Despite the lack of groundhogs, N.L. has its own Feb. 2 traditions

Monday morning at sunrise, Punxsutawney Phil will emerge from his burrow and, if he sees his shadow, North America is supposedly in for six more weeks of winter. 

There may be no groundhogs on the island of Newfoundland, but Newfoundlanders and Labradorians once had their own local traditions associated with Feb. 2.

The date is the Christian Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which commemorates the day Mary and Joseph brought their infant son Jesus to be presented at the temple in Jerusalem in accordance with Jewish custom. 

In the Middle Ages and early modern period, the feast was more commonly known as Candlemas. Priests would bless their church’s annual supply of candles as a symbol of the light they believed Jesus had brought to the world. Candles would be passed out amongst the parishioners for a candlelit hymn or procession. 

These consecrated candles were then taken home for protection and good luck. Women would use the candles to bless their children and their homes, allowing drops of sacred wax to fall on each child’s cap, on work clothing, and even on household appliances. The custom survives to this day in parts of St. Mary’s Bay. 

Fishermen would also take a blessed candle to sea, to be lit during gales and storms to safeguard their boats. In Fogo and the Bay of Islands, fine weather on Candlemas Day actually predicted a fine fishery over the coming summer. 

Candlemas was such an important occasion in the 19th and early 20th centuries that it was a statutory holiday in the Dominion of Newfoundland. Businesses would close, and even servants would take the day off. 

There were secular festivities, too. Falling halfway between the winter solstice and spring equinox, Candlemas was an opportunity to toast the mid-point of winter and look forward to the arrival of spring.

Even as new candles were prepared for the coming year, winter candles began to be put away. Although daylight had been slowly returning since Dec. 21, Candlemas was considered the true turn of the season, when late afternoon chores and activities could once again be done by the light of the sun.

Residents of the Avalon Peninsula even had a rhyme about it that was likely imported from southeastern Ireland:

Candles and candlesticks put you away, 

And eat your supper by the light of the day.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians shook off their winter blues and celebrated the return of sunlight with parties, parades, and dances. These soirees were sometimes called Candlemas Cakes after the tradition of baking a communal fruitcake for the holiday.

In some areas, male friends would spice up their weekly card games by playing for the cake’s ingredients, wagering flour, molasses, and raisins instead of money. The loser each week would have to provide his assigned component, and on Candlemas the entire group would gather with their wives at one of their homes to enjoy the cake, which was likely baked by the women even though they never joined in the games.