On this, the Feast of Candlemas, or the Presentation of our Lord, I was reading another blog and thought that I'd draw your attention to it.
From Scott P. Richert's "About Catholicism" we find:
Lost in all the discussion of burrowing rodents and sunny skies is
the Christian origin of this popular tradition. February 2 is not just
Groundhog Day; it is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, traditionally known by the popular name of Candlemas.
Christianity, the Liturgical Calendar, and the Cycles of Nature:
That certain Christian feasts draw heavily from pagan customs is a common claim, though often overstated, as in the case of Easter and Christmas, and sometimes simply wrong, as in the case of Halloween.
One of the biggest errors made is to confuse pagan—that is,
religious—customs with customs that are simply part of rural peasant
culture, drawing heavily from the seasons and cycles of nature, but
holding no pre-Christian religious significance.
I encourage all to give his blog post a read for more information.
Second reading
From a sermon by Saint Sophronius, bishop
Let us receive the light whose brilliance is eternal
In honor of the divine mystery that we celebrate today, let us all
hasten to meet Christ. Everyone should be eager to join the procession
and to carry a light.
Our lighted candles are a sign of the divine splendor of the one who
comes to expel the dark shadows of evil and to make the whole universe
radiant with the brilliance of his eternal light. Our candles also show
how bright our souls should be when we go to meet Christ.
The Mother of God, the most pure Virgin, carried the true light in
her arms and brought him to those who lay in darkness. We too should
carry a light for all to see and reflect the radiance of the true light
as we hasten to meet him.
The light has come and has shone upon a world enveloped in shadows;
the Dayspring from on high has visited us and given light to those who
lived in darkness. This, then, is our feast, and we join in procession
with lighted candles to reveal the light that has shone upon us and the
glory that is yet to come to us through him. So let us hasten all
together to meet our God.
The true light has come, the light that enlightens every man who is born into this world.
Let all of us, my brethren, be enlightened and made radiant by this
light. Let all of us share in its splendor, and be so filled with it
that no one remains in the darkness. Let us be shining ourselves as we
go together to meet and to receive with the aged Simeon the light whose
brilliance is eternal. Rejoicing with Simeon, let us sing a hymn of
thanksgiving to God, the Father of the light, who sent the true light to
dispel the darkness and to give us all a share in his splendor.
Through Simeon’s eyes we too have seen the salvation of God which he
prepared for all the nations and revealed as the glory of the new
Israel, which is ourselves. As Simeon was released from the bonds of
this life when he had seen Christ, so we too were at once freed from our
old state of sinfulness.
By faith we too embraced Christ, the salvation of God the Father, as
he came to us from Bethlehem. Gentiles before, we have now become the
people of God. Our eyes have seen God incarnate, and because we have
seen him present among us and have mentally received him into our arms,
we are called the new Israel. Never shall we forget this presence; every
year we keep a feast in his honour.
Dominus vobiscum!
