From Lupercalia to Valentine’s Day, cont’d

02 Tuesday Feb 2016

Tags

Antiphon, Candlemas, Canticle, equinox, Lupercalia, Nunc Dimittis, Simeon, solstice, Valentine's Day

Presentation of Christ in the Temple, from the Sherbrooke Missal c. 1310 – c. 1320
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Candlemas

Today is Candlemas, now better known as “grounhog day” or “pancake day.” When I was a child, Candlemas, la Chandeleur, was a religious holiday that was also a festival of lights: la fête des lumières. We didn’t know it was groundhog day, nor did we know it was pancake day. We lived in the very Catholic province of Quebec, which was then a priest-ridden province and is now, otherwise ridden.

However, times have changed. In Quebec, today is le jour de la marmotte and la fête des crêpes. Quebec has therefore caught up to the rest of the world. Apparently, Groundhog Day is a German tradition. (See Groundhog Day, Wikipedia.) Ironically , it could be that many Quebecers do not remember la Chandeleur, or Candlemas.

Candlemas commemorated and still commemorates:

the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin
the Meeting of the Lord (see Simeon, Gospel of Luke, Wikipedia)

Saint Gelasius I

St Gelasius
a commemoration
the seasons

We owe Candlemas to Pope Gelasius I who died in Rome on the 19 November c. 496 CE and is now a saint. Saint Gelasius wanted to replace Lupercalia, a disorderly pagan feast with a Christian feast, celebrated about 12 days later than 2 February. It was Candlemas, which eventually would take place on 2 February, according to the Gregorian calendar. Most Christian feasts are celebrated on the same day as a pagan feast and they inaugurate or close a season, the four seasons and liturgical seasons.

Humans have also celebrated the day of the longest night, the winter Solstice, and the day of the longest day, the summer Solstice. They have also celebrated the days when day and night are the same length: equinoctial points, or an Equinox. This is the logic according to which Christian feasts are celebrated. It is a matter of season and one of continuity.

In 2016, solstices and equinoctial points are on:

20 March, the spring Equinox
20 June, the summer Solstice
22 September, the fall Equinox
21 December the winter Solstice

Christmas is celebrated on 25 December, near the winter Solstice.
Easter is a movable feast, near the spring Equinox, 27 April 2016.
St John’s Day is celebrated on 24 June, near the summer Solstice.
Michaelmas is celebrated on 29 September, near the fall Equinox.

Easter is the only movable feast, but it occurs near the vernal equinox. As for Candlemas, it is celebrated on 2 February and is a festival of lights or la Fête des lumières. It closes Epiphany Season and introduces a new Marian antiphon: Ave, Regina Cælorum, of which there are four. Moreover, it is the day when the canticle entitled Nunc Dimittis (Now let me leave) is sung. Antiphons are call and respond songs: a responsory, but canticles are songs of praise, such as the Magnificat.

Beginning today the Marian antiphon is the Ave Regina Cælorum. It will last until Good Friday.

Simeon’s Song of Praise by Aert de Gelder,
around 1700–1710 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Canticle of Simeon or the Nunc Dimittis

According to the book of Luke (Luke 2:29-32), Simeon, a devout Jew, had been promised by the Holy Ghost that he would see the Saviour before his death. He recognized Jesus when he was brought to the Temple for the ceremony of the Presentation of the first-born son. Having seen Jesus, a Jew, with his own eyes, he sang a canticle in which he says that now (nunc) he could leave: “Now let me leave…”

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
Book of Common Prayer, 1662

The Houghton ms Richardson, Harvard (c. 1400)

The Ave, Regina Cælorum is as follows:

Hail, O Queen of Heaven enthroned.
Hail, by angels mistress owned.
Root of Jesse, Gate of Morn
Whence the world’s true light was born:

Glorious Virgin, Joy to thee,
Loveliest whom in heaven they see;
Fairest thou, where all are fair,
Plead with Christ our souls to spare.

V. Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O sacred Virgin.
R. Give me strength against thine enemies.

(See Raphael & Marian Liturgy at Notre-Dame de Paris)

Tides

There are equinoctial tides that occur near the time of an equinox. In France, they are called marées d’équinoxe. They were spectacular where I lived in Normandy. One could not see the water from the shore. When the water returned, it did rapidly. Sheep grazed on the prés salés (salted meadows), called présalés, at Mont-Saint-Michel. It could be that the tides brought the salt. Before or after walking to the Abbey, we would eat crêpes. There was a lovely restaurant at the foot of the hill. Sometimes we drove to Saint-Malô to eat crêpes. Tides occurring on solstices are less dramatic than equinoctial tides.

The Christian seasons are also called “tides:” Christmastide, Epiphanytide, Eastertide, etc. Christianity has more seasons than nature’s four seasons. We are not entering a tide, but an Ordinary Time that will end on Ash Wednesday (10 February, this year) or Pentecost. (See Eastertide, Wikipedia.)

