Candlemas day, the 2nd of February, used to be held in the old pagan
times as a kind of saturnalia, with dances and torches and many unholy
rites. But these gave occasion to so much ill conduct that in the ninth
century the Pope abolished the festival, and substituted for it the
Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, when candles were lit
in her honour. Hence the name of Candlemas.