Christmas festivities may be long over in many parts of the world, but Mexico adds a postscript to the holiday season with the celebration of Día de la Candelaria on February 2.
Falling 40 days after Christmas, La Candelaria, called Candlemas in English, commemorates the presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple. In Mexico, it entails a follow-up to the January 6 celebration of Three Kings Day. The “lucky” individuals who found themselves plucking a tiny baby doll from a slice of Rosca de Reyes, the traditional Epiphany bread baked for that day, are expected to spend the day acting as godparents to the Christ Child. Duties often include providing the family’s life-size image of the Baby Jesus with a new outfit for a church blessing and hosting a tamale feast for the friends and relatives with whom they shared the Kings Day bread. It is a major business day for cooks who prepare huge vats of masa dough containing assorted meat and vegetable fillings wrapped in corn husks or banana leaves.
On La Candelaria, prior to the tamale banquet, devout Christians customarily attend church services in which candles used for devotional purposes are consecrated. Blessings may also be bestowed upon Bibles, household religious icons, containers of holy water and the Niño Dios figurines that have been laid in the family creche since Christmas Eve. In addition, live infants are commonly presented at the temple for a benediction.
Since the date closely coincides with the period for sowing spring crops, it is also considered an appropriate day for the blessing of seeds.
It is also the date for finally breaking down nativity scenes and other decorations put up back in December to raise Christmastide spirits.