Candlemas: Candles, Crepes and Compline

This is the second installment of “Life in the Church Year,” a series by Dr. Kristen Einertson and Tessa Muench of All the Household. This series will provide guidance for living out the seasons of the Church Year at home with your families. Find month-by-month lists of Lutheran feasts, festivals and commemorations here.

The month of February can feel dull and drab after much of the merriment of Christmas and Epiphany has passed. Winding down from a season of festivity and anticipating a season of fasting during Lent is a challenge. However, February includes another joyful moment that earns Lutherans’ attention with glittering light in a time of darkness: the Feast of the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of our Lord, also known as “Candlemas.”

Coming toward the end of Epiphany, 40 days after Christmas, this holiday on Feb. 2 can be easily forgotten. Yet the biblical reference for the day is likely familiar: Mary and Joseph present Jesus in the temple, and Mary is purified from childbirth — both in fulfillment of Old Testament law. There Simeon recognizes the babe as the long-awaited Messiah, confessing the words of the Nunc Dimittis, “a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel” (Luke 2:32 KJV).

This phrase might be familiar to you, since we sing it after receiving the Sacrament of the Altar within the Divine Service; profess it at the end of Compline; and speak it at Lutheran funerals on behalf of the departed, who has already gone to behold Jesus in the culmination of Simeon’s words, “Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace” (LUKE 2:29 KJV).

Moreover, Simeon’s prayer offers the basis for the feast’s nickname of Candlemas, which Christians have lovingly given it because of its customs. Alluding to the “light” that Simeon saw in Jesus, congregations have long made this feast a day of illumination, marking it with the blessing and lighting of new candles to be used throughout the rest of the year in the church, and also distributing them for parishioners to take home. Christians then keep the candle out in their homes to represent Christ’s dwelling with believers as a manifest piece of Emmanuel, “God with us.” Further, these candles symbolize Jesus’ light to the world and His purity and newness.

But this is not the only Candlemas custom that proclaims a message of light and reinforces the joy of Epiphanytide. Besides attending a church service or bringing home new candles, join with the Christians who for centuries have made Candlemas crepes to celebrate this day. Since at least the fifth century, these circular treats have been connected to the feast because of their round shape and golden color, which remind us of the sun and of Jesus, the Epiphany “morning star.”

Photo: Tessa Muench

Additionally, consider praying the oﬃce of Compline (Lutheran Service Book, p. 253) as an individual or family the night of Feb. 2, speaking with the church the daily rite that includes Simeon’s song. Simeon was told that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah, and neither will you, dear Christian.

Candlemas Crepes

Ingredients:

1 cup milk
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
3 Tbsp. powdered sugar

Instructions:

Mix the milk, eggs, water, sugar, butter, vanilla, salt and flour in a blender.

Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat and lightly grease it.

Pour just enough mixture in the pan to cover it, swirling the pan to ensure the mixture spreads evenly. You want it to be coated with a thin surface but not so paper-thin that it will tear when you flip.

Flip after about 1 minute, 30 seconds, then wait until the other side is done before taking it off the pan.

Cool the crepes on wax paper, top with powdered sugar and enjoy!

Cover image: Tessa Muench