In the Church of
England, the Presentation of Christ in the Temple is a Principal Feast
celebrated either on 2nd February or on the Sunday between 28 January and 3
February, i.e. today.
Candlemas, 2nd
February, commemorates the ritual purification of Mary, 40 days after the birth
of her son Jesus. This day also marks the ritual presentation of the baby Jesus
to God in the Temple at Jerusalem.
Traditionally the
Western term "Candlemas" (or Candle Mass) referred to the practice
whereby a priest on 2 February blessed beeswax candles for use throughout the
year, some of which were distributed to the faithful for use in the home. On Candlemas night, many people placed
lighted candles in their windows at home.
Like some other
Christian festivals, Candlemas draws some of its elements from Paganism. In pre-Christian times, it was Imbolc, the Celtic festival
of light, dedicated to the goddess Brigit (also spelled Brighid and various other ways). This ancient festival marked the mid-point of winter, half way
between the winter solstice (shortest day) and the spring equinox. Some people lit candles to scare away evil
spirits on the dark winter nights.
People
believed that Candlemas predicted the weather for the rest of the winter.
If Candlemas Day be fair and bright
Winter will have another fight.
If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain,
Winter won't come again.
Here, yesterday was sunny, cold and very bright (or so it seemed after weeks of poor weather) so it looks like Winter will be back again before we can start to celebrate the birth of a new year in the garden.
For some people,
different superstitions surround this festival. For instance, if a candle drips
on one side when carried in church on Candlemas, this denotes a death of a
family member during the year. If
someone brings snowdrops into the house on Candlemas day it symbolises a
parting or death. Any Christmas
decorations not taken down by Twelfth Night (January 5th) should be left up
until Candlemas Day and then taken down.
I once heard a very good sermon about this in that the priest said that he had heard that the Christians "stole" certain elements from pre-Christian times. He said not to think of it that way, but to think that their much loved customs were encouraged to co-exist alongside the Christian celebrations. (They didn't want to throw out the baby with the bath-water, so to speak.)
ReplyDeleteYour post reminded me of this sermon.
More tea, Vicar?
Thanks for this John.....I always thought it was about trying to set fire to an orange with a candle.
ReplyDeleteOne is never too old to learn!
So you were a choirboy, Adrian?
DeleteSt Brigid is the saint of poets and I love the idea of a festical of light like Divali too.
ReplyDeleteA lovely post, Scriptor. I knew some of this but definitely not all. Regarding the weather prediction verse: We have had several days of fog which never lifted, and today is cloudy and rainy, so I guess we're safe for the rest of the winter! We'll have to see...
ReplyDeleteSay, I wonder how global warming affects these old traditions/superstitions? :o)
Hugs, C. xoxo
Global warming doesn't work on Saturdays, Sundays or ceremonial days so it's OK.
DeleteI enjoyed your post here and now know the derivation of "Candlemas", with a priest blessing the candles for the year. C.S. Lewis explained that some of the older customs were a preparation for the Christian customs, which makes sense to me.
ReplyDeleteSo interesting to hear about customs and why some religious celebrations have come to be. Now we had clouds and snow so maybe Spring will come quickly...also the groundhog didn't see his shadow so it's all pointing in my favor for an early spring. Now on a totally different scale...I found an old scrapbook that belonged to Jack's Grandmother. It's a scrapbook of old (early 1900) postcards. I'm sending you 2..one has never been used and the other reminded me of you and I know you'll understand when you see it! I hope they will be something you'd like.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds exciting, Yaya. Really looking forward to those.
DeleteAs for Groundhog Day - that's one of my all-time favourite films. I could watch it again and again.
I love your post, so much interesting culture and history. When we lived in New York we celebrated Little Christmas after Christmas http://relijournal.com/christianity/what-is-little-christmas/ (my article about the tradition and history) and would leave our tree up till after Christmas in order to celebrate. So following this tradition we would have had to leave it up until after Candlemas because we had not taken it down?
ReplyDeleteScriptor, you always fascinate me. :-)
Thanks Judy - your article was fascinating too. I love the idea of a Women’s Little Christmas. I'm always looking for new traditions to add to our household - this sounds like a good one.
DeleteI love this post. Interesting--and totally overlooked in my locale of the U.S.
ReplyDeleteYou probably know that we have groundhog day on Feb 2nd over here. It is not too memorable a day for me. If the groundhog comes out of his burrow and sees his shadow we will have six more weeks of winter. I had almost forgotten about Candlemas. I remember it being marked in my diary every year but didn't know much about it. It seems that it was the practice of the Roman Catholic Church to incorporate pagan festivals in with Christian ones making it very confusing I think -- especially on the mission field where pagan tribes were slow to give up some of their more heathen and inhuman ways. Everything got mixed up together resulting in no clear set of beliefs. If all heathen customs are also Christian then Christian customs are also heathen.
ReplyDeleteDid I mention Groundhog Day is one of my all-time favourite films. I could watch it again and again.
DeleteThanks for all this wonderful information on Candlemas, I enjoyed reading this post.
ReplyDeleteWe have it in our calendar too but it's rather a neglected holiday here I think and not many would be able to say what it's about. I never celebrated it in any special way, nor heard of others doing so either.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have any groundhogs, but I too like that film and have enjoyed watching it more than once.
I went to Southwark cathedral without any idea that it was Candlemas. There were many candles burning and the entire cathedral was packed out, which was a most inspiring experience I learned for the first time about the Old and the New Covenant. I know, I know I am horribly ignorant. I should have known what it was before, but never thought to ask. I have read your post with interest.
ReplyDelete