency.

Because it is inappropriate to ask for the Lord’s mercy without really serious reasons for doing so. Moreover, one cannot identify the Grace of God with mysticism, for the strength of our Creator is in our faith, and the ability to resist the forces of evil, along with the willingness to strengthen one’s faith in any life situations, is the healing power.

The lighting of candles has a symbolic meaning of sacrifice, and the lit Sretensky candles are a prayer offered and filled with special sincerity, because their power does not tolerate guile. They are lit on special occasions, when the person praying especially needs God’s help.

Their auxiliary value is especially effective when praying for others, for the healing of the sick, or for helping those suffering, when sadness and sorrow overcome, when the inner state of the soul and faith experiences doubts, tossing and looking for a way out. It is then that the prayer offered while the Sretensky candle is burning is most powerful and filled with meaning and the ability to help and heal.

But you should not succumb to the temptation of asking for benefits and satisfying your own pride. Only pure thoughts are raised to God by the Candlemas candle. Application should not carry selfish or dishonest thoughts. Otherwise, its power will lead to an absolutely opposite result and will punish those who have lost true faith.

In the depths of every heart it is necessary to preserve and preserve a spark of God’s Grace, which is given, without exception, to every person living on this earth. And only in this case, the light of life given to us by God will illuminate the path to eternal life.

What is the “Sretenskaya candle” and its purpose. Sretensky superstitions...

About Sretensky candles

Any church candle is a sacrifice to God, therefore the candle is placed with the prayer: “Lord, accept this sacrifice for Your servants (for whom you put your name).” If a candle is lit for a saint, then pray: “Holy servant of God (name), pray to God for me (or for us and list the names).”

About the “miraculous” Sretensky candles and Sretensky water.

It’s the same with the “Sretensky candles” - they are consecrated only once a year with a special rite. However, this does not mean that the “Sretensky candles” should be given some kind of magical or miraculous meaning - these are extremes, of course. “Sretensky candles” are lit by Orthodox Christians during home prayer, like other church candles. After all, any candle, if you pray fervently, warms the prayer.

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On the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, after the end of the festive Liturgy, a special rite of blessing candles was held in our church. In the Orthodox breviary of a clergyman there is a special “Rite of blessing candles for the Presentation of the Lord.” Someone may ask: what is the difference between an ordinary church candle and a “Sretenskaya” candle? The rector of the church, Archpriest Georgy Goncharenko, answered this and other questions related to the rite of consecration of the “Sretensky” candles in his pastoral speech.

“Yesterday at the evening service and today at the Divine Liturgy we heard that the Lord, according to the law of Moses, was brought to the temple in order to present him before the Face of God the Father. His parents brought him - the Most Holy Virgin Mary and his imaginary father - the righteous Joseph the Betrothed.

Whenever we celebrate the Presentation of the Lord, believers strive to come to the temple of God on this day in order to take part in the ceremony of consecrating the “Sretensky” candles after the end of the Divine Liturgy (and according to the Church Charter before the start of the Divine Liturgy). Why do we consecrate the “Sretensky” candles? This is a symbol of the fact that with fervent prayer, with hope in the mercy of God, we also meet our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a symbol of the fact that on this day, just as Simeon the God-Receiver and Anna the Prophetess met the Lord with deep faith (after all, in front of them was a difficult baby, and according to the promise of the Holy Spirit, the Infant of God, the Son of God), so we consecrate the “Sretenskaya” candle as a sign the fact that in our heart there is a fiery faith that our Lord Jesus Christ is truly the Savior of the world.

On the Feast of the Presentation, during the Divine Liturgy, it is customary to stand with lit consecrated “Sretensky” candles. But, unfortunately, our church is small, so we practically cannot bless the candles before the Liturgy and consecrate the candles after the end of the Liturgy.

Let us note that our Orthodox worship differs from other Christian and non-Christian services in that during the Divine service we light lamps - either lamps into which oil is poured, or candles made of wax and other materials in order to to decorate our Divine service. The custom of lighting candles during services and during home prayer came to us from the Greek Church. When Prince Vladimir received Holy Baptism with his people, the custom was adopted of lighting candles and lamps before the Face of God. But it should be noted that it was not the Greeks who established this custom, but it came from ancient times, when God Himself commanded Moses to make a lamp of seven lamps from pure gold and light it in the Temple of Jerusalem. So, when the day began, the priests prepared the morning sacrifice - an offering to God, and one priest straightened all seven lamps in the Holy of Holies and, when the evening sacrifice ended, the lamps were left burning all night in order to show that the Jewish people would be under the guidance of God. And subsequently, lighting lamps in the temple passed into the houses of the ancient Jews, and this custom was adopted by Christians.

