The groundhog seeing shadows because of light
The Christianization of a festival of winter
Which clearly has pagan origins in terms of the date of the celebration as does Christmas and Easter. These pagan festivals of winter and spring in other words were baptized by the Church, thus allowing these pagan festivals to experience conversion just as pagans can experience conversion and be baptized. Interesting, no?
I copied the following from "Churchyear.net":
When you scroll down, you will see in the history of the Solemnity of the Presentation of the Lord its link to Groundhog Day. I find that fascinating and it shows you how liturgy can impact popular culture and how people then forget the roots of popular culture's secularization of Catholic feasts. To a lesser extent this happens at Christmas and Easter too.
Candlemas (Presentation Feast) Definition and Summary
The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, commonly called Candlemas, commemorates the presentation of Christ in the temple and the ritual purification of the Virgin Mary. The feast falls on February 2nd. Prayers: Candlemas Prayers
Basic Facts About Candlemas
Liturgical Color(s): White
Type of Holiday: Feast
Time of Year: February 2
Duration: One Day
Celebrates/Symbolizes: The presentation of Jesus in the temple and the ritual purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Alternate Names: Candlemas, Feast of the presentation of Christ in the Temple, Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, Hypapante tou kyriou ("meeting of the Lord").
Scriptural References: Leviticus 12:1-4; Luke 2:22-39
Introduction:
The Feast of the Presentation, often called Candlemas, commemorates the purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the presentation of Christ in the temple, which took place 40 days after his birth as Jewish law required. According to Mosaic law, a mother who had given birth to a boy was considered unclean for seven days. Also, she was to remain 33 days "in the blood of her purification." Luke tells us, quoting Exodus 13:2,12, that Mary and Joseph took Jesus to Jerusalem because every firstborn child was to be dedicated to the Lord. They also went to sacrifice a pair of doves or two young pigeons, showing that Mary and Joseph were poor. Once in the temple, Jesus was purified by the prayer of Simeon, in the presence of Anna the prophetess. Simeon, upon seeing the Messiah, gave thanks to the Lord, singing a hymn now called the Nunc Dimittis:
Lord, now you let your servant go in peace,
your word has been fulfilled:
My own eyes have seen the salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of every people:
a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.
Simeon told Mary, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against, (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed." Simeon thus foreshadowed the crucifixion and the sorrows of Mary at seeing the death of her Son.
The name Candlemas comes from the activities associated with the feast. It came to be known as the Candle Mass. In the Western Church, a procession with lighted candles is the distinctive rite. According to post Vatican-II discipline, (if possible) the beeswax candles are to be blessed somewhere other than where the Mass is held. Often your local parish will hand out candles, or you may bring your own, to be blessed before the procession. These may be saved for later use in your home. After an antiphon, during which the candles held by the people are lighted, there is a procession into the church. During the procession to the church, the Nunc Dimittis is sung, with the antiphon "Lumen ad revelationem" (Luke 2:32). This procession into the church for Mass commemorates Christ's entrance into the temple. Since Vatican II, the feast is reckoned a feast of the Lord (as opposed to a feast of Mary), and officially designated "The presentation of the Lord."
History:
Egeria, writing around AD 380, attests to a feast of the Presentation in the Jerusalem Church. It was kept on February 14th. The day was kept by a procession to the Constantinian basilica of the Resurrection, with a homily on Luke 2:22-39. However, the feast had no proper name at this point; it was simply called the 40th day after Epiphany. This shows that the Jerusalem church celebrated Jesus' birth on the Epiphany Feast (as is common in some Eastern Churches today).
In regions where Christ's birth was celebrated on December 25th, the feast began to be celebrated on February 2nd, where it is kept in the West today. In 542, the Emperor Justinian introduced the feast to the entire Eastern Roman empire in thanksgiving for the end to a great pestilence afflicting the city of Constantinople. Perhaps this is when Pope Gregory I brought the feast to Rome. Either way, by the 7th century, it is contained in the Gelasianum Sacramentary. Pope Sergius (687-701) introduced the procession to the Candlemas service. The blessing of candles did not come into common use until the 11th century.
