Liturgical Time

There's been a lot of heated debate around the Moot House this week as people try to work out how the Liturgical Year is playing out around the whole Imbolc/Candlemas period. So let me try to get this straight.

Imbolc is on 2 Feb. Always is, always will be. Candlemas is nominally 2 Feb, but we have found that makes it clash with Imbolc. Now while Candlemas celebrates the presentation of Jesus in the temple, Imbolc marks the time of year when ewes start lactating. So we move Candlemas for two reasons. Firstly because if we celebrate Candlemas on a Sunday, the Beaker Folk who are more like "other" Christians are more likely to turn up. And secondly, because if a ewe has decided to start lactating on a certain day, I'm not going to be the one to tell her to stop, or to start early. Blooming terrifying, sheep.

1 Feb is Candlemas Eve, as we can't move it to the previous Sunday because Candlemas is already there. So we can leave that where it is. But that means we have to find somewhere for Imbolc Eve. So, since Candlemas is already tomorrow, we have to transfer Imbolc Eve to next Sunday. This gives us the following:

31 Jan - Candlemas
1 Feb - Candlemas Eve
2 Feb - Imbolc
7 Feb - Imbolc Eve

So I hope that is clear. We will have the same problem next year, as it looks like Imbolc clashes with Candlemas again.

Sometimes I feel we're not so much juggling thr Liturgical Calendar, as dropping it.