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    Published : 2015-09-30
    Vol. 62 No. 9 (2015)

    Feast of Our Lady of Candles in Folk Religiosity

    Zdzisław Kupisiński



    DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rt.2015.62.9-10

    Abstract

    The Feast of Our Lady of Candles is the later name for the Feast of Presentation of the Lord, founded in the fourth century. Initially, the celebration had a Christological accent, but with time it acquired features of Marian feast (now in the liturgy the original name is in force). In Polish folk religiosity the name Our Lady of the Thunder Candle has functioned, as people came to church to have their candles called “gromnica” (the Thunder Candle) blessed. Under the influence of the Church's teaching, ancient folk customs and rituals have changed their content and meaning. So it was with the symbolism of light and candle. After giving it a Christian interpretation burning candle symbolizes the eternal light, which is Christ for every Christian.

    In the life of the villagers gromnica had great significance and was used for various practices. It was handed to a dying person to be safely accompanied by Mary to the “other world” and in the light of Christ. After coming back from church, sign of the cross was marked with a smoky flame of gromnica at the frames of windows and the front door of the house to ensure God's protection from evil spirits. Gromnica was lit and placed in a window or on a table during storm to protect the house and farm from thunder-light and “avert” storm. This was not a magical act, as some ethnologists asserted, but a form of folk piety through the intercession of Mary (People prayed Rosary and “Beneath Thy Protection”).Gromnica was also used for medical and meteorological practices; by observing the flame during the church service or on the way home people were making predications. According to the folk beliefs, candle had its power, because it was blessed in the church by the priest. Nowadays very little is left of the ancient folk customs associated with the Thunder Candle. Only in some families the custom of handing gromnica to the dying person or marking sign of the cross on the frames of the door and windows is still practiced. However, the candle as such and its burning flame reminds the faithful about Baptism and Christ – the eternal Light.

    Keywords:

    Presentation of the Lord, Feast of Our Lady of Candles, “Gromnica”, folk piety, customs, rituals and folk beliefs, folk tradition, divination, magical practices



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    Roczniki Teologiczne · ISSN 2353-7272 | eISSN 2543-5973 · DOI: 10.18290/rt
    © Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL & Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II

    Artykuły w czasopiśmie dostępne są na licencji Creative Commons Uznanie autorstwa – Użycie niekomercyjne – Bez utworów zależnych 4.0 Międzynarodowe (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)