Catholic holidays - Presentation of the Lord among Western Christians (Candlemas)

Everyone knows that church holidays play an important role in the lives of all Western Christians One of these symbolic holidays is the Presentation of the Lord Every year on February 2, Western Christians celebrate the Presentation of the Lord It is not surprising that this Catholic holiday was established in memory of the rite of purification of the Virgin Mary after the birth of the baby Jesus Previously, it was believed that if a woman gave birth to a son, then she was not completely “clean” for 7 days, and she was also forbidden to enter the temple and attend various cults for 33 days after giving birth The great meeting of Jesus and the wise old man Simeon took place in the Temple on the 40th day of his birth, where the righteous Simeon called Jesus nothing else, but “a light to enlighten the pagans” It is known that until the 8th century this day had no special significance, and no magnificent celebrations were planned But since the beginning of the 8th century, February 2 became one of the 12 general church holidays, since on this day an all-night vigil and a religious procession were held, after so many terrible disasters that took the lives of thousands of people, namely an earthquake and a pestilence More recently, this holiday began to be called Candlemas Every year on this day, from 11 o’clock at night, a ritual of lighting all the candles is performed in the church, which burn brightly after the ceremony during the entire service Blessing candles are kept for a whole year, and in moments of illness, bad luck and other troubles they are lit and turned to Christ in prayer Nowadays, this holiday has another meaning: the end of winter With the long-awaited arrival of the Meeting, winter ends and spring begins But if the weather on this day is not pleasant, winter will last until March, and maybe more In certain cities and countries, this holiday also includes other celebrations For example, in famous Sicily, women wash themselves with dew, thereby performing a ritual of complete cleansing on the top of a mountain This is such a difficult procession for Italian women on the eve of the holiday Lighted candles on this day help to find the bodies of dead people in the water This ritual is performed in coastal areas And it is possible that they are found this way The memory of the rite of purification is embedded precisely in this holiday, which clearly gives all the explanations of the first days and weeks of the life of Jesus and the Virgin Mary