The RELATED ARTICLES, listed below, will lead you to all relevant posts and songs.

The Twelve Days of Christ (6 January 2016)
Candlemas: its Stories and its Songs, updated (12 February 2015)
From Lupercalia to Valentine’s Day (12 February 2013)
Raphael & Marian Liturgy at Notre-Dame de Paris (4 April 2012)

Kindest regards to everyone. ♥

The Four Seasons: from Darkness into Light

06 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Feasts, Music

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

archangels, Books of Hours, equinox, Kômos, Saturnalia, Satyr, solstice, The Gregorian Calendar, The Julian Calendar, WordPress

Satyr with pipe and a pipe case (Attic red-figure plate, 520–500 BC, from Vulci, Etruria

Satyr with pipe and a pipe case (Attic red-figure plate, 520–500 BCE, from Vulci, Etruria (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

From time immemorial, seasons, or more precisely, darkness and light, have determined the days on which humankind placed its festivities, regardless of cultures and religions. In fact, nature has always prevailed, bestowing unity upon diversity. And it most certainly dictated the moment when festivities were held.

The Solstices

Winter Solstice

The Winter solstice (December 21/22 for the Northern Hemisphere; June 20/21, for the Southern Hemisphere)

Humankind has always celebrated the longest night and the longest day. In ancient Greece, comedies and satires were associated with the winter solstice: Kômos, or Cômos, and Satyrs. And in the Rome of Antiquity, Saturnaliæ occurred on the day of the longest night. On that day, the universe was upside down. Therefore, in certain cultures, the master was suddenly slave. In more ancient cultures, an old king was replaced and, at times, sacrificed, so a new king could be enthroned. The old king was the pharmakos or scapegoat.

Judaism placed Hanukkah very close to the longest night of the year as did Christianity. In fact, Christianity celebrated the twelve days Christmas. In the Western Church, Christmas, the birth of Christ, has been celebrated on December 25th, but in the Eastern Church, January 6th, Epiphany, is the day on which the birth of Christ has been celebrated.

—ooo—

When Julius Cæsar established his calendar (the Julian Calendar), in 45 CE, he situated the winter solstice on December 25th, but in time, Christmas was celebrated several days before December 25th. See Winter solstice. Consequently, in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII (the Gregorian Calendar) brought the winter solstice back to December 22nd and, as per the directives of Council of Nicaea of 325, in the Western Church, Christmas has since been celebrated on December 25th and twelve days later in the Eastern Church.

Cæsar fixed the Spring (vernal) equinox on March 25th, but that was also changed at the Council of Nicaea. In Western cultures, we use the Gregorian calendar which is based on the determinations of the Council of Nicaea.

The Summer Solstice (June 20/21, for the northern hemisphere; December 21/22, for the Southern Hemisphere)

As for the longest day, for Christians, it is la Saint-Jean, St John’s Day, and various other feasts.

Ring Sundial

The Equinoxes, or equinoctial points

The Vernal Equinox (March 20/21, for the Northern Hemisphere; September 22/23, in the Southern Hemisphere)

The day on which darkness and light are of more or less equal length (equi =equal), Judaism celebrates Passover and Christians, Easter. Easter is the day of the resurrection of Christ. Consequently, the night before Easter Sunday, a mass is celebrated during which the Church is momentarily in complete darkness and gradually lit a candle at a time. In earlier days, a lamb was sacrificed: the sacrificial lamb.

The Autumnal Equinox (September 22/23; March 20/21)

As for the Autumnal equinox, it is the Judaic Rosh Hashanah. In Christianity, the day is marked by la Saint-Michel, on September 29th or the now nearly-forgotten Michaelmas. In the Roman Catholic Church, Michael is one of three archangels, the other two are Gabriel (March 24th) and Raphael (October 24th). But Christianity also has its archangel of death, or Esdras, the “avenging angel,” or archangel of death, named Azrael in Hebrew culture.

In Islamic culture, the four archangels are Gabriel, Michael, Raphael and Azrael. There are slight variations in the spelling of Azrael, variations that are consistent with national languages. The Greek Orthodox Church honours the archangels on November 8th.

The solstices and the equinoxes do not occur on a fixed and permanent day. However, nations have situated official feasts on fixed dates.

—ooo—

For the moment, my purpose is

first to provide a concise background for liturgical and secular Books of Hours. Liturgical “Books of Hours” are, among other texts, the Breviary and the Liber Usualis. Moreover Benedictine monks and other monks observe the Canonical Hours during which psalms are recited. Secular “Books of Hours,” such as Les Très Riches Heures de Jean de France, duc de Berry, are exquisitely-decorated books, books with illuminations or enluminures. As we have seen, Bestiaries are also richly-decorated manuscripts, a pleasure to the eye.
Second, it seemed important to write about humanity’s universal observance of feasts that are embedded in the seasons, or in the degree of darkness and light. Nature is the template.

