February 2^nd is the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple and of the Purification of Our Lady. The Law of Moses prescribed that every Jewish mother after giving birth to a boy child was to be excluded from attendance at public worship for forty days. At the end of that period she had to present a yearling lamb for a holocaust and a pigeon for a sin-offering, thus purifying herself from ritual uncleanness. In the case of poor people, two pigeons sufficed as an offering.

In the Gospel we read how Mary and Joseph, after the birth of Jesus, fulfilled this command of the Law by presenting a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. This shows us that the Holy Family was poor, as well as humble since Mary had no more need of being “purified” than Jesus did of being circumcised. On this same occasion Saints Simeon and Anna met the newborn Saviour at the Temple. Tradition tells us that while Mary was growing up as child in the Temple, Anna was her particular teacher and Simeon, as a priest in the Temple, came to know Mary very well.

Since Christ Himself was present at this event, it came to be celebrated quite early in Church history as a festival of Our Lord. The first historical description of the feast is given in the diary of Egeria, a lady from the Roman province of Spain, who made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 380. She mentions that the services in Jerusalem began with a solemn procession in the morning, followed by a sermon on the Gospel text of the day, and lastly Mass was offered.

February 2^nd is also known as Candlemas Day because of the Church’s ancient custom of the blessings of candles on this feast day. It is difficult in our modern times of electricity to truly appreciate the important role that a lighted fire, be it in a hearth, lamp or on a candle, played in people’s lives. So much that we take for granted with technology today - lighting our homes, cooking our food, and warming ourselves - relied on the use of a burning flame. Thus it was no trivial matter for the Church to take the time to bless these objects so important in day-to-day life.

On this day, the priest would bless candles before the Mass. He sang or recited five special prayers of blessing. After this blessing, the priest distributed the candles to the clergy and faithful. During the solemn procession, these blessed candles were carried in their hands. Meanwhile the choir sang the canticle of the prophet Simeon, Nunc Dimittis, as well as other prayers. The symbolism of the lighted procession is obvious from the antiphon that was repeated after every verse of the canticle, Lumen ad revelationem gentium - “A light of revelation to the gentiles.” This light represents Christ, the Light of the World, at His presentation in the temple of Jerusalem.

Catholics would often bring candles along for the blessing on Candlemas Day. In central and eastern Europe, many would bring candles and tapers, of various colors and adorned and decorated with flower motifs, holy pictures, and liturgical symbols. After the blessing they took them home and kept them all through the year as cherished sacramentals, to be lighted during storms and lightning, in sickrooms, and at the bedside of dying persons.

Candlemas Day comes forty days after the feast of Epiphany, January 6^th, and marks the end of the entire Christmas season. Nativity scenes and decorations are taken down with care and stored away for the following season Christmas season.

One very interesting aspect of Candlemas Day is the custom of monitoring the weather that day. It was obviously of great interest to the people of Europe in centuries past to have some idea of when to begin planting the new year’s crops. Heaven, in its mercy, seems to have given them a reliable indicator on this special day. Experience showed that bad weather and cloudy skies on February 2^nd meant an early and prosperous summer. If the sun shone through the greater part of Candlemas Day, there would be at least forty more days of cold and snow.

And like so very, very many other Catholic truths and practices, this weather forecasting has unfortunately been secularized into what is now known as “Groundhog Day.” People now look for the unpredictable reaction of a groundhog and its shadow, and this special day has lost its original and much fuller meaning and purpose. What was once a feast for prayer and dedication, has in this way been sadly trivialized into a random, pointless event that is completely lacking all sense of God’s providence and care.