Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-01
FEAST OF cAhDLEMAS
Ia, z,
Solemn Observance in All the
Catholic Churches.
MASS And PROCESSION
ORIGIN OF FEBRUARY Q AS A
FESTIVAL DAY.
The Groundhog,so Date for Reappear-
ance After Long Snooze-A Pop
ular Superstition.

Tomorrow will be Candlemas day. In al
most every Catholic Church In the world
tie feast of the candles will be celebrated
with q mass and the devout of all the
churches will take part in the procession.
after these useful articles have been
blessed. The pope will celebrate mass and
bless the candles at the Vatican and the
humblest missionary in the darkest part of
Africa will perform the same Office for the
benefit Of his converts. Everywhere good
Catholics will observe Candiemas day and
follow the ritual their church has provided
for the occasion
But not only Catholics will observe Can
dlemas day. To the Professionals of some
countries great meaning Is attached to the
day as the time of the year when the
weather for at least six weeks can be &C
curately foretold. Candlemas day Is also
grounding day, when the humble ground
hog energies from his hole and either sour
ries back to resume his sleep or harrieS
forth to see the world. Its subsequent move
ments depending entirely whether the sun
shines or not.
Origin Of Day obscured-
The origin Of the celebration of February
2 as feast day is one of the things that
has been lost in the hazy record Of the thou-
it was one Of the things Adam found the
animals celebrating. or is the invention OF
prehistoric man. no one can foreteil There
are numerous stories as to how and why II
originated no two of which agree. The
most likely story comes from the pagan
Romans. But. however, 1t may come to
general observance. Candlemas stands to-
day as a fitting monument to the clear
headed genius of the founders Of the Chris
tan Church, who found It both expedient
| and convenient to adopt for Christian usage
certain customs which paganism had chung
to for many years
The month of February was dedicated
| by the ancient heather to their gods. At
the beginning of the month. SO the story
goes, Pluto ruthlessiy destroyed the home
| and happiness of Cores by making of
the grief and sore the heart of the great
goddess. and despite the efforts Of her
minfons poor Proserpfna could not be To-
| Gated. Ceres was so anxious about the
matter that she finally took a hand In
| the search herself and. with candle In
| her hand. was seen Hitting about search
| ing for her missing daughter. Whether
| tory does not say. but 1t became a general
[ custom on the. I'd day OF the month OF
| February for the orthodox believers In
| Ceres and Pluto and the rest-of them to
| sally forth. candle in hand. and search for
! Proserpfna. AS time progressed the day
| was dedicated to Ceres and became
| known as her feast day. The candle
/
| and 1t has held ever since as one of the
| main features Of the-observance.
| One of the early popes boldly engrafted
| this pagan custom to the Christian faith
by dedicating the day to the Virgin and
| making IT q feast of the Virgin. The
| candles are still carried. but now they
| parishes and are then carried in process
| sion in honor of Mary. the Mother of
| Christ. 5
| Another Explanation.
| There Is another explanation of the ori-
| gin of the custom which appears almost
| as good as the one already recited The
| ancients kept two high feast days during
| the month of February-F ebruus, In honor
of the mother of Mars and Luperculus
| The first of these was usually held ON the
| 1st of the month and the second about
the 18th. The first day was considered
| the turning point of winter and on that
| day a great quantity of candles were
| burned. On Luperculus day 1t was be-
| Heved all birds mated. and the custom of
drawing the names of single men where
by they obtained wives became prevalent.
When the people became Chrtstianized
they were 1oath to give up the two feast
days in February. The wise ones of the
| church put their heads together. and two
Christian feasts were the result, Candle
mas and st. Valentines day Th@ Bible
| states that forty days after the birth Of
Christ the Virgin took Him to the temple
and Simeon took UP the child In his arms
and propheSfed that f1e should be O light
| unto the Gentiles and the glory of Israel.
BY counting back to Christmas day it was
discovered that February 2 was the for
tieth day. and the church chose to eeIe-
| brate this visit to the temple. thus giving
| a Christian significance to the old pagan
observance 1t has been called variously
st. Simeons day. Wives Feast day. Pres
| entation day. Publication day, Christ's
| presentation and Candlemas This latter
tale of the origin of the custom is the one
| which Is held in England. and which is be-
lieved by the communicates of the Angli-
can Church as well as of the Catholics Of
that country.
| Ceremony at the Vatican.