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Encyclopedia > Candlemas

Candlemas (Russian: Sretenie, Spanish: Candelaria) is a Christian feast commemorating the purification of the Virgin Mary and the presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple. The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... Saint Mary and Saint Mary the Virgin both redirect here. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...


Candlemas is the last festival in the Christian year that is dated by reference to Christmas; subsequent holidays are calculated with reference to Easter, so Candlemas marks the end of the Christmas and Epiphany season. The liturgical year, also known as the Christian year, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in some Christian churches which determines when Feasts, Memorials, Commemorations, and Solemnities are to be observed and which portions of Scripture are to be read. ... Christmas (literally, the Mass of Jesus Christ) is a traditional holiday observed on 25 December. ... Easter is the most important religious holiday of the Christian liturgical year, observed in March, April, or May to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, which Christians believe occurred after his death by crucifixion in AD 30-33 (see Good Friday). ... This article is about the Christian feast. ...

"Down with the rosemary, and so
Down with the bays and misletoe ;
Down with the holly, ivy, all,
Wherewith ye dress'd the Christmas Hall"
Robert Herrick (1591–1674), "Ceremony upon Candlemas Eve"

The term "Candlemas" comes from the tradition set forth in the Roman Missal whereby the celebrant of the Mass on February 2nd blesses the candles for use during the year (said candles must be of beeswax). Robert Herrick (baptized August 24, 1591 - October 1674) was a 17th century English poet. ...

Contents


Date

Candlemas is observed on February 2nd; in those Eastern churches that have kept the Julian Calendar, this comes out as February 15th of the modern calendar. Its formal name is either the festival of the Purification of the Virgin (especially in the uniate rites of the Catholic Church), or the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (especially in the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church). In the Orthodox Church it is known as The Feast of the Presentation of our Lord and Savior in the Temple, and in Anglican Churches it is known by various names, including The Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in The Temple (ECUSA), Presentation of Our Lord (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, and The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Anglican Church of Canada), and The Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Church of England and Anglican Church of Australia). February 2 is the 33rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... The Julian calendar was introduced in 46 BC by Julius Caesar and took force in 45 BC (709 ab urbe condita). ... February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... The term Eastern Rites may refer to the liturgical rites used by many ancient Christian Churches of Eastern Europe and the Middle East that, while being part of the Roman Catholic Church, are distinct from the Latin Rite or Western Church. ... The Roman Catholic Church (also known as the Catholic Church) is that Christian Church which is led by the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that it is the one holy catholic and apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ. ... Latin Rite, in the singular and accompanied, in English, by the definite article (The Latin Rite), is a term by which documents of the Catholic Church designate the particular Church, distinct from the Eastern Rite Churches, that developed in western Europe and northern Africa, where Latin was the language of... ... The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ... The Episcopal Church or the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America is the American Church of the Anglican Communion. ... The ELCA The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. ... The Anglican Church of Canada is the Canadian branch of the Anglican Communion. ... The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ... The Anglican Church of Australia, a member church of the Anglican Communion, was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia (renamed in 1981). ...


The date of Candlemas is established by the date set for the Nativity of Jesus, for it comes 40 days afterwards. Under Mosaic law, a mother who had given birth to a man-child was considered unclean for seven days; moreover she was to remain for three and thirty days "in the blood of her purification." Candlemas therefore corresponds to the day on which Mary, according to Jewish law (see Leviticus 12:2–8), should have attended a ceremony of ritual purification. The gospel of Luke 2:22–39 relates that Mary was purified according to the religious law, followed by Jesus' presentation in the Jerusalem temple, and this explains the formal names given to the festival. Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus the Nazarene (circa 4 BC/BCE – 30 AD/CE), is the central figure of Christianity, in which context he is known as Jesus Christ (from Greek Ιησούς Χριστός) with Christ being a title meaning Anointed One or Messiah. Christian viewpoints on Jesus (known as Christology) are... Torah, (תורה) is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or especially law. It primarily refers to the first section of the Tanakh–the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, or the Five Books of Moses, but can also be used in the general sense to also include both the Written... Ritual purification is a feature of many religions. ... Jerusalem Municipal Emblem Jerusalem (31°46′N 35°14′E; Hebrew: â–¶ (help· info); Yerushalayim; Greek Ιεροσόλυμα; Arabic: â–¶ (help· info) al-Quds; (alternative Arabic found in Bible translations: أُورْشَلِيم Urshalim); see also names of Jerusalem) is an ancient Middle Eastern city. ...


