La Chandeleur

La Chandeleur is a Christian festival celebrated in France on 2 February, 40 days after Christmas. Let us explore the traditions and history surrounding this festival…

The name of the festival “Chandeleur” or “festival of candles” is of Latin origin: festa candelarum, from candela, which means “candle”. Its name expresses the fact that Jesus is the light of the world.

This festival is in fact originally a pagan festival. It was a Roman festival in honour of the god Pan. On the night of the festival, the Romans marched through Rome with torches. It is also linked to the Roman Parentalia, a festival in honour of the dead during which the Romans kept vigil with candles in praise of the god Pluto.

In 472, Pope Gelasius I made it a Christian festival celebrating the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. Indeed, the Pope said that the festival had a “purifying” power. Large processions with candles are then organised on the day of the festival and each participant must take a candle home (without letting it go out!). This candle is blessed and is said to possess certain powers: its wax carefully applied to eggs ensures better hatching, its flame protects against lightning…

One of the traditions that has best survived through the ages is that of making pancakes for La Chandeleur. It was said that if one did not make pancakes on the day of La Chandeleur, the wheat for the year would then be blighted. The origin of the tradition of making pancakes is also Celtic: the pancake would symbolise the solar wheel and the gift to the deities… hence the need to make some to prevent the wheat from being damaged.

Another tradition was also to cook the first pancake with a gold coin in one’s hand. Once the pancake was finished, the coin had to be placed in the middle of the pancake, before leaving it on a cupboard until the following year, when the coin was retrieved from among the fragments of the pancake and then given to a beggar. Another belief is that whoever manages to flip their pancakes without them falling over would have a very good year. All these small traditions have the ultimate aim of bringing prosperity to the family throughout the year!

So there you have it, in a few lines, why and how La Chandeleur is celebrated in France, on 2 February.