Candlemas Day occurs on February 2 and celebrates the purification and presentation of the child Jesus in the Temple in Jerusalem. This occurred when Jesus was 40 days old, which is why Candlemas takes place 40 days after Christmas.
Some say, according to the older calendar that February 2 marks the end of the Christmas season. I have heard various things on this. Others indicate the date of the Baptism of Our Lord which took place on January 10th is in fact the end of Christmas.
It's interesting that it's called Candlemas day since the following day, February 3, is St. Blaise Day when throats are blessed with a candle. This feast day is also the 4th Joyful Mystery of the Rosary - the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple.
During this feast day, candles are blessed, in particular those which will be placed on the altar for the Mass.
I have a personal story to recount in this regard. My wife's aunt who is not Christian and lives in India wanted to go to a Hindu temple many years ago but there wasn't any where she was, so she went to a Catholic Church instead. There, she lit a candle for her son who was sick. Her son recovered and every year since then she has given candles to her local church in India. This year, however, was different since churches were all closed in India due to Covid-19 measures. So she asked my wife's parents to bring them to a church. They bought the candles and I finally brought them to the priest a few days ago.
I wasn't sure how the priest would react, but in the end he was very thankful and in fact said the candles would be placed near the altar and would be blessed during Candlemas. I wasn't even thinking of this feast day when I gave them to him. So this whole thing worked out perfectly.
Happy Candlemas Day to all readers of this blog!
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