Tomorrow is traditionally the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is also known as Candlemas. There are references to light in the liturgy and we bless candles.
Candlemas is the conclusion of the Advent/Christmas cycle. We are 40 days from the Nativity of our Lord. The Law required that first-born sons were to be presented, offered in the Temple and the ritual purification of the mother took place. Mary and Joseph fulfilled the Law and encountered the prophetess Anna and old Simeon, who had been awaiting the Messiah. Simeon takes the Child in his arms and pronounced his Nunc Dimittis, which we repeat each night at Compline, and told Mary that a “sword” would pierce her heart.
Greek Christians call this Hypapanti or “encounter”, that is, of the young and old, Christ and Simeon, the New covenant and the passing Old.
Liturgically, the Marian Antiphon and response changes. We have been singing Alma Redemptoris Mater since the beginning of Advent. This ends on Candlemas. Hereafter we sing Ave Regina Caelorum through Lent until Spy Wednesday of Holy Week.
Because of the antiquity of the feast, there are many cultural traditions for its celebration. For example, in some French speaking regions it is customary to eat crêpes, in Mexico tamales.
There is some lovely poetry connected to Candlemas, such an evocative day. Robert Herrick has his “Ceremony Upon Candlemas Eve”, the last stanza of which was set to music by Kate Rusby. Christina Georgina Rossetti has her “A Candlemas Dialogue”. St. John Henry Newman wrote a poem “Candlemas”.
Here is “A Song For Simeon”, in free verse, by the greatest poet of the 20th century, T.S. Eliot:
Was there a GOOD point made in the sermon you heard at the Mass for your Sunday (obligation or none), either live or on the internet? Let us know what it was.
Too many people today are without good, strong preaching, to the detriment of all. Share the good stuff.
Also, are your churches opening up? What was attendance like?
For my part…
From a reader…
QUAERITUR:
Watching the signs of our times and considering my life, I feel God is calling me to make a general Confession. So I set the date for next Tuesday, but I am in need of some resources. Could you explain how to make a good general Confession or send me a link to someone who has already written about it? I have three small children, so I don’t have time to make an Ignatian retreat over the weekend.
A “general confession” involves reviewal of an confession of all the serious sins of one’s life or of a long period of time rather than just the all mortal sins in kind and number since one’s last confession. A general confession is often made before a big move in one’s life.
It is not as if those previously confessed sins need to be absolved again. It is helpful for us, to know ourselves better, where we have been in life, to make a review, especially reflecting on God’s goodness and mercy.
A general confession isn’t to be made all that often. And definitely – because it takes a while – don’t hold up a confessional line. Make an appointment if possible.
You can use a good written examination of conscience to prepare. One of the best that I know of is from my good friend Fr. Tim Finigan. It is detailed enough, but not overly detailed. It is available online: HERE
Here is something for your Just Too Cool file.
From SciTech Daily:
A Glimpse Into the Royal Purple Wardrobe of King David and King Solomon – 3000 Years Ago
“King Solomon made for himself the carriage; he made it of wood from Lebanon. Its posts he made of silver, its base of gold. Its seat was upholstered with purple, its interior inlaid with love.” (Song of Songs 3:9-10)
For the first time, rare evidence has been found of fabric dyed with royal purple dating from the time of King David and King Solomon.
While examining the colored textiles from Timna Valley — an ancient copper production district in southern Israel — in a study that has lasted several years, the researchers were surprised to find remnants of woven fabric, a tassel and fibers of wool dyed with royal purple. Direct radiocarbon dating confirms that the finds date from approximately 1000 BCE, corresponding to the biblical monarchies of David and Solomon in Jerusalem. The dye, which is produced from species of mollusk found in the Mediterranean, over 300 km from Timna, is often mentioned in the Bible and appears in various Jewish and Christian contexts.
[…]
“This is a very exciting and important discovery,” explains Dr. Naama Sukenik, curator of organic finds at the Israel Antiquities Authority. “This is the first piece of textile ever found from the time of David and Solomon that is dyed with the prestigious purple dye. In antiquity, purple attire was associated with the nobility, with priests, and of course with royalty.
“The gorgeous shade of the purple, the fact that it does not fade, and the difficulty in producing the dye, which is found in minute quantities in the body of mollusks, all made it the most highly valued of the dyes, which often cost more than gold. Until the current discovery, we had only encountered mollusk-shell waste and potsherds with patches of dye, which provided evidence of the purple industry in the Iron Age. Now, for the first time, we have direct evidence of the dyed fabrics themselves, preserved for some 3000 years.”
[…]
According to the researchers, true purple [argaman] was produced from three species of mollusk indigenous to the Mediterranean Sea: The Banded Dye-Murex (Hexaplex trunculus), the Spiny Dye-Murex (Bolinus brandaris) and the Red-Mouthed Rock-Shell (Stramonita haemastoma). The dye was produced from a gland located within the body of the mollusk by means of a complex chemical process that lasted several days.