While some scholars have asserted that the Candlemas feast was developed in the Middle Ages to counteract the pagan feasts of Imbolc and Lupercalia, many scholars reject this, based on Medieval documents. While the feast does coincide with these two pagan holidays, the origins of the feast are based in Scriptural chronology. Some superstitions developed about Candlemas, including the belief that if one does not take down Christmas decorations by Candlemas, traces of the holly and berries will bring about the death of the person involved. In past times, Candlemas was seen as the end of the Christmas season.
Candlemas Day was also the day when some cultures predicted weather patterns. Farmers believed that the remainder of winter would be the opposite of whatever the weather was like on Candlemas Day. An old English song goes:
If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Come winter, have another flight;
If Candlemas bring clouds and rain,
Go winter, and come not again.
Thus if the sun cast a shadow on Candlemas day, more winter was on the way; if there was no shadow, winter was thought to be ending soon. This practice led to the folklore behind "Groundhog's Day," which falls on Candlemas Day.
Today, the feast is still celebrated on February 14th in some Eastern Churches, including the Armenian Church, where the feast is called, "The Coming of the Son of God into the Temple." Most churches celebrate it on February 2nd.
9 comments:
Isn't that first pic a hedgehog?
Pinanv525, you need a blessed candle that is lighted, to bring light to your eyes, looks again. This is definitely a groundhog not a hedgehog, who would make a silly mistake like that?
Fr., You must go to Confession!!! If you see your shadow when you leave the Confessional...six more months of penance!
Oh, please.
Pin, being from sun drenched Georgia, has eaten more groundhogs than there have been years since the birth of Our Lord. He was probably just upset that there are only four drumsticks.
Meanwhile, we are concerned that our Midwestern groundhog has suffocated in his burrow under a layer of ice while attempting to scratch his way out for his annual review. If he does make it out he may flee back in, not due to the sun, that is blotted from view by snow clouds, but by the shadow cast by the arc of the numerous power lines littering the landscape. I think our parish should consider celebrating this holiday with exploding transformers and branches of ice encrusted pussy willow, the tiny buds of hope locked in a tomb of ice ever mindful of the promise of Spring.
rcg
RCG, unfortunately the subtle groundhog does not extend his range this far, being found only in extreme north Georgia. However, we are blessed in abundance with the noble 'possum, a more straight forward and matter-of-fact one of God's creations. He worries neither about Winter nor Spring, rarely casting a shadow other than by moonlight in his diligent nocturnal rounds. He is much like a Scotsman, stubborn, ornery, marginally social (often feigning death to discourage visitors), and with a tendency toward hoarding. He is, all in all, a fine beast, much misunderstood, and one of my favorite creatures (this does not extend, mutatis mutandis, to Scotsmen! LOL!
Fr., If you were wondering about my last groundhog post, RCG is a good friend of mine and a Scot. LOL!
Yes, Father, Pinan are friends of chance and history. I can understand why he feels about winter as he does. But hope to have Pin see it is as a gift if he can bring himself to see it that way.
I love winter and in that spirit decided to go out today and see what beauty I could find. The trees, the ones remaining after the storm, were decorated in a diamond coat and each frigid waft of breeze caused a shower of ice to rain down on me. As my mother would say, I blessed them all.
For one who lives, as I try, in tune with nature and her glories, gardening is an active prayer of petition and thanks. Each year I observe the tradition of planting bulbs on the shortest day of the year. We dig a trench in the fall and fill it leaves and mulch so that during Christmas we can welcome the promise of new life by submerging the bulbs in the leaves and covering them with frozen earth.
Spying my sleeping garden from across my driveway, I was taken with its winter alb and strode across the icy pavement and its thin coat of snow, distracted with thoughts of wonder at what I could do this day in the garden to lift the gloom of winter.
So I put an asplant right in the middle of the road.
It's sort of rose coloured now and may turn a little purple before resuming its normal pink hue. I hope it survives until Spring.
rcg
Well, Fr. did not post what I wrote, RCG. I guess he was afraid some other Scots might be offended at being compared to the noble 'possum. LOL!
Burns Night was only last week. We had an excellent band, including an proper Piper. We addressed the haggis and then consumed it. It was wonderful.
If there was nae 'possum nor ground hog in't 'twas due to a tardy cook.
rcg
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