Candlemas or the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary

On the 2nd of February, the Roman Catholic Church commemorates the purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This day is also referred to as Candlemas because on the fortieth day after the birth of Jesus, Mary went to the Temple to be purified by sitting next to a burning candle. According to Jewish tradition, a mother who had given birth to a son had to visit the temple on the fortieth day after giving birth and had to bring an offering in order to receive purification.

The blessing of candles became widely spread in Europe in the 12th century. As a symbol of Jesus Christ, the holy candle is one of the oldest sacramentals. The tradition of Candlemas is well-known in Slovenia as well. The form and colour or the way the candle was made all depended on its purpose and the occasion it was used on. The blessed candle was used on numerous occasions during the year: until the christening of a newborn, it was lit beside the baby and it also used to be lit beside the bed of seriously ill people. The same happened when someone died or at every festivity of a larger scale, both at Easter and Christmas. In all of the area where Hungarian was spoken, people believed that in times of a storm, lightning or in case of hail, a blessed candle needed to be lit.

The candle was also used to prognosticate. In the Lendava area, the blessed candle was used to circumnavigate one´s body parts and if the candle´s flame bent down, it was believed that that person would soon die. 

Candlemas is also associated with numerous superstitious prophecies concerning weather and crop harvest. All of the Hungarian-speaking area is familiar with the prediction connected to a bear. If, on this particular day, the sun is shining and the bear sees its own shadow, it will return to its lair because the winter will be long. However, if the sun is not shining on that particular day, the bear stays out of its lair because warmer weather is to be expected. In general, it is supposed that if the weather on the 2nd of February is nice, then spring will start rather later.

Another prophecy concerning the crops says that if, on the morning of this day, the sun is shining, the early corn will be more fruitful but if the sun shines in the afternoon, the late maturing corn variety will be more fruitful. However, if the sun shines all day long, a good harvest is to be expected in general.

Those who did not take down their Christmas trees on Three Kings Day, can do it on Candlemas.

Sources:

• Tátrai Zsuzsanna: Jeles napok, ünnepi szokások. Planétás Kiadó, Budapest, 1997.
• Halász Albert: Jeles napok, népi ünnepek a Muravidéken. Studio Artis Kiadó. Lendva, 1999