Candlemas a Feast in the Middle Ages – Candles to Light Our Way in the Dark
If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Winter will not come again.
~an English Saying
For thousands of years people have held festivals of lights. One of these celebrations takes place on February 2nd., which is forty days after the day Jesus was born and it is called Candlemass (or Candelaria). It is also the mid-point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox.
On that day Jesus was taken to the Temple by his Mother Mary and Joseph, in order to fulfil the ritual and ceremonial requirements of the Law of Moses, concerning the birth of a first son. There he was met by Anna, an elderly prophetess and a devout Jew, named Simeon the Righteous. It was at this meeting Simeon foretold that Jesus would become a “light of revelation”.
The Church first observed this day in the year AD 496. Emperor Justinian, in AD 542, ordained that the Eastern Church celebrate this festival as “Hypapante” or “Meeting”. This reflected the meeting where Simeon met the Christ Child.
In the Middle Ages the feast became known as “The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary”, or “Candlemas” and was the last feast of the Christian year. Candlemas is still the most ancient of all the festivals held in honor of the Virgin Mary.
During Candelaria, candles are blessed, lit, and borne in a procession in celebration to recall the words of Jesus himself, “I am the Light of the world.” The Candles are distributed while the Nunc Dimittis is sung. Simeon prayed the prayer that would become known as the Nunc Dimittis, or Canticle of Simeon, which prophesied the redemption of the world by Jesus. Many composers have set the text to music. Listen to The Tallis Scholars performance of Nunc Dimittis by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina(1524?-1594).
In AD 638, Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, proclaimed in his sermon to the church,
“Our bright shining candles are a sign of divine splendour of the one who comes to expel the dark shadows of evil and to make the whole universe radiant with the brilliance of his eternal light.”
Light, to us has great history and meaning. We cannot deny, no matter what our faith or beliefs, that we have always been drawn to the light. On this day may light expel your pain and dark shadows and may you feel the grace of your inner light and the light of the divine..
With light and love,
Lady Sharon
Scribe of Camelot
When German settlers arrived in the 1700s to America, they brought a tradition known as Candlemas Day, which eventually led to “Groundhog Day”.
The Tallis Scholars are a group of British vocal ensemble who were founded in 1973 by their director, Peter Phillips. Through their recordings and concert performances, they have established themselves as the leading exponents of Renaissance sacred music throughout the world.
Great comment, love the design of the site too.
Wilcume,
I thank thee for thy kind words. May your way be guided by peace.
Lady Sharon
Scribe of Camelot