On Feb. 2 we celebrate the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple. The Feast of the Presentation is one of the oldest feasts of the Christian church, celebrated since the 4th century in Jerusalem.
On this day we remember Joseph and Mary’s adherence to the Mosaic law as they brought their son to the temple to be dedicated to the Lord, “and when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord” (Luke 2:22). The law also required them to bring a lamb or two pigeons for the offering of a sacrifice.
We can picture Mary carrying her son, Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, up the steps of the temple. The “light” she carries enters the temple, the house of God. The Spirit revealed to a man named Simeon that he would not die before he has seen the Messiah of the Lord. He came upon Joseph and Mary and he took the child in his arms and blessed God saying, “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and glory for your people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32). This prayer of Simeon is prayed every night by those who pray the Liturgy of the Hours. Notice the language; he recognizes that the Child is a “light” for all peoples.
The Church used the symbol of light from this story by referring to this day also as Candlemas. We have the option to reenact the footsteps of Joseph and Mary as they took the “Light of the World” into the sacred temple. In the liturgy, there is candlelight procession into the Church before Mass starts. The celebrant then also blesses all the candles, not just candles used for the liturgy, but people can bring candles and have them blessed for home use.
In Poland there is a tradition to call it the “Feast of Our Lady of Thunder Candles” because people place their candles in windows during thunderstorms as they pray for protection. People will keep the blessed candles in a special place, either to be used in time of protection, or for a space set aside for prayer.
In England, there was a tradition to use the symbolism of the light to also mean an early spring, as the days get longer. There was a saying, “If Candlemas be fair and bright, / Come, Winter, have another flight. / If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, / Go, Winter, and come not again.” So if the bright sun “overshadows” the brightness of Candlemas Day, there will be more winter. However, if the light of Candlemas Day radiates through the gloom and darkness of the day, the end of winter is near.
In the United States, the German American immigrants had their own tradition on this day watching a badger—or similar animal such as the groundhog—and its shadow to indicate a longer winter or early spring. The Irish favor Feb. 1, the feast of St. Brigid, as the day for predicting the weather.
You may have noticed that the candles blessed on Feb. 2 make an appearance on Feb. 3 for a rather unusual tradition of blessing throats. This is the feast of St. Blaise, a fourth century bishop from Armenia. The story is that while he was in prison for refusing to renounce his faith, he came across a boy choking to death on a fish bone. St. Blaise prayed and the boy was miraculously saved. Since then a tradition evolved on his feast day to take two of the newly blessed candles and place them around a person’s neck in the form of an X while saying this prayer of healing, “Through the intercession of St. Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness.”
So next year when you see the announcement about the groundhog seeing or not seeing his shadow, you can recall this symbol of light and what this really means for us as Catholics. You could also read the story of the Presentation with your family as you light your blessed candle and recall how Jesus is the light that shines out of darkness.