Candlemas

Candlemas is a celebration of the Christian Church first recorded to exist in Jeruselem in  approximately the year 390.  The pilgrim nun, Egeria (aka Aetheria), recorded that the event began with a solemn morning procession followed by a sermon on the Gospel text of the day followed by Mass.  In fact this pilgrim's diary provides much of our earliest recorded history of the church. 

This observance marks the presentation of Jesus in the temple 40 days following his birth and the purification of Mary, required by Jewish law following childbirth.  Luckily Jesus was a boy requiring Mary to be excluded from the temple for only 40 days; had she bore a female, her impurity would have doubled, requiring exclusion for 80 days. [Sidenote:  and we wonder why today's world finds it hard to stomach a religion growing out of such barbaric customs - alas, thoughts for another time]. 

Since we now celebrate Christ's birth on December 25, Candlemas is observed on February 2, but in earlier times the birth of Christ was celebrated on January 6 (now the Epiphany), and what later came to be known as Candlemas was observed on February 14 .  

The custom developed into a tradition to celebrate the words of Simeon, a man who held the baby Jesus in the temple, and exclaimed to God that now he could die having seen the saviour (Luke 2).  From whence comes our Evening Prayer Song of Simeon/Nunc Dimittis.  What an incredibly beautiful sentiment our dear friend, Simeon, proclaimed.  I wonder at the joy he and all the Saints felt seeing Jesus enter heaven after the Ascension. 

In the West Candlemas was first recorded in the Gelasian and Gregorian sacramentaries in the 7th and 8th Centuries and was the time when the church prepared for the coming light of Spring and priests blessed the church candles to be used during the year. 

  Because the procession was instituted as a penitentiary rite with prayers imploring God's mercy, the historical liturgical color for Candlemas is violet .  Some have suggested that this celebration is another of the "if you can't lick 'em, join 'em" celebrations in which the church sought to make the spring light festivals into a Christian event.

My parish is planning a Candlemas celebration this year, and, to my knowledge, it is the first time Candlemas will have ever been celebrated at Emmanuel.  What a lovely celebration I imagine it will be.