The Orthodox church calendar in the winter months is replete with various great Christian holidays. One of the most important celebrations of this period include the holidays of the Nativity of Christ and the Meeting of the Lord.
The Feast of the Nativity of Christ, as well as the solemn commemoration of the event of the Presentation of the Lord, are the twelveth feasts of the Orthodox Church. The meeting of the Lord Jesus Christ falls on February 15th (new style). This is the fortieth day after the birth of the Savior, which is celebrated by the Orthodox Church on January 7th according to the new calendar style. The very feast of the Presentation of Christ indicates the meeting of the infant Christ with the righteous elder Simeon in the Jerusalem temple.
According to the Old Testament law, all male infants were circumcised on the eighth day, and on the fortieth day they were brought to the Jerusalem temple for consecration of a person to God. The parents were to make a sacrifice to the temple. The Mother of God with Elder Joseph brought two doves to the church as a feasible sacrifice. It was during the dedication of the infant Christ to God that the meeting (meeting) of Simeon and the Savior took place.
It is worth noting that Christ, as in the full sense of God (the second Person of the Holy Trinity), in fact, did not need any initiations. However, this was done according to the general Old Testament law on the fortieth day. The Savior himself said that he did not come to break the law, but to fulfill it.
During the celebration of the Nativity of Christ and the Meeting of the Lord, the Church observes a historical sequence of events. That is why the feast of the Presentation of Christ falls on the 15th of February according to the new style (the fortieth day after the celebrations dedicated to the birth of Jesus Christ).
