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| Old memories at Candelaria Church, Tenerife |
February, 2 is a special day for The Grandma because some different events in different points of the world happen to celebrate the Candlemass day. In Canary Islands, they celebrate the festivity of The Virgin of Candelaria, their the patron saint; in Mallorca, it is possible to contemplate an incredible phenomenon of light in the cathedral of Palma, and in Punxsutawney, they celebrate the Groundhog day, a festivity where a groundhog predicts the weather for the next months. The Grandma has visited Molins de Rei, a beautiful city near Barcelona, where The Virgin of Candelaria is also its patron.
Candlemas has got old origins and lots of European cultures celebrates it. A Catalan proverb says that if Candlemass cries, winter is finishing but if Candlemass smiles winter is going to be longer (Si la Candelera plora, l'hivern és fora; si la Candelera riu, l'hivern és viu).
One of the most popular an important Catalan poets of the 19th century, Jacint Verdaguer, wrote a beautiful poem about Candlemass that is remembered on a day like today in different events around the Catalan lands.
Before celebrating Candlemass day, The Grandma has studied a new lesson of her Elementary Language Practice manual (Vocabulary 14).
More information: Vocabulary 14-The World Around Us
Candlemas, also spelled Candlemass, also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus and the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Christian Holy Day commemorating the presentation of Jesus at the Temple.
The Virgin of Candelaria or Our Lady of Candelaria, popularly called La Morenita, celebrates the Virgin Mary on the island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. The center of worship is located in the city of Candelaria in Tenerife. She is depicted as a Black Madonna. The Royal Basilica Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Candelaria is considered the main church dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the Canary Islands. She is the patron saint of the Canary Islands. Her feast is celebrated on February 2 and August 15, the patronal feast of the Canary Islands.
More information: Secret Tenerife
Twice a year, on February 2nd and November 11, this spectacular phenomenon appears in the Cathedral of Palma. But what is this?
The reasons for the massive interest in this event, has its roots in the Christian faith.
February 2nd: The day when Jesus was presented in the temple of Jerusalem and Mary was purified after childbirth, also known as the Calendria.
November 11: The day of Saint Martin of Tours, a saint that honoured in one of the chapels of La Seu.
At 8:30 in the morning, the sun rises over La Seu. The sun beams breaks through the greater of the two rosettes in the facade wall of the cathedral, and causes a reflection of playful colours just under the rosette on the opposite facade wall.
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| The Grandma contemplates the '8' in Palma Cathedral |
The sensation lasts about 15 minutes, during which hundreds of excited guests adores the symphony of colours lighting up the majestic interior of one of Europe’s most spectacular constructions.
The reflection of lights and the rosette of the facade forms the number 8.
In Christian traditions, the number 8 has a symbolic value. Back in time, Christian writers found, that when an extra day was added to the natural seven day week, the gate to eternity (heaven) was opened. The number 8 represents a new start, to be born again and resurrected, just like Jesus showed himself eight times after his resurrection.
Also notice, that the 14 massive columns inside the cathedral are octagonal. The same coincide with the baptistery in many churches.
More information: Catedral de Mallorca
Groundhog Day is a popular tradition celebrated in Canada and the United States on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will persist for six more weeks, and if it does not see its shadow because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early. While the tradition remains popular in modern times, studies have found no consistent correlation between a groundhog seeing its shadow or not and the subsequent arrival time of spring-like weather.
The weather lore was brought from German-speaking areas where the badger is the forecasting animal. This appears to be an enhanced version of the lore that clear weather on the Christian Holy Day of Candlemas forebodes a prolonged winter.
The Groundhog Day ceremony held at Punxsutawney in western Pennsylvania, centering around a semi-mythical groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil, has become the most attended.
Grundsow Lodges in Pennsylvania Dutch Country in the southeastern part of the state celebrate them as well. Other cities in the United States and Canada have also adopted the event. The observance of Groundhog Day in the United States first occurred in German communities in Pennsylvania, according to known records.
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| Punxsutawney Phil |
The earliest mention of Groundhog Day is an entry on February 2, 1840, in the diary of James L. Morris of Morgantown, in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, according to the book on the subject by Don Yoder. This was a Welsh enclave but the diarist was commenting on his neighbors who were of German stock.
The first reported news of a Groundhog Day observance was arguably made by the Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, in 1886: up to the time of going to press, the beast has not seen its shadow. However, it was not until the following year in 1887 that the first Groundhog Day considered official was commemorated here, with a group making a trip to the Gobbler's Knob part of town to consult the groundhog. People have gathered annually at the spot for the event ever since.
More information: The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club
Clymer Freas (1867–1942) who was city editor at the Punxsutawney Spirit is credited as the father who conceived the idea of Groundhog Day. It has also been suggested that Punxsutawney was where all the Groundhog Day events originated, from where it spread to other parts of the United States and Canada.
The Groundhog Day celebrations of the 1880s were carried out by the Punxsutawney Elks Lodge. The lodge members were the genesis of the Groundhog Club formed later, which continued the Groundhog Day tradition. But the lodge started out being interested in the groundhog as a game animal for food. It had started to serve groundhog at the lodge, and had been organizing a hunting party on a day each year in late summer.
The chronologies given are somewhat inconsistent in the literature. The first Groundhog Picnic was held in 1887
according to a book for popular reading by an academic, but given as
post-circa-1889 by a local historian in a journal. The historian states
that around 1889 the meat was served in the lodge's banquet, and the
organized hunt started after that.
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| Celebrating Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney |
Either way, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club was formed in 1899, and continued the hunt and Groundhog Feast, which took place annually in September.
The hunt portion of it became increasingly a ritualized formality, because the practical procurement of meat had to occur well ahead of time for marinating. A drink called the groundhog punch was also served. The flavor has been described as a cross between pork and chicken. The hunt and feast did not attract enough outside interest, and the practice discontinued.
The groundhog was not named Phil until 1961, possibly as an indirect reference to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where crowds as large as 40,000 gather each year, nearly eight times the year-round population of the town. The average draw had been about 2,000 until the year after the movie screened in 1993, after which attendance rose to about 10,000.
The official Phil is pretended to be a supercentenarian, having been the same forecasting beast since 1887. In 2019, the 133rd year of the tradition, the groundhog was summoned to come out at 7:25 am on February 2, but did not see its shadow. Fans of Punxsutawney Phil awaited his arrival starting at 6:00 a.m., thanks to a live stream provided by Visit Pennsylvania. The live stream has been a tradition for the past several years, allowing more people than ever to watch the animal meteorologist.
More information: The Guardian
Blanca com un ciri, pura com un lliri,
la Verge divina al Temple Camina
duent en sos braços, com xaió de llet,
lo bon Jesuset.
Jacint Verdaguer
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