A young couple embarks on a sacred journey to the Holy City of Jerusalem; they have prepared a small offering from their scarce resources: Two turtle doves will be presented in honor of their firstborn, the most precious treasure in the world.
Upon arrival at the Lord’s house and crossing the threshold, the Lord meets them through two elderly characters imbued with life and the Spirit. Simeon and Anna’s eyes were weary, but their hearts were full of holy yearning. They welcome into their arms the eternal youth of God.
The Temple entrance is not the place for sacred rites. Still, unexpectedly, a liturgy starts in that courtyard, available to all, natural and simple, natural and divine: Simeon takes Jesus into his arms and blesses God. He performs a priestly gesture, an authentic liturgy for everyone to appreciate. Simeon greets and embraces the future salvation.
Guided by the Holy Spirit, Anna praises God and Jesus with exuberant love and joy that all can glimpse.
Mary and Joseph are also blessed; the whole family is shrouded in a veil of light because of the blessing and prophecy of the elderly lay strangers, prophets, and priests at once.
Simeon says that Jesus is the fall of our little or big idols that ruin our world with masks of insufficient life.
The figure of Anna, the female prophet, completes the great fresco: like Elizabeth and Mary, enchanted before an infant, all three sensed God as the future, not the past.