As the sun drenches a the morning of February 2, there is a lot to celebrate. Or not.
If Candlemas be fair and bright, Come, winter, have another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, Go, winter, and come not again.
Yes, here we are, halfway to the Spring Equinox - not a fact readily noticeable on social media, but more obvious to ancient peoples whose lives were ruled by changing seasons.
They looked for signs of spring, omens. The animals perhaps? Did they know? A bear here, a squirrel there. Or, if you'd emigrated to Pennsylvania a woodchuck, or groundhog. And the clearer the sky was (i.e. the animal sees its shadow), the more wintry it was likely to remain (high pressure established and all that - though known by experience rather than meteorology).
The legendary film Groundhog Day uses it as the background for its story of day repeats. But what the day is really about is - when is is the change coming?
And so it was that on 'this' day (using December 25 as his birthday), Mary and Joseph present the Christ-child Jesus, as required in the law, at the Temple, And Anna rejoices and Simeon - well, let Johannes Eccard do this bit for us;
When to the temple Mary went,
And brought the Holy Child,
Him did the aged Simeon see,
As it had been revealed.
He took up Jesus in his arms
And blessing God he said:
In peace I now depart, my Saviour having seen,
The Hope of Israel, the Light of men.
Help now thy servants, gracious Lord,
That we may ever be
As once the faithful Simeon was,
Rejoicing but in Thee;
And when we must from earth departure take,
May gently fall asleep and with Thee wake
That we may ever be
As once the faithful Simeon was,
Rejoicing but in Thee;
And when we must from earth departure take,
May gently fall asleep and with Thee wake
All the woodchucks in the world cannot end the winter. But Christ came to do just that.
