The blessing of candles, their distribution, the procession, and the Mass that follows make up the liturgy of the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, celebrated forty days after Christmas and popularly called Candlemas. The candles are blessed in the Church's public worship; their later use in the home is a devotional custom, and the light they give is a sign of Christ, 'a light for revelation to the Gentiles' in Simeon's song.

Bring candles to the parish church on 2 February for the blessing, and carry a lighted candle in the procession as Simeon's canticle is sung. Take the blessed candles home. Light them at family prayer, before a sacred image, in time of storm or serious illness, and beside the bed of one who is dying, praying the Nunc Dimittis with the sick person. Keep them for sacred use only.

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