One of the characteristics of the great goddess Juno was her power of purification or februa. Thus she went from being Juno Februa — Juno Purifier — to simply the goddess Februa. The month which started with her purification ceremonies, in which the Romans paraded carrying torches and candles, (fire being a source of cleansing), came to be called “February”.
As was so often the case, this festival was so popular among the common people who celebrated it that the Roman church continued it as the Purification of the Virgin Mary, observed annually on the 2nd of February. Brand provides some detail in his Popular Antiquities:
Pope Sergius, says Becon in his Reliques of Rome (1563), commanded that all people “shuld go on procession upon Candlemas Day, and carry Candels about with them brenning in their hands in the year of our Lord 684.”...
So that now this Feast is solemnly hallowed thorowe all Christendome. And every Christian man and woman of covenable age is bound to come to church and offer up their Candles, as though they were bodily with our Lady, hopyng for this reverence and worship that they do to our Ladye to have a great rewarde in Heaven.”1
More commonly, it was known as Candlemas Day.
As usual Barnaby Googe's translation of Naogeorgus' The Popish Kingdome, or reigne of Antichrist (Regnum papisticum) gives us more detail of how the common folk observed the day, circa 1555, and what were their beliefs.
Then comes the Day wherein the Virgin offred Christ unto
The Father chiefe, as Moyses law commaunded hir to do.
Then numbers great of Tapers large, both men and women beare
To Church, being halowed there with pomp, and dreadful words to heare.
This done, eche man his Candell lightes where chiefest seemeth hee,
Whose Taper greatest may be seene, and fortunate to bee ;
Whose Candel burneth cleare and brighte, a wondrous force and might
Doth in these Candels lie, which if at any time they light,
They sure beleve that neyther storme or tempest dare abide.
Nor thunder in the skies be heard, nor any Devils spide.
Nor fearefull sprites that walke by night, nor hurts of frost or haile.2
We have this description because of the offense of poet and translator at the pagan sources of so many Christian practices. However much the deep Protestant sympathies of both were offended their descriptions are entirely truthful. They have left us with a valuable account.
Those same Protestant sympathies were in the process of altering how church festivals were celebrated in England. Brand also informs us that:
In Bishop Bonner’s Injunctions (1555), we read “that bearyng of Candels on Candelmasse Daie is doone in the memorie of our Saviour Jesu Christe, the spirituall lyght, of whom Sainct Symeon dyd prophecie, as it is redde in the Churche that daye.”
The Catholic deification of Mary also being a sore spot with the Protestants, she has disappeared from their day altogether. It seems that the day had itself disappeared for some period of time in London.
This ceremony, however, had been previously forbidden in the metropolis: for in Stow’s Chronicle we read: “ On the second of February 1547-8, being the Feast of the Purification of our Lady, commonly called Candlemasse Day, the bearing of Candles in the Church was left off throughout the whole citie of London.”3
The common worshipers, however, were too attached to Candlemas to let it go. While time has allowed the memory to fade, the day is still sometimes said to commemorate the presentation of the baby Jesus at the Temple. In some places, it is more a day to replenish a church's candle stocks for the year ahead.
What generally is true of religious practice in the West is that it fades until it becomes charming custom. By the early 17th century another of our favorite poetic sources paints an enchanting picture.
On Candlemas Eve was kindled the yule-brand, which was allowed to burn till sunset, when it was quenched and carefully laid by to teend (i.e. light) the Christmas clog or log at the next return of the season. Thus [Robert] Herrick, Hesperides, says :
Kindle the Christmas Brand, and then
Till sunne-set let it burne ;
Which quencht, then lay it up agen
Till Christmas next returne.
Part must be kept wherewith to teend
The Christmas Log next yeare ;
And where 'tis safely kept, the fiend
Can do no mischiefe there.4
The rosemary, the bay, the ivy, the holly, and the mistletoe, the Christmas decorations of hall and cottage, were now pulled down, when, according to tho popular superstition, not a branch, nor even a leaf, should be allowed to remain.
Down with the Rosemary and so
Down with the Baies and the Misleto:
Down with the Holly, Ivie, all
Wherewith ye dress the Christmas hall:
That so the superstitious find
No one least branch there left behind;
For look, how many leaves there be
Neglected there (maids trust to me),
How many goblins you shall see.
Of course, the day retains its power to chase off ghosties.
1Brand, John. Observations On Popular Antiquities (1900). 23.
2Noageorgus, Thomas, The Popish Kingdome, or reigne of Antichrist (1570). Robert Charles Hope ed. (1880), 47.
3Brand. 25.
4Dyer, Thistleton. British Popular Customs (1900).
Also at Virtual Grub Street:
A History of the Tudor Parlor. October 8, 2022. "The parlour appears in the sixteenth century to have been a room the particular use of which was in a state of transition."
- Exploring Medieval and Tudor Stuffing. November 14, 2021. “The recipe gives an excellent description of how the hole to the cavity was closed.”
- Feast of St. Michael, September 29: Beginning of the English Year. September 29, 2019. "Those who have read my “Thousand Years of English Terms” may recall that the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels (a.k.a. “Michaelmas”), on September 29, marked the beginning to the English legal and business year."
- Check out the English Renaissance Article Index for many more articles and reviews about this fascinating time and about the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
- Check out the Medieval Topics Article Index for many more articles about this fascinating time.
A History of the Tudor Parlor. October 8, 2022. "The parlour appears in the sixteenth century to have been a room the particular use of which was in a state of transition."
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