Even Tertullian, one of the most prominent early Christian writers and theologians, said that in the catacombs, in those places where they prayed to God, lamps were lit not so much to drive away the darkness of the night, but to show that our Lord Jesus Christ appears in the uncreated light , which enlightens every creature living here in this world.

At the end of the second century, in the Church of Jerusalem, God created a miracle: when on Easter there was no oil for the lamps in the temple, Bishop Narkis ordered well water to be poured into the lamps - and they burned throughout Easter, as if they had been filled with the best oil. When the persecution of the Church of Christ ceased and peace came, the custom of lighting lamps and candles remained.

Not a single divine service, not a single sacred act was performed, as it is not performed now, without lamps.

The Holy Fathers of the VII Ecumenical Council established that the burning of incense, the lighting of lamps, lamps or candles is performed before the Holy Gospel, before the icons of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Most Holy Theotokos and the holy saints of God, before holy relics, and before other shrines.

Each of us, coming to the temple of God, according to established tradition, lights candles in front of the icons of the Lord, the Mother of God, our Guardian Angel, in front of the icon of that saint whose memory is honored by the Church - this is an undeniable truth. And the money that a person paid when buying a candle is his voluntary sacrifice to the temple, and, ultimately, to God.

But often people have a ridiculous idea about a candle. They attribute some mystical effect to her. The candle itself doesn't mean anything. This is the wax or other material from which it is made. But, if a candle is placed with burning faith and fervent prayer to God, then it will indeed be a symbol of this faith, this prayer. And, if a person has committed some kind of sin and comes to Church in order to, as it were, “bribe” God with his candle, that is, with his sacrifice, but his heart burns with anger towards those people whom he offended that night or the past day , and this person does not repent of the sins he has committed, then the candles he lights will not be his justification. The Lord is a righteous Judge, He has no partiality. Therefore, if you brought a gift to the altar of the Lord and remembered that there is some kind of resentment in your heart against your neighbor, then before placing this gift you need to make peace with this person.

I would like to remember St. Seraphim of Sarov, to whom many people came with their sorrows. People brought the monk not only their sorrows and their offerings, but also many candles. The Monk Seraphim could not leave anyone without his fiery prayer and help. But physically he could not pray for everyone and remember all the needs of the people with whom they turned to him in their aspirations, and then he said: “I lit many lamps, many candles that people brought and prayed to the Lord through these burning candles that brought by a man to remember him, to give him what he asked.” And, as we know, the Lord heard all the requests of Seraphim of Sarov and, through those burning candles that were in his cell, granted people what they asked for.

We all remember the life of Schema-Archimandrite Vitaly. This is a man of ascetic life; he devoted his entire life to the will of God. He loved to place so-called “shtavniki” in front of the images of the Lord - huge candles that burned all day long in his cell. And when he remembered a person for whom he needed to pray, he lit a candle, and this candle burned throughout the day, reminding Schema-Archimandrite Vitaly that throughout the day he should pray for this person.

If fervent prayer is offered with faith and trust in God’s help, then the candle is an expression of our prayer and our helper in expressing our spiritual feelings and our faith in the Lord.

Therefore, during our prayers, we will always light candles before the Face of God, as an expression of our ardent love and faith for Him, our fervent prayer before the Throne of God and the hope that our Lord Jesus Christ will accept our small sacrifice - a burning candle and illuminate for us the path to achieving the Highest heights of the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen".

After applying to the cross, the parishioners went out into the Church fence, where the cleric of the temple, Priest Vladimir Valikov, performed the rite of blessing the candles.

The Presentation of the Lord is an ancient Christian holiday that has been celebrated for several centuries. The holiday falls on February 15, 2019. It is not surprising that many rituals and customs observed by believers are dedicated to it.

One of them is the blessing of candles on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. In ancient times, on this day there was a procession with lit lamps.

Later, the blessing of Sretensky candles and processions with them began to take place in Catholic churches. There was also a tradition of lighting these candles during Mass while reading the Gospel and the Eucharistic Canon.