In short, seasons and feasts correspond to natural phenomena, i. e. the degree of darkness and light. All cultures have let the cycles of nature dictate the dates of their feasts and, as strange as this may seem, our ordinary calendars are a cultural monument. They resemble “Books of Hours” and, generally, they are illustrated or “illuminated.”

In other words, as humankind progressed through milennia, it amassed traditions we must never forget. They shape our lives and inhabit the imagination of all human beings, and they cross every border.

—ooo—

For information on ancient practices perpetuated through religious rituals, tales, and literature in general, one’s best source is Sir James George Frazer’s (1 January 1854, Glasgow – 7 May 1941, Cambridge) The Golden Bough, A Study in Magic and Religion, published between 1890 and 1915. The Golden Bough is a Project Gutenberg‘s publication.

composer: Antonio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741)

piece: The Seasons, Winter

performers: Dénes Kovács

Budapest Symphony Orchestra

Conductor: Lamberto Gardelli

Sand animation film – Ferenc Cakó

Satyr pursuing a nymph, on a Roman mosaic

5 December 2012

WordPress

The Four Seasons: from Darkness into Light

15 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by michelinewalker in Angels, Antiquity, Feasts, Sharing

≈ Comments Off on The Four Seasons: from Darkness into Light

Tags

archangels, Books of Hours, equinox, Kômos, Saturnalia, Satyr, solstice, The Gregorian Calendar, The Julian Calendar, WordPress

Running Warrior by Colmar painter

The Solstices

Winter Solstice

The Winter solstice (December 21/22 for the Northern Hemisphere; June 20/21, for the Southern Hemisphere)

Humankind has always celebrated the longest night and the longest day. In ancient Greece, comedies and satires were associated with the winter solstice: Kômos, or Cômos, and Satyrs. And in the Rome of antiquity, Saturnaliæ occurred on the day of the longest night. On that day, the universe was upside down. Therefore, in certain cultures, the master was suddenly slave. In more ancient cultures, an old king was replaced and, at times, sacrificed, so a new king could be enthroned. The old king was the pharmakos or scapegoat.

Judaism placed Hanukkah very close to the longest night as did Christianity. In fact, Christianity celebrated the twelve days Christmas. In the Western Church, Christmas, the birth of Christ, has been celebrated on December 25th, but in the Eastern Church, January 6th, Epiphany, is the day on which the birth of Christ has been celebrated.

—ooo—

Julius Cesar (the Julian Calendar) situated the winter solstice on December 25th, but in time, Christmas was celebrated several days before December 25th. See Winter solstice. Consequently, in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII (the Gregorian Calendar) brought the winter solstice back to December 22nd and, as per the directives of Council of Nicea of 325, in the Western Church, Christmas has since been celebrated on December 25th.

The Summer Solstice (June 20/21, for the northern hemisphere; December 21/22, for the Southern Hemisphere)

As for the longest day, for Christians, it is la Saint-Jean, St John’s Day, and various other feasts.

Ring Sundial

The Equinoxes, or equinoctial points

The Vernal Equinox (March 20/21, for the Northern Hemisphere; September 22/23, in the Southern Hemisphere)

When Julius Caesar established his calendar in 45 BC, he fixed the Spring equinox on March 25th, but the Council of Nicea of 325 corrected that date. In Western cultures, we use the Gregorian calendar (Gregory XIII, 1582) which is based on the determinations of the Council of Nicea.

The Autumnal Equinox (September 22/23; March 20/21)

The solstices and the equinoxes do not occur on a fixed and permanent day. However, nations have situated official feasts on fixed dates.

—ooo—

For the moment, my purpose is

first to provide a background, vague as it may be, for liturgical and secular Books of Hours. Liturgical Books of Hours are, among other texts, the Breviary and the Liber Usualis. Moreover Benedictine monks and other monks observe the Canonical Hours during which psalms are recited. Secular Books of Hours, such as Les Très Riches Heures de Jean de France, duc de Berry, are exquisitely-decorated books, books with enluminures or illuminations. As we have seen, Bestiaries are also richly-decorated manuscripts, a pleasure to the eye.
Second, it seemed important to write about humanity’s universal observance of feasts that are embedded in the seasons, or in the degree of darkness and light. Nature is the template.

In short, seasons and feasts correspond to natural phenomena, i. e. the degree of darkness and light. All cultures have let the cycles of nature dictate the dates of their feasts and, as trivial as it may seem Calendars are a cultural monument. They resemble Books of Hours and are, generally, illustrated or “illuminated.”

In other words, as humankind progressed through milennia, it amassed traditions we must never forget. They shape our lives and inhabit the imagination of all human beings, climbing every mountain and crossing every border.

Vivaldi, The Four Seasons, Winter, Largo