On Wednesday 4th of February 2026 Reverend Nicola McNally joined us in school to deliver Collective Worship about Candlemas.
Candlemas was the day the Church’s candles for the year were blessed, also known as the “festival of light”, people placed lit candles in their windows at home.
Traditionally the candles to be used in church were blessed. They were blessed because they symbolise the light of Christ and hence linked with events in today’s Gospel where Jesus is identified by Simeon as ‘a light for revelation to the Gentiles’. In earlier times, people used to bring their own candles to church to be blessed too.
Apparently, snowdrops were called Candlemas bells because they were used to decorate the churches for this festival.
Candlemas also has another name – The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple – and this gives a clue as to the event that Christians remember at this time. On this feast day Christians read in the Bible about something that happened to Jesus as a young baby when his parents took him to the Temple in Jerusalem. The events are described in St Luke’s Gospel.