In the West, the date of Christmas is now fixed at December 25, and Candlemas therefore falls the following February 2. The dating is identical among Orthodox Christians, except that the ecclesiastic December 25th of most Orthodox Christians falls on January 6th of the civil calendar due to a theological dispute related to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, meaning that most Orthodox Christians celebrate the feast on February 14th. In the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Feast, called "The Coming of the Son of God into the Temple", is also celebrated on February 14. The Gregorian calendar is the calendar that is used nearly everywhere in the world. ... The Armenian Apostolic Church, sometimes incorrectly called the Armenian Orthodox Church is the worlds oldest national church and one of the original churches, having been founded in 301. ...


History

The earliest reference to a celebration was when the intrepid pilgrim nun Egeria, travelling in the Holy Land, 381–384 AD, reported that February 14th was a day solemnly kept in Jerusalem with a procession to Constantine's Basilica of the Resurrection, a homily on Luke 2:22 (which makes the occasion perfectly clear), and a Liturgy. This so-called Itinerarium Peregrinatio ("Pilgrimage Itinerary") of Egeria does not offer a name for the Feast, however. The date February 14 proves that in Jerusalem at that time, Christ's birth was celebrated on January 6, Epiphany. Egeria writes for her beloved fellow nuns at home: This article is about the Christian feast. ...

"XXVI The fortieth day after the Epiphany is undoubtedly celebrated here with the very highest honour, for on that day there is a procession, in which all take part, in the Anastasis, and all things are done in their order with the greatest joy, just as at Easter. All the priests, and after them the bishop, preach, always taking for their subject that part of the Gospel where Joseph and Mary brought the Lord into the Temple on the fortieth day, and Symeon and Anna the prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, saw Him, treating of the words which they spake when they saw the Lord, and of that offering which His parents made. And when everything that is customary has been done in order, the sacrament is celebrated, and the dismissal takes place."

In 542 the feast was established throughout the Eastern Empire by Justinian. In Rome, the feast appears in the Gelasian Sacramentary, a manuscript collection of the 7th and 8th centuries associated with Pope Gelasius I, but with many interpolations and some forgeries. There it carries for the first time the new title of the feast of Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Justinian I depicted on one of the famous mosaics of the St. ... In the Catholic tradition, the so-called Gelasian Sacramentary is a book of liturgy, containing the priests part in celebrating the Eucharist. ... It is requested that an image(s) should be included, to improve the articles quality. ...


Late in time though it may be, Candlemas is still the most ancient of all the festivals in honor of the Virgin Mary. The date of the feast in Rome was moved forward to the 2nd of February, since during the late 4th century the Roman feast of Christ's nativity been introduced as December 25th.


Though modern laypeople picture Candlemas as an important feast throughout the Middle Ages in Europe, in fact it spread slowly in the West; it is not found in the Lectionary of Silos (650) nor in the Calendar (731–741) of Sainte-Genevieve of Paris. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ...


The 10th century Benedictional of St. Æthelwold, bishop of Winchester, has a formula used for blessing the candles. Candlemas did become important enough to find its way into the secular calendar. It was the traditional day to remove the cattle from the hay meadows, and from the field that was to be ploughed and sown that spring. References to it are common in later medieval and early Modern literature; Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is recorded as having its first performance on Candlemas Day, 1602. It remains one of the Scottish quarter days, at which debts are paid and law courts are in session. Folio 25r from the Benedictional of St. ... William Shakespeare—born April 1564; baptised April 26, 1564; died April 23, 1616 (O.S.), May 3, 1616 (N.S.)—has a reputation as the greatest of all writers in English. ... Twelfth Night, or What You Will is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ... This page is about the year. ... Scottish Term Days were relevant to the people of Scotland in the Middle Ages. ...