Today, most scholars agree that the two precious dyes, purple [argaman] and light blue, or azure [tekhelet] were produced from the purple dye mollusk under different conditions of exposure to light. When exposed to light, azure is obtained whereas without light exposure, a purple hue is obtained. These colors are often mentioned together in the ancient sources, and both have symbolic and religious significance to this day. The Temple priests, David and Solomon, and Jesus of Nazareth are all described as having worn clothing colored with purple.
[…]
There is a lot more of interest in the full story. Check it out.
I am reminded that when the tombs of Peter and of Paul in Rome were examined, purple was found and gold threads. There bones at some point must have been wrapped in imperial purple (by Constantine?).
There is a lovely custom attached to Septuagesima Sunday and Pre-Lent: burying the Alleluia.
At Septuagesima we stop, in the traditional rites, singing an Alleluia after the Gradual and, instead, sing a Tract. The Alleluia isn’t heard in Masses of the Season until after Lent. Because of that – long ago people engaged their imaginations and, from a good Catholic spirit and world view, had a little ceremony to “bury” the Alleluia, or a little scroll or plaque, until it would rise from the dead at Easter.
Will your traditional parish or chapel be doing this on Sunday?
Here is something fun. The wonderful Benedictine Sisters of Gower Abbey in Missouri buried the Alleluia a few years ago and sent photos.
“Here lies Al”
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
on A matter of grave concern: People who pray together before or after Mass.: “Everyone in that diocese should show up at the bishop’s mass early to say a communal prayer, before the liturgy…”
on Are things as bad as the seem? Auctores scinduntur.: “Indeed, I have not yet mastered the ability to doublethink, Father! I actually couldn’t stop thinking about “1984” as I…”
on Are things as bad as the seem? Auctores scinduntur.: “Francisco: I feel like I’m questioning my sanity here. Welcome to blackwhite. To believe contradictory truths at the same time,…”
on ROME 26/10– Day 17-18: How very sad: “Veterans Day is, appropriately, also the feast of St. Martin of Tours.”
on Are things as bad as the seem? Auctores scinduntur.: “it is a propitious time for a novena to St. Jude with his feast coming next week. i had a…” on Are things as bad as the seem? Auctores scinduntur.: “Father, I just don’t understand what the edit to this decree actually does. One can surmise that either A. No…”
on Are things as bad as the seem? Auctores scinduntur.: “One gets the feeling that remaining a faithful Catholic who believes in the unchanging nature and teachings of the Church…”
A Daily Prayer for Priests
They find you a pro-life agent in your area who commits to giving a portion of the fee to a pro-life group!
PLEASE subscribe via PayPal if it is useful. Zelle and Wise are better, but PayPal is convenient.
A monthly subscription donation means I have steady income I can plan on. I put you my list of benefactors for whom I pray and for whom I often say Holy Mass.
In view of the rapidly changing challenges I now face, I would like to add more $10/month subscribers. Will you please help?
For a one time donation...
Help Monks in Wyoming (coffee – UPDATED LINK) and Norcia (beer) and the wonderful "Soap Sisters" of Summit, NJ!
Please follow me on Twitter!
Visits tracked by Statcounter
since Sat., 25 Nov. 2006:
Lord, the Roman hyacinths are blooming in bowls and
The winter sun creeps by the snow hills;
The stubborn season has made stand.
My life is light, waiting for the death wind,
Like a feather on the back of my hand.
Dust in sunlight and memory in corners
Wait for the wind that chills towards the dead land.
Grant us thy peace.
I have walked many years in this city,
Kept faith and fast, provided for the poor,
Have taken and given honour and ease.
There went never any rejected from my door.
Who shall remember my house, where shall live my children’s children
When the time of sorrow is come?
They will take to the goat’s path, and the fox’s home,
Fleeing from the foreign faces and the foreign swords.
Before the time of cords and scourges and lamentation
Grant us thy peace.
Before the stations of the mountain of desolation,
Before the certain hour of maternal sorrow,
Now at this birth season of decease,
Let the Infant, the still unspeaking and unspoken Word,
Grant Israel’s consolation
To one who has eighty years and no to-morrow.
According to thy word,
They shall praise Thee and suffer in every generation
With glory and derision,
Light upon light, mounting the saints’ stair.
Not for me the martyrdom, the ecstasy of thought and prayer,
Not for me the ultimate vision.
Grant me thy peace.
(And a sword shall pierce thy heart,
Thine also).
I am tired with my own life and the lives of those after me,
I am dying in my own death and the deaths of those after me.
Let thy servant depart,
Having seen thy salvation