This is the start of Christmas-tide, let's not forget Candlemas!




Yesterday was a pretty great day in a lot of ways. Holly was super excited, loved her toys and other gifts, ate all the food and then some, and had a good nap. She wanted to go to bed early enough; she declared she was tired, and off she went to her house with her balloons and her pink bunny. 

Now what?

For a lot of people, Christmas is now over, the pretty things need to be stowed, and we are supposed to race off to the next holiday--New Year's Day-- and push onward to either Valentine's Day or Washington's Birthday, depending on the product you are selling. But no. No-no-no. The Wise Men haven't even gotten to the stable. Let's not toss the baby out of the manger just yet.

Which, to me, is a relief of sorts. Getting ready for the Big Day takes a lot of work, so why not enjoy it? The sparkling lights will bring joy for a bit longer, and I won't take the tree down for a few more days. I think I'll leave the little white tree up for a while, as well. 

Celebrating Twelve Days of Christmas is still a little short, historically speaking. Technically, we have until Candlemas, which is celebrated this coming year on Friday, Feb. 2. Groundhog Day. One week before Super Bowl Sunday.

Candlemas is no longer the celebration is once was, but it's historically and culturally interesting. Forty days after the birth of her child, Mary was required by Jewish law to undergo ritual purification and make a sacrificial offering at the Temple (postpartum requirements are laid out in Leviticus),  and she had to present her firstborn son to God in the Temple. The feast day was once known as The Purification of Mary, but that got changed to The Presentation of the Lord after Vatican II in 1969. This is the event in the Bible where the infant Jesus meets the aged Simeon. It's a nice story, actually, found in Luke 2:22-38. The candles are representative of the return of the light to the world, but are also symbolic in the Christian world of the coming of the Light to the world, in the person of Jesus.

So, don't hustle your tinsel, eh? 

Have a good day, and enjoy the leftovers.

C


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