Show DAY anti anil its olvera its origin once inc in c our saxon fathers named the months from some come chara characteristic manifestation or nature february was the month of prout kale and march the wind month but during the dominance of the roman church the days of the month were designated igna ted not as the tenth or twelfth but from the nearest saint in the calendar in Inthe the Patson letters that mine of antiquarian lights which so go vividly represents the household of life of the fifteenth century there la IF scarcely a letter which Is not thus dated as on the thursday next before st agathas the monday after st michaela Michael 6 the wednesday after st paules faules a curious mingling of honor to woden and thor with the sacred feasts of a more endig ing faith the festival of the a synchronous celebration of the presentation and of the purification was probably in ar ai such by the bishop gela Gelas lua in the reign of Jur justinian but it Is without ou t doubt a more ancient observance and one of the legacies of a I 1 dying cult great pan I 1 Is dead but his worship lingers in many an unconscious service occurring as it does on the ad of february may well be the survival of the roman Luper Lupe calla realla the or rites of fu on the esth of that month for or cent cen irles the babe lay in the manger of 0 bethlehem the use of candles although considered typical of the prophetic words of simeon A light to lighten the gentiles Is probably the relic of that tea fea ture of the Liper calla when during days 0 of f riotous license under tile the cloak of pious ceremonies the people ran hither and thither carrying candles candies to represent the torch with which demeter sought her lost persephone through the plains plain of enna beautiful myth sym boll bol zing izing so much truth spiritual and physical fair persephone reincarnate in the daffodils which sprung up on the banks of cyane the transition from the Luper calla to was but ore one of the many compromises by which pagan customs were baptized with christian names in england the best tribute to ti the he day Is given by the opening snowdrops snow drops bells fair maids of r february eb one of the many flowers dedicated to mary and formerly called the purification flower henry VITT VIII by special proclamation in 1539 permitted the use of candles candies and the further observance of the day for neither hen henry ry nor his daughter in their nominal prot estani Gm renounced the pageantry of rome in every english parish the ahe christmas greens were removed from church and honne home on eve a custom prettily told by herrick down with the rosemary and so down with tho bassand mistie mistletoe top down pith the holly ivy and all wherewith vo the christ haq hall that so ro the find not ono least branch there left laft behind for look how many aa loae eq there bo neglected there maids trust trait to me ins so many mady goblins you shall soo in the morning the yule log which had burned until twelfth night or old christmas was delighted kindle the christmas brand and then tit til sunset lot let it burn when quenched then lay it up lip n aln I 1 till christmas next return P part art mut murt bo be kept wherewith to heend the christmas loc next year A and nd where rig safely kept the fiend con can do no mischief there in scotland where the time is of some official importance as the chief quarter day great fires called the Candle mass bleeze glimmerings glimme rings from tile the ashes of the long extinct worship of baal were lighted on the hilltops and woe betide that neighborhood where dorany for any reason the fire did not burn the livelong night Is one of the few festivals of the church of which puritanism has left no tradition in popular parlance 7 this maybe may be because it Is a noteworthy observation day and in every north ern land there cluster about it proved predictions of the duration of winter it is fr the one day of the year when the sun gun is fr welcome A german proverb declares declarer the shepherd would rather see the wolf in his fold than the sun on day the story of the bear who rouses rouser himself from his long ill slumber um and comes out of hole returning to sleep six weeks longer if he sees the shadow is told of the woodchuck or groundhog and in many countries of the badger and other dibern hibernating abing ant animals A scotch saw tung runs thus if bo be dry nud and fair tile tiie halt half of winter w inter to come coine and calr lf it bo be wet and foul the half balf of winters gano tit t attl anlo its substance Is embodied in our own saying half your wood and halt half your your hay on Candle mass day a practical measure of the winter stores the general meteorological truths crystallized in these proverbs many of them hoary with the time of ages are obvious to one who studies the 1 and they may thun thum tend to preserve something of our vanishing fireside fire side lore if as has been well said popular customs contat cental the germs of history it Is equally true trite that the current beliefs and even tile superstitions of a people are arc the seed fields of philosophy and of sociology from which may may be reaped a rich harvest harvert new york yok evening post |