Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CAN'DLE-MAS, n. [candle and mass, Sax. mæssa; candle-feast.]

The feast of the church celebrated on the second day of February in honor of the purification of the Virgin Mary; so called from the great number of lights used on that occasion. This feast is supposed to have originated in the declaration of Simeon, that our Savior was “to be a light to lighten the Gentiles.” On this day, the Catholics consecrate all the candles and tapers which are to be used in their churches during the whole year. In Rome, the pope performs the ceremony himself, and distributes wax candles to the cardinals and others, who carry them in procession through the great hall of the pope's palace. The ceremony was prohibited in England by an order of council in 1548. But Candlemas is one of the four terms for paying and receiving rents and interest; and it gives name to a law term, beginning Jan. 15, and ending Feb. 3. – Encyc.