Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, FEAST OF, a festival in commemoration of the 'purification' of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in accordance with the ceremonial law of Lev. xii. 2. This ceremony was appointed for the fortieth day after childbirth, which, reckoning from December 25 (the nativity of our Lord), falls upon February 2, on which day the purification is celebrated. The history of Mary's compliance with the law is related in Luke, ii. 22-24. The date of the introduction of this festival is uncertain. The first trace of it is about the middle of the 5th century, and in the Church of Jerusalem. In the Western Church it was known to Bede. Its introduction in the Roman Church in 494 was made by Pope Gelasius the occasion of transferring to a Christian use the festivities which at that season were annexed to the pagan festival of the Lupercalia. See CHURCHING OF WOMEN.