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Author Topic: Candlemas Gwen Member Member # 126 posted 02-02-2005 12:29 PM                   I just realized today was Candlemas, a biggie on the medieval calendar. Candlemas, or the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is celebrated on February 2 . This feast commemorates Mary’s visit to the Temple in obedience to the Jewish Law requiring a woman to be ritually purified forty days after bearing a son. According to an old legend, if the sun shines bright for the better part of the day on Candlemas there will be forty more days of winter. Gwen Registered: Feb 2001  |  IP: Logged Charlotte Member Member # 620 posted 02-02-2005 03:01 PM                   I was thinking about this earlier today. Does anybody know off the top of their heads random medieval traditions to go along with it? I read that this was the day to make sure that all of your Christmas decorations were down, as residual bits of holly, ivy, and berries can mean a death in the family before the year is out (or something to that effect). Registered: Jun 2004  |  IP: Logged Brent E Hanner Member Member # 44 posted 02-03-2005 02:39 AM                   While I know the Christmas decoration thing is traditional I'm not sure if it is medieval. The major medieval tradition that goes with Candlemass is the blessing of the candles to dedicate them for use. The members of the parish would process around and then attend mass where the candles dedicated and many people took a candle to be blessed therefore making it a holy candle good for warding off the devil when it was lit. The whole light and darkness thing was really well tied up with candles for certain uses. One such use was for a person on thier death bed you put a lit candle in the are in front of them to keep the demons from having you turn away from God at the last moment. Brent Registered: Sep 2000  |  IP: Logged

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