The Ritual Year - Candlemas

As part of our Ritual Year celebrations here at the Museum, we will be welcoming the Black Knight Historical Living History Team where they will be staying at the Museum from Saturday, 25 January through to Sunday, 2 February. With the culmination of their stay being the celebration of the Feast of Candlemas on the Sunday.

Candlemas is the celebration of Christ as the light of the world. When Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem, he was recognised by an old prophet named Simeon, as the Messiah, and a ‘light to lighten the Gentiles’.

As such, a central theme of Candlemas is light, symbolised by candles blessed in church services and carried around the parish. However, following the Reformation, the tradition of blessing candles faced criticism, with figures like Archbishop Cranmer banning it as superstitious. Candlemas also carries weather folklore, with the rhyme suggesting that clear weather signals a longer winter, while cloudy skies hint at an early spring.