According to the Biblical account, the Holy Spirit visited Simeon and revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Christ of God.

And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, "Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel."

[3] The Bible is silent about Simeon's age at this point, though he is generally assumed (for example by Ian Howard Marshall, who refers to him as an "old man")[6] to have been elderly.

In October 2010, Archbishop Želimir Puljić of Zadar conveyed a small silver reliquary containing some of Simeon's relics to Archbishop Theofylactus of Jordan, representing Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, for the monastery of St. Simeon the Godbearer in Jerusalem.

Because this day focuses on Jesus and Mary, the observation of 3 February is specific to Simeon, who was allowed to die after seeing the Christ born of a virgin.

The Gospel of Luke 2:22–39 relates that Mary was purified according to the religious law, after which Jesus was presented in the Temple in Jerusalem.

The feast of 2 February is often known as "Candlemas" because, in honor of the ritual purification of the Virgin Mary, candles of beeswax, which will be used for the whole liturgical year, are brought into a church and blessed.

While both the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Church agree on the date of Candlemas as the 40th day after Christmas, in accordance with the Mosaic Law, the difference in the marking of Christmas on 25 December resulted from a theological dispute on the replacement by the Gregorian calendar of the older Julian calendar.

As mentioned above, the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Saint Simeon on the day after the Feast of the Presentation, i.e. 3 February.