Let us recount the virtues of Simeon,
whose name is given in the gospel according to Luke.
He stands both first and last,
in observance a Jew,
in thanksgiving a Christian,
by training a lawyer,
by knowledge of God an ambassador.
This Simeon -
plucked from the ill-fame of old men like a rose from thorns -
became the first to win renown through the gift of grace.
Like a grandfather for the divine child, he sings:
"I have seen the angels dancing,
seen creation leaping for joy,
seen this child make a pathway between heaven and earth.
Now, Lord, let me go home!"