Liberal Arts Blog — Candlemas — the Day of Crepes, the Last Day of the Christmas Cycle, the Logic Behind It
Liberal Arts Blog — Sunday is the Joy of Humor, Food, Travel, Practical Life Tips, and Miscellaneous Day
Today’s Topic: Candlemas — the Day of Crepes, the Last Day of the Christmas Cycle, the Logic Behind It
I grew up a very devout Catholic boy and had heard the word “Candlemas” many times. But I never knew what it was or when it was. So this morning I decided to do a little research in the hopes of finding out something worth sharing. I was not disappointed. Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
THE LAST DAY OF CHRISTMAS CYCLE — so when should you take down all the Christmas decorations?
1. Some say take them all down on Epiphany — January 6th.
2. Others say — not until Candlemas — February 2nd.
3. Who’s right?
NB: I’d never asked the question before. It’s so exciting to come up with a really important question you have never asked before. Wouldn’t you agree? In any event, my gut says the right answer is Candlemas, not Epiphany. Why? I love Christmas lights, they lift my spirits. January days may be getting longer, but they are still very short and January is in fact colder than December. Better to keep the decorations up until Candlemas.
WHAT IS THE MATH AND LOGIC BEHIND THE CANDLEMAS CELEBRATION? The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple and the Purification of Mary
1. The math: 40 days after Christmas. This would equate roughly to the post partum period after birth. And of course 40 is one of the Bible’s great magic numbers — eg. Christ’s forty days in the desert, Moses spent forty days up on Mt. Sinai and the Jews spent 40 years of wandering in the desert.
2. Mary: the “purification” thing. My understanding is that in ancient Jewish tradition birth, like menstruation, is a. defiling event for the woman and she must be purified. To atone for her defilement, if she is rich she presents a lamb to be sacrificed. If poor, two turtledoves or two pigeons. Mary is poor.
3. Jesus: “the redemption of the the first born.” In Jewish tradition, the first born is a gift from God and the parents must pay God back for the gift. In the “Pidyon Haben” tradition, the pay back is in the form of silver coins. Back then, a lamb, turtledove, or pigeons.
NB: Candles are symbolic of Christ being “the light of the world.” In many traditions, candles are brought to “their local church and blessed and then used for the rest of the year.” (first link)
FRANCE, MEXICO, UNITED STATES: Crepes, Tamales, Groundhogs
1. In France, Candlemas (La Chandeleur) is the “Day of Crepes.” “Tradition attributes this custom to Pope Gelasius I, who had pancakes distributed to pilgrims arriving in Rome, but as mentioned earlier one can also see it as a vestige of the custom of Vestal Virgins making offerings of cakes at the time of the Lupercalia (a pagan Roman feast).”
2. In Mexico, the Candlemas food is tamales and the traditional link between Epiphany and Candlemas is that the person who gets the hidden bean (the muneco, symbolizing the Christ child) in the Rosca de Reyes cake eaten on Epiphany has to make the tamales on Candlemas.
3. In Pennsylvania Dutch tradition, February 2 is “Groundhog Day.” How long will winter last? Punxatawney Phil will tell you. A tradition made famous by Bill Murray’s film, “Groundhog Day.” The link between groundhog day and Candlemas eluded me until this morning.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presentation_of_Jesus_at_the_Temple
Purification of Mary | Encyclopedia.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day_(film)
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YOUR TURN
Anything miscellaneous to share? Best trip you ever took in your life? Practical life tips? Random facts? Jokes? Or, what is the best cartoon you have seen lately? or in the last 10 years? or the last 50? Or what is your favorite holiday food? Main course? Dessert? Fondest food memories? Favorite foods to eat or prepare?
This is your chance to make someone else’s day. Or to cement in your mind a memory that might otherwise disappear. Or to think more deeply about something dear to your heart. Continuity is key to depth of thought.
