Presentation of the Lord

Blessing of candles, Procession with the icon of Our Lady of Ídea and Chapter Eucharist

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A precious bas-relief, dating from the second half of the 12th century, from the ancient church of Santa Maria Beltrade – now in the Archaeological Museum of Castello Sforzesco – allows us to reconstruct the Procession on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple (in popular tradition known as Candelora), as it took place in Milan in the Middle Ages.

It illustrates two priests carrying a cusp-shaped Marian effigy, a cleric with the stationary Cross, a deacon carrying the Gospel Book, the Archbishop with mitre and crosier, and finally the Cathedral clergy with lit candles.

The name Ídea appears under the Marian effigy and, in fact, the Procession known as the Ídea is still celebrated in the Cathedral today. It is a cusped panel depicting on one side (verso) the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, with Mary and Simeon and Anna (the protagonists of the Gospel episode proclaimed on this feast: Luke 2:22-40), and on the other (recto) the Virgin enthroned with the Child. It is the work of Michelino da Besozzo and dates back to the 15th century.

In medieval times, the procession came to the Cathedral from the church of Santa Maria Beltrade, which stood where the place of the same name is today, along Via Torino. Nowadays, however, it takes place inside the Cathedral and starts at the altar of the Madonna dell’Albero: here the candles distributed to the Canons and the worshippers are blessed; a large candle is also lit on the cusp of the Ídea, as a survival of a very ancient custom, that of adorning the Cross or Sacred Images with lighted candles, as a sign of festivity and honour. During the procession, the Ídea is carried on the shoulders, on a special stretcher, by two deacons and, at the end, remains exposed at the high altar, during the Eucharistic celebration.

There has been much debate among scholars about the origin of the name Ídea given to this Marian image. According to some, it derives from the pagan cult of Magna Mater Ídea, i.e. Cybele, mother of the gods, in whose honour processions were held in antiquity to invoke the fertility of the earth: in this case, we would be faced with the Christianisation of ancient pagan cults, through the polemical substitution of Cybele, called by the appellation Ídea and considered the mother of the gods, with the true Ídea, the Mother of God, Mary Most Holy. Other scholars have considered this explanation unconvincing and propose to interpret the term Ídea in its Greek etymological meaning: simply equal to ‘image’.