Blessing of candles on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord

This ancient rite was adopted by the Orthodox Church in the 17th century. In 1646, Metropolitan of Kiev Saint Peter (Mogila) compiled and published a missal, which described in detail the Catholic rite of religious processions with lit lamps. It is performed as a sign of the cleansing of the world by the light of Christ's Gospel.

In Orthodoxy, the blessing of candles on the day of this holiday also occurs in memory of the obligation established by Moses to sacrifice every firstborn to God.

The Old Testament custom of 40 days of cleansing after the birth of a child has been preserved to this day. According to established traditions, on the 40th day after his birth or later, the mother and child come to the temple, where the baptism ceremony of the baby is performed.

The Sretenskaya candle symbolizes the fire of God's Grace, and is also perceived as a symbol of a praying heart burning with love for the Lord. Just as its flame rushes upward, so the prayer of believers should ascend to God, burning the barriers of worldly vanity and melting sinful souls like wax.

One of the prayers of the rite for the blessing of candles at the Presentation of the Lord says:

“Lord Jesus Christ, true Light, enlighten every person coming into the world: pour out Your blessing on this candle, and sanctify me with the light of Your grace: it is merciful that this light, kindled by visible fire, drives away the darkness of the night, like our hearts, with invisible fire , this is, enlightened by the lightness of the Holy Spirit, all kinds of blindness will be avoided...”

Believers make requests that, just as lighted candles with their light disperse the darkness of the night, so the souls of Christians, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, avoid sinful darkness.

After the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, blessed candles are kept at home for a year as amulets and lit on special occasions - for example, during prayer for the sick, in moments of spiritual anxiety.

There is also a custom of lighting them during Lent while reading the canon of St. Andrew of Crete, the Passion Gospels, etc. However, the Orthodox Church warns believers against attaching any magical or miraculous meaning to the blessed candles.

Nika Kravchuk

Why are candles blessed at the Presentation of the Lord?

On February 15, the Presentation of the Lord is celebrated. People say that on this day winter meets spring. But this is a pagan idea. Christians have in mind another meeting - the Infant Christ and Simeon the Receiver of God. The latter lived for 360 years and was able to die only when he saw the Infant of God. Why are candles blessed on this holiday? Read more about this.

300 years waiting for the Messiah

40 days, according to the Old Testament tradition, lasted the period of purification for a woman who gave birth to a boy. At the end of the period, the mother and baby had to come to the temple and make a sacrifice. That is why, on the 40th day after the Nativity of Christ, the Virgin Mary and Joseph the Betrothed came to the Jerusalem Temple. They brought the Infant God and, as a sign of gratitude to the Lord, two doves.

They were happily greeted at the temple by Elder Simeon and the prophetess Anna. Simeon took the Divine Infant in his arms and said the words known to many as a prayer:

Now do You let Your servant go, O Master, according to Your word, in peace, for mine eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all nations, a light to enlighten the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel (Luke 2:29-32).

This is how the Meeting of the Lord took place - the meeting of the elder with God. But how did Simeon the God-Receiver know that the Savior was in front of him?

Evangelist Luke writes that it was revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit: you will not die until you see Christ. The Holy Tradition tells us in more detail about this elder.

In fact, the God-Receiver was one of 72 interpreters and translators of Scripture into Greek. One day, when the righteous man was translating the words of Isaiah “Behold, the Virgin is with child and will give birth to a Son...”, he wanted to correct the “mistake” - Virgo cannot be a mother. But Simeon the Receiver of God was stopped by an Angel: “Because you doubted, you will not die until you see the One born of the Virgin.” According to Tradition, righteous Simeon lived from 300 to 360 years and could not go to God. This lasted until the meeting took place, of which the Presentation of the Lord reminds us.

The Holy Spirit revealed to righteous Simeon that it was that Child in front of him. Then the righteous one rejoiced and said the famous prayer. Simeon the God-Receiver also spoke about the mission of Christ:

... behold, this One is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for the subject of controversy (Luke 2:34).

How to understand these words? Some accepted Christ and became heirs of the Kingdom of God, while others voluntarily renounced Him and salvation.

Speaking figuratively, the Savior came in order to change man - to save him from the consequences of the Fall of Adam and Eve and resurrect him for eternal life.

