Candlemas Countdown

Candlemas on February 2 marks the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, forty days after Christmas, and is celebrated with the blessing of candles, crêpes in France as La Chandeleur, and tamales in Mexico as Día de la Candelaria.

History

Candlemas commemorates the episode in the Gospel of Luke in which Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem forty days after his birth, where the elderly Simeon hailed the child as "a light for revelation to the Gentiles." The feast was already being kept in Jerusalem by the late fourth century, when the pilgrim Egeria described its solemn celebration. From there it spread to Constantinople, where it was known as the Hypapante — the Meeting — and it was established in Rome by the seventh century, when Pope Sergius I is credited with adding a candlelit procession. The blessing of candles that gives the feast its English name — the Candle Mass — became a fixed part of the day across medieval Europe, with churches consecrating the year's supply of candles and the faithful carrying lighted tapers in procession. Falling roughly midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, the day also gathered a rich body of weather lore: an old rhyme warned that a fair and bright Candlemas meant winter would "have another flight." German settlers carried that tradition to Pennsylvania, where it evolved into Groundhog Day, first celebrated at Punxsutawney in 1887. Around the world the feast took on distinctive local colour. In France, La Chandeleur became the day of crêpes, their round golden shape evoking the returning sun. In Mexico, Día de la Candelaria grew into a beloved family feast of tamales, linked to Epiphany's Rosca de Reyes cake, while in the Andes the Virgin of Candelaria is honoured with some of South America's largest festivals. In many homes, Candlemas also marks the traditional end of the Christmas season, when nativity scenes are finally put away.

Meaning

For Christians, Candlemas celebrates the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple and the Purification of Mary, completing the cycle of feasts that began at Christmas. Its heart is Simeon's canticle, the Nunc Dimittis, which greets the child as a light to the nations — the reason candles are blessed and carried on this day, and the source of its name in many languages. Beyond its liturgical role, Candlemas is a festival of returning light at the midpoint between midwinter and spring. The blessed candles, the golden crêpes of France and the shared tamales of Mexico all carry the same message: the darkest season is passing, and warmth, brightness and community endure. For many families it is the gentle farewell to Christmas, the day the crib is packed away until December returns.