DISCOVERING THE BREVIARY
The Canticle of Simeon
On the fortieth day following Jesus’ birth, Joseph and Mary presented the child at the Temple in fulfillment of the requirements of the Law of Moses. It was there where they met Simeon and Anna, two elderly people who were waiting for Jesus before the end of their lives. And seeing Jesus led Simeon to proclaim:
Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word,
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in sight of all the peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and glory for your people Israel.
(Luke 2:29–32, NABRE)
These very words of Simeon carry with them the feelings of peace, joy and hope. In the first line of this canticle, Simeon shows a deep sense of serenity, showing his readiness to go and rest in peace. And this peace is founded on the joy of seeing Jesus, who brings the hope of salvation and glory for the people of Israel. And this salvation is not only for the Jews but for all peoples. It is indeed a light of revelation to the Gentiles.
As it is, this canticle is very much fitting to people who are dying. I myself hope that when the day of my death comes, I have both the serenity and the courage to say the beautiful words of Simeon, “Lord, let your servant go in peace for your word has been fulfilled.”
At the same time, I learned from the Breviary that this is also a fitting prayer at the end of the day. At night, when we look back to the things that happen during the day, we may have mixed feelings. There are things to be grateful for, and we can say that our eyes have seen the salvation of God through these small things. There are also things that we may feel bad about or worry about. For these things, we seek the Lord’s peace so that we can rest with a clean conscience. Therefore, we ask the Lord to let us rest with calmness, to let us sleep, to grant us a peaceful sleep so we can recharge for the coming day — a new beginning for us.
The next time we go to sleep, we can ask God to grant us peace. We can also strive to find peace by strengthening our faith and hope in God, and rest and sleep assured that when we have done our best, God will take care of the rest.
This is the fifth installment of my series “Discovering the Breviary,” which is a set of essays related to the Roman Breviary. The first article written is “A ‘New’ Way of Prayer”; the second is “Starting the Day Right with Invitatory Psalms”; the third is “The Canticle of Zechariah”; the fourth is “The Magnificat: The Canticle of Mary”. You can view these by clicking the titles in this paragraph.