Simeon the God-Receiver also addressed the Virgin Mary with a prophecy: "A weapon will pierce the heart". And so it happened: when the Most Pure One stood at the crucifixion, a sharp sword of pain pierced Her heart.

The Presentation of the Lord and the Prophetess Anna

Among those present in the temple there was one more person, besides Simeon, who recognized the Lord - the prophetess Anna. According to the Gospel of Luke, this woman was also of advanced age. During her 84-year life, she lived only seven years of marriage until she became a widow. Having lost her husband, the old woman devoted her entire life to God and lived at the Jerusalem Temple. For her righteous life and pure heart, the Lord rewarded her with the gift of prophecy. Therefore, on the 40th day after the Nativity of Christ, the Meeting of the Lord also took place in the soul of Elder Anna, and she glorified Christ.

How did the tradition of blessing Sretensky candles appear?

In our time, I also know the Presentation of the Lord as a holiday on which candles are blessed. How did this tradition appear and what does it symbolize?

The rite of blessing candles arose in the 17th century under the Kiev Metropolitan Peter Mogila. It was this bishop who included the blessing of candles in his Breviary.

The meaning of the ritual is illustrated by the words of the priest’s prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ, True Light, enlighten every person coming into the world: pour out Your blessing on these candles, and sanctify me with the light of Your grace.

Please note: in prayer texts Christ is repeatedly called “Light.” Simeon the Receiver of God also uses this metaphor in his address to the Savior: “light for the enlightenment of the pagans.”

It was these words of the righteous Simeon that served as the basis for the emergence of mass processions with lamps. These moves arose back in the 6th century and were performed at the Presentation of the Lord. To this day, the ritual has been preserved in the Catholic Church. Among Orthodox Christians, it was transformed into the blessing of candles, but did not lose its meaning.

For every believer, the Presentation of the Lord is a reminder of the first meeting with God. Someone has long lit the candle of their soul and met the Savior, while others are still preparing for this event.

We invite you to additionally watch Metropolitan Hilarion’s film about the Feast of the Presentation:

Take it for yourself and tell your friends!

Read also on our website:

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Answered by Andrey Muzolf, teacher at the Kyiv Theological Academy.

By and large, the so-called Sretensky candles are no different from all other candles. And that's why. A candle is not some sacred object in itself that could contain the grace of God, such as holy water, myrrh or consecrated oil. A candle is only a symbol of our relationship with God: the burning of a candle and the raising of its flame up symbolizes, first of all, our burning and desire for the Creator, and the softness and pliability of the wax is a symbol of our love for God and readiness for spiritual change.

In addition, a candle is also a special sacrifice to the Lord, and therefore it does not matter what kind of candle we light in the temple, because the main thing in this case is our readiness to sacrifice, as well as the sincerity of our relationship with God.

Unfortunately, in the church environment there is an opinion that Sretensky candles have a special “blessed” power, and therefore they can be used by believers as a kind of amulet that protects a person from evil spirits or from such natural phenomena as, for example, thunder or thunderstorms. But at the same time, we must remember that it is not some material object, even if we purchased it in a church shop, that saves and protects us from all kinds of misfortunes, but only God alone.

If we rely on the power of candles and at the same time do not want to think about God, then we are no better than our pagan ancestors, who attributed certain magical powers to certain things. After all, what is magic? Magic is a set of actions aimed at influencing the surrounding reality with the help of certain mysterious forces. Why has magic always been so popular? Yes, because the person hoped to achieve his goals without certain mental costs. It is much easier to cast some incomprehensible spell, perform some ritual, than to pray to God, fast, and repent of sins. And if in Orthodoxy a person’s spiritual success depends only on how open his heart is before the Creator, how much he fulfills His commandments and strives for Him, then in magic the main thing is the exact observance of the ritual. And it doesn’t matter how the person himself feels.

Thus, such an attitude towards objects, even church ones, is not consistent with the spirit of Orthodoxy. Based on all of the above, we can draw the following conclusion: the attitude towards Sretensky candles should be exactly the same as for other candles, and therefore you should not use them only, so to speak, in “special cases” - during bad weather or then , when we need God to “guarantee” fulfill our requests. And even more so, Sretensky candles are not needed to be stored as some kind of amulet against evil spirits. The purpose of a candle is to burn during our prayer, and not to gather dust on a shelf waiting for a “special day.”