Candlemas is chiefly observed nowadays in the Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Anglican traditions. In the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions it is the day on which believers bring beeswax candles to their local church to blessed for use in the church or in the home. Separate articles treat Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Orthodox Judaism. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ...


Relation to non-Christian celebrations

Candlemas depends on the date for Christmas: Candlemas follows 40 days after. Thus there is no independent meaningfulness to the date of Candlemas. It is plausible that some features of Pagan observances were incorporated into Christian rites of Candlemas, when the celebration of Candlemas spread to the north and west of Europe.


Modern neopagans have argued that Candlemas is a Christianization of the Celtic Sabbat of Imbolc, which was celebrated in pre-Christian Europe (and especially the British Isles) at about the same time of year. This festival marked the mid-way point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. The term "Imbolc" translates as either "in milk" or "in the belly," and marked the birth and nursing of the spring lambs as a sign of the first stirrings of spring in the middle of winter. It may also have been celebrated with the lighting of candles, as slightly longer days begin to be noticable at this time of year. In Irish homes, there were many rituals centered around welcoming Brigid (a Goddess who later became Christianized as an Irish saint) into the home at this time. The exact date may have varied from place to place based on local tradition, but since Imbolc was marked as a midpoint between solstic and equinox it was not likely affected by the lunar year. Imbolc is celebrated by modern pagans on Feb. 1. Neopaganism (sometimes Neo-Paganism) describes a heterogeneous group of new religious movements, particularly those influenced by ancient, mainly pre-Christian and sometimes pre-Judaic religions. ... St Francis Xavier converting the Paravas: a 19th-century image of the docile heathen Ansgar, the 9th century apostle of the North in an 1830 drawing. ... Imbolc (a fire festival) is one of the eight holidays, festivals (4 Solar and 4 Fire/lunar)or sabbats of the Neopagan wheel of the year, with some origins in Irish mythology and the pre-Christian Celtic calendar. ... World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ... Illumination of Earth by Sun on the day of the northern hemisphere winter solstice Illumination of Earth by Sun on the day of the southern hemisphere winter solstice In astronomy, the winter solstice is the moment when the earth is at a point in its orbit where one hemisphere is... In astronomy, an equinox is defined as the moment when the Sun reaches one of two intersections between the celestial equator and the ecliptic. ...


Christians currently counter-argue there is no evidence that this festival was widespread, and there is no reason to suppose that an Anglo-Celtic festival would have influenced the practice of the Roman church after the late fourth century. As a means of recording the passage of time, the 4th century was that century which lasted from 301 to 400. ...


Secular historians have sometimes argued that the Roman church introduced Candlemas celebrations in opposition to the Pagan feast of Lupercalia. Many Christian texts deny this. The Catholic Encyclopedia is definite in its rejection of this argument: "The feast was certainly not introduced by Pope Gelasius to suppress the excesses of the Lupercalia," (referencing J.P. Migne, Missale Gothicum, 691). The Encyclopaedia Britannica 1911 agrees: the association with Gelasius "has led some to suppose that it was ordained by Pope Gelasius I in 492 as a counter-attraction to the pagan Lupercalia; but for this there is no warrant." Since the two festivals are both concerned with the ritual purification of women, not all historians are convinced that the connection is purely coincidental. Gelasius' certainly did write a treatise against Lupercalia, and this still exists (see Lupercalia.) Nevertheless it is clear that Candlemas merely follows by forty days whatever day is celebrated as Christ's Nativity. The Lupercalia was an annual Roman festival held on February 15 to honour Faunus, god of fertility and forests. ... Jacques Paul Migne (25 October 1800 - 25 October 1875) was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely-distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias and the texts of the Church Fathers. ... The Lupercalia was an annual Roman festival held on February 15 to honour Faunus, god of fertility and forests. ...


The tradition that some modern Christians and Pagans observe, of lighting a candle in each window (or in each room), is not the origin of the name "Candlemas", which instead refers to a blessing of candles. The word tradition, comes from the Latin word traditio which means to hand down or to hand over. ... A lit candle. ...


