Every night, before a priest goes to bed, he prays the words that we heard in the Gospel today (albeit with slightly different wording): “Lord, now you let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled. My own eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared in the sight of every people: a light to reveal you to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel.” We call it in Latin the Nunc dimittis (so-called because the first two words in Latin are Nunc dimittis), or the Canticle of Simeon, since it was Simeon who prayed it in the temple, as Jesus was presented there by Mary and Joseph.
It’s not long, and easily memorized, and if you’re looking to add a prayer to your nightly prayer routine, it’s a great one to add. But why does the Church have every priest (as well as bishops and men and women religious) pray this before they go to bed?
The first sentence may make sense. Remember that the Gospel told that us God the Holy Spirit had promised that Simeon that he wouldn’t “see death before he had seen the Christ [Messiah] of the Lord.” Simeon is telling the Lord that He doesn’t have to keep Simeon alive anymore, because he has seen the Messiah, Jesus. God has fulfilled His promise. The same goes for the priest. Throughout the day, God has fulfilled His promise, and the priest at the end of the day thanks God for His fidelity.
The phrase, “go in peace” also probably reminds us of the phrase “rest in peace.” Sleep is another Christian way of saying death, especially recognizing that death is not the end. We don’t use this phrase much anymore, but we can speak of someone who has died as “falling asleep in the Lord.” And let’s be honest, when we go to sleep, we hope we’re going to wake up the next morning, but we never know. We might wake up before the judgement seat of God. So this Canticle of Simeon reminds the priest that life ends, sometimes after many years, sometimes after a few years, and that the priest should always be ready for it.
Simeon continues, “‘for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of every people.’” Simeon was able to see Jesus, who is God’s salvation (Jesus’ Name means “God saves”). He encounters or meets Jesus (the way that the Christian East refers to this feast), which is, for Simeon, the greatest gift, the gift he had waited so long to receive.
So for the priest, each day he encounters Jesus. The priest gets to hold Jesus in his hands as the priest confects the Eucharist at Mass. He receives Jesus into His very self as he consumes the Body and Blood of Christ, so that Jesus is closer to the priest than any other person. And that encounter with Jesus is the greatest gift the priest can receive, worth more than any treasure on earth.
If you’ve been attentive (some days are harder than others to keep attentive during the homily), you’ve noticed that the priest prays this Canticle of Simeon each night before he goes to sleep because God has fulfilled His promises, as a reminder to keep death always before him, and because he has encountered Jesus. But that’s true not only for the priest, but for all of God’s people (which is why the Canticle of Simeon is a good prayer for everyone to say each night). Each day God fulfills His promises to be with each person, no matter what; to love each person, no matter what; to send grace each day sufficient for each person to be a saint. Each day we all should keep death before us, remembering that life is fleeting, and the choices we make echo into eternity, for good or for ill. Each day we all have the chance to encounter Jesus, not only in the Eucharist, but in God’s Word in the Bible, in our daily prayers, in the poor and marginalized, in co-workers and family member, maybe in annual retreats, and especially in the Eucharist.
Going back to God fulfilling His promises, priests don’t always have easy lives, the same as the rest of you. As I know is also true for you, there are days for me where nothing seems to be going the way I want or planned, where everything things to be falling apart, and where life, frankly, stinks. On those day in particular, it is important to still pray with Simeon and remember God’s fidelity even in the midst of pain, illness, stress, and failure.
So tonight, before you go to bed, I invite you to start a new habit of prayer, and join with bishops and priests, as well as consecrated men and women around the world, and pray the Canticle of Simeon, thanking God for his faithfulness, keeping death before our eyes, and remembering the times throughout the day that we encountered Jesus. “Lord, now you let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled. My own eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared in the sight of every people: a light to reveal you to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel.”