The Presentation

Mary and Joseph are seen bringing the baby Jesus to the Temple for a ritual thanksgiving. The old man, Simeon, is holding the baby and tells the parents that this baby was to be a light to the gentiles and that a sharp sword would pierce Mary's heart too. In this, the message of the window is consistent with the Gabriel window.

This is one of three windows set in the Baptistry. Their combined message is that children are welcome in the household of faith. Baptism, after all, is the rite of entry into the church and in this church it is most often children who are baptised. This first of the three baptismal windows reminds us of Jesus' own babyhood and of his welcome by the aged Simeon into the Temple and as a great religious leader-to-be.

Click on the thumbnails below to explore the windows further:

The Presentation of Christ in the Temple:

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The Kirkby Team Ministry is the style adopted by the Parochial Church Council of Kirkby which is an excepted charity serving the ecclesiastical parish of Kirkby in the Diocese of Liverpool as part of the Church of England.