adminLa Chandeleur (Candlemas) is also known as “Fête de la Lumière”, when it is the custom to prepare and eat crêpes. It also marked the end of the Christmas Season and falls 40 days after Christmas on the 2nd February.
The name, Chandeleur, comes from the Latin candelorum festum, which means festival of candles. This day celebrated the presentation of Jesus, by lighting candles, to represent Jesus as the light of the world…And “Crêpes” are round, like the sun, and thus symbolized the Son/sun of God, light of the world!
So, on that special day, as you know now, we eat crêpes… First, You have to try your hand at flipping crêpes “Faire sauter des crêpes”… but it’s not enough to just eat crêpes! For good luck, you have to hold a coin in one hand and with the other, toss the crepe into the air when it’s time to cook it on the other side. If you manage to catch the crepe in the pan you will have good fortune in the coming year!
We also have a few proverbs and superstitions surrounding it…
- “À la Chandeleur, l’hiver cesse ou reprend vigueur”
On Candlemas, winter ends or strengthens
- “Chandeleur couverte, quarante jours de perte”
Candlemas covered , forty days lost
