Groundhog Day and the Feast of the Presentation

February 2nd is Groundhog Day. It’s also the “Feast of the Presentation of the Lord” ― the day Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the Temple. Many don’t realize that Groundhog Day is rooted in the Feast of the Presentation.

In the Temple that day, Simeon called Jesus “a light of revelation” (Lk 2:32). The Presentation has thus become a “Festival of Light.” Since the eleventh-century, Catholics have blessed candles on this day, and call the feast “Candlemas.” But this is also when the sunlight begins creeping back. A Christian legend says the sunlight on Candlemas ― the “Festival of Light