Candlemas

It was on Candlemas Day,
And all in the morning,
They visited the Temple
With our heavenly King.

And was not this a joyful thing?
And sweet Jesus they called him by name.
-All in The Morning (Trad. Carol from Derbyshire, England)

Judging from decorating patterns and tree disposal habits, a great debate permeates modern American society: when does Christmas end? Some people opt for Dec. 26; still others are decorating their now brown wreaths with hearts on St Valentine’s Day.

Before we giggle too much at this however, we should consider that the various branches of Christianity do not speak with one voice on the Christian year either. Nowadays liturgical Protestants end Christmas on Ephiphany. Roman Catholics consider the Monday after the Baptism of Our Lord the end of Christmas. The Orthodox also consider the Baptism of Jesus, the Theophany, the end of Christmas, but when the date is depends on whether they’re sticking to their guns on that Julian calendar issue. Non-liturgical Protestants could care less, after all some might not even celebrate Christmas in the first place.

The pattern has been fluid, however--no matter what the Catholics might tell you--because it was not unusual in the Medieval and post Medieval church for the people to consider today, Candlemas Day, the official end of Christmas.

What is Candlemas? It is the celebration of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. Jewish law commanded that first born sons be consecrated to God in the Temple. The Eastern Church generally continues to consider Candlemas a celebration of Jesus. (There are some exceptions.) The Western church however, gradually made it a day commemorating Mary, because under Jewish law a woman was considered unclean after she gave birth. 40 days after the birth of a son (80 if it was a daughter) she was to present herself in the temple and to present a sacrifice for her purification, a lamb for the burnt offering and a dove or young pigeon for the sin offering. If the woman was poor she could offer two doves or pigeons instead. Candlemas, then, was Mary's purification day.

While fulfilling their duties in the Temple, the Holy Family encountered two remarkable people, Simeon and Anna. Both were prophets and both upon seeing Jesus spoke of him as the redemption of Israel. Simeon, who had been promised by God that he would not die until he has seen the Messiah, had particularly moving words that are often incorporated into liturgies as the Nunc dimittis: “ O Lord, now let your servant depart in peace according to Thy Word. For mine eyes have seen Thy Salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to lighten the Gentiles and the Glory of Thy people Israel."

Candlemas gets its name from procession of candles into the church at the beginning of the service accompanied by the singing of the Nunc dimittis. The procession signifies the entry of the Light of the World into the Temple. In the eleventh century of so the custom was added that people would bring the candles they intend to use throughout the year to be blessed by the priest.

As well as some religious sources, some secular sources also assert that Candlemas is the end of Christmas, most famously Robert Herrick’s poem “Candlemas Eve", a sort of guide for the liturgical decorator. And for the liturgical gastronome, crepes are de riguer eating on Candlemas.

So, you, yes you with the brown wreaths and tree teetering on the edge of spontaneous combustion, go ahead and take them down.