Candlemas

Theology, tradition, pop culture... 

In Christian churches, February 2 is Candlemas, also called the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, or the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin, or the Meeting of the Lord. It is the fortieth day following Christmas, a halfway point between Christmas and the spring equinox. In the Gospel lesson for the day, Luke 2:22-40, Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the Temple forty days after his birth, to complete Mary’s purification and to perform pidyon haben, “the redemption of the first born” (Exodus 13:12-15, Leviticus 12). Because Simeon calls Jesus a light to the Gentiles (Luke 2:32), the festival became known as “candle mass.” 

There is an old tradition that sunny weather on Candlemas means a long winter. This tradition was elaborated by the Pennsylvania Dutch, who added a critter to the tradition--first a badger, then a groundhog. The significance of Punxsutawney, PA is that they had the first Groundhog Day celebration during the late 1800s. 

But the expression "like Groundhog Day", referring to the same routine or situation day after day, grew from the 1993 Bill Murray-Andie MacDowell-Chris Elliott film.

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