The Light Shines in the Darkness
Before your neighbors say a single word or throw a little
shade….let me tell you: You don’t
need to have those Christmas decorations down so soon. Well, you have until February 2. Just wish everyone “Happy Holidays
and/or Holy Days”. And, if they’re
still listening, explain that the celebration of our Lord’s birth doesn’t end
on December 26, no matter how persistent some people are in dragging their
trees to the curb on the second day of Christmas. (I’ve always wondered if these people spend Christmas night
un-decorating their trees so that they can be out on the street when dawn
breaks on the morning of the 26th. Such a sad sight.)
The Church gives us the slow Advent build up to Christmas,
in spite of the surrounding cultural pressure. It also gives us a slow, steady time to taper off from all
the trappings of the season, while never forgetting what we are celebrating.
As we know, there are twelve days of Christmas and the Feast
of the Epiphany. (If you have
included a house blessing on Epiphany, complete with chalk above your front
door - e.g. 20+C+M+B+13 - perhaps your neighbors are curious about your
decoration customs. Or maybe they
are afraid to ask.) And our time of celebration is legitimately prolonged until
the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple also known as the Feast
of the Purification, Candlemas, and, for those of us weather obsessed and
winter-weary in the Northern Hemisphere, Groundhog Day.
At the time of Jesus’ birth, the custom was for the mother
of a male child to present him at the temple forty days after his birth, along
with a lamb and a pigeon as a sacrifice.
Luke’s Gospel tells us that Mary and Joseph were poor and could not
afford a lamb, so Jesus was presented in the temple with two turtledoves for
sacrifice. (Remember those two turtledoves
that kept popping up in Muzak back in November?) It
was at his presentation that the prophet Simeon held the infant Jesus in his
arms. At this moment he knew that
the savior he had been waiting for had arrived and prayed his glorious Nunc dimittis.
On this last of the holy days that celebrate the arrival of
the Light of the World, we celebrate Candlemas, the day when the candles for
the coming year are blessed, often including the recitation of the Nunc dimittis
(which I still remember singing as the post-communion hymn from my Lutheran
childhood and can only recite in its King James version: “Lord, now lettest
thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have
seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A
light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel” -
Luke 2:29) In the blessing of
the candles on Candlemas we emphasize once more Jesus as the Light of the World.
The candles used in church must be at least 51%
beeswax. This is not just an
aesthetic directive – though anyone who has had a chance to work with beeswax
candles knows their exquisite tactile nature, their beautiful fragrance, and
all around superior performance. The
wax from bees is very symbolic, but practicality allows us to use candles that
are a minimum of 51% beeswax. (If
you have spent any time paging through church supply catalogues and balancing
budgetary concerns, it is immediately apparent why most parishes would need to
go without pure beeswax candles, as marvelous as they may be) But there must be the minimum 51%
percentage of beeswax. The pure wax extracted by bees from flowers) symbolizes the pure flesh of Christ received from His Virgin Mother, the wick signifies the soul of Christ, and the flame represents His divinity. Everything involved with our sacred liturgy
has a meaning and all these things point to Christ.
I found an interesting reference online about some Candlemas
superstitions that developed over time, including a belief that if Christmas
decorations are not removed by Candlemas, traces of holly etc. may lead to the
death of the foot dragger who can’t get things removed in time. Perhaps this translates in our time to
the ‘social-death’ that accompanies the notoriety of being the last person on
your block to have decorations left up; or worse, receives sanctions from an
indignant homeowners association.
Many cultures have also had weather lore that sprang up in
relation to Candlemas. There is an
old English rhyme:
If Candlemas Day be fair and bright
Winter will have another fight.
If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain,
Winter won't come again.
Winter will have another fight.
If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain,
Winter won't come again.
And the German equivalent:
" The badger peeps out of his hole
on Candlemas Day,
and, if he finds snow, walks abroad;
and, if he finds snow, walks abroad;
but
if he sees the sun shining he draws back into his hole.”
Naturally, one name comes to mind when we hear rhymes such
as this… Punxsutawney Phil. The
American development of the old custom, brought to Pennsylvania by German
immigrants, lives on to this day, as the media of the United States descend
upon a town in Pennsylvania to see if the groundhog sees his shadow. Other zoos throughout the nation have
their own groundhogs, but no groundhog “holds a candle” (is that a day-appropriate phrase or
what?) to Punxsutawney Phil.
Who knew a pop culture star like Punxsutawney Phil
(whichever actual lucky groundhog happens to hold the title at the time) owes
his fame to Catholic custom? Or
that we are totally correct in keeping our decorations up until the beginning
of February? We are not
slackers. We are keeping the
message out there. Jesus is “a
light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel.” “The light shines in the
darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5) Jesus is
the light of the world.