Traditions & Superstitions

As a poem by Robert Herrick records, the eve of Candlemas was the day on which Christmas decorations of greenery were removed from people's homes; for traces of berries, holly and so forth will bring death among the congregation before another year is out. Another tradition holds that anyone who hears funeral bells tolling on Candlemas will soon hear of the death of a close friend or relative; each toll of the bell represents a day that will pass before the unfortunate news is learned. Robert Herrick is the name of two major literary figures: Robert Herrick (poet) (1591-1674) Robert Herrick (novelist) (1868-1938) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Species Ilex ambigua - Sand Holly Ilex amelanchier - Swamp Holly Ilex aquifolium - European Holly Ilex bioritsensis Ilex buergeri Ilex canariensis - Small-leaved Holly Ilex cassine - Dahoon Holly Ilex centrochinensis Ilex ciliospinosa Ilex colchica Ilex collina Ilex corallina Ilex coriacea Ilex cornuta - Chinese Holly Ilex crenata - Japanese Holly Ilex cyrtura Ilex decidua...


In the British Isles, good weather at Candlemas is taken to indicate severe winter weather later. It is also the date that bears emerge from winter hibernation to inspect the weather as well as wolves, who if they choose to return to their lairs on this day is interpreted as meaning severe weather will continue for another forty days at least. In the United States and Canada, Candlemas evolved into Groundhog Day celebrated on the same date. This article may contain original research or unverified claims. ... For other meanings, see Bear (disambiguation). ... Wolf Wolf Man Mount Wolf Wolf Prizes Wolf Spider Wolf 424 Wolf 359 Wolf Point Wolf-herring Frank Wolf Friedrich Wolf Friedrich August Wolf Hugo Wolf Johannes Wolf Julius Wolf Max Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf Maximilian Wolf Rudolf Wolf Thomas Wolf As Name Wolf Breidenbach Wolf Hirshorn Other The call... A groundhog. ...


The earliest American reference to Groundhog Day can be found at the Pennsylvania Dutch Folklore Center at Franklin and Marshall College: Franklin and Marshall College is a four-year private co-educational liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. ...

February 4, 1841 — from Morgantown, Berks County (Pennsylvania) storekeeper James Morris' diary …"Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate."[1]

In France, Candlemas (French: La Chandeleur) is celebrated with crêpes, which must be eaten only after eight p.m. If the cook can flip a crêpe while holding a coin in the other hand, the family is assured of prosperity throughout the coming year. take you to calendar). ... A sweet crêpe opened up, with whipped cream and strawberry sauce on it A sweet crêpe rolled up, ready to be eaten A crêpe is a thin pancake. ...


In Mexico, Candlemas (Spanish: Dia de La Candelaria) is celebrated with Tamales. Tradition indicates that in January 5th, the night before Three Kings Day (or Epiphany), whoever gets one or some of the few plastic or metal dolls (originally coins) buried within the the Rosca de Reyes bread must throw a party on Candlemas. A meal of a tamale and squash soup A tamale or tamal (from Nahuatl tamalli) is a traditional Latin American food that begins with corn (maize) flour mixed with water and lard. ... Three Kings can refer to several things: Three Kings, a 1999 American movie. ... This article is about the Christian feast. ...


Sailors are often reluctant to set sail on Candlemas Day, believing that any voyage begun then will end in disaster — given the frequency of severe storms in February, this is not entirely without sense. A sailor is a member of the crew of a ship or boat. ...


External links

The Open Directory Project (ODP), also known as DMoz (for Directory. ...

References


  Results from FactBites:
 
Times & Tides - Candlemas (627 words)
Candlemas is one of the major Celtic festivals and is celebrated at dawn.
Candlemas is Brighid's feast, so it is a very special time for me. In the Christian calendar, this is the time that Jesus is dedicated at the temple.
Candlemas corresponds with the North Eastern point of the Wheel of the Year, so that is where I place my altar.
Search Results for "Candlemas" (324 words)
Candlemas, (kan´dlms) (KEY), Feb. 2, Christian festival commemorating the Purification of the Blessed Virgin and the Presentation of Christ in the Temple.
It is said, if the weather is fine and frosty at the close of...
On Candlemas Day the children of Scotland used to bring their schoolmaster a present in money, and the boy who brought...
  More results at FactBites »


 

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