Today is the feast of Candlemas-- the 40th day from Christmas, and the last day of the season. On this day we celebrate Our Lady's purification in the Temple, according to the Jewish custom. The Mass of today features a great many candles, and traditionally, if you wanted to have your own candles blessed, this was the day to do it. I did a post on this feast last year, with various useful links, which you are more than welcome to revisit. Today I am posting a carol called Candlemas Eve (and yes, I am late, as it is now Candlemas evening and not the eve of the feast. Och weel. Sich is life.) The words are fairly old, being written by the English poet, Richard Herrick, in the 1600s, though, according to The Hymns and Carols of Christmas, the chorus appears to be added later. There are several version of this carol floating about youtube, but I particularly appreciated this version, as it contains both the carol, and an even older poem called I am Christmas (both of which feature on the fisheaters article on Candlemas traditions I have previously linked to, but provide again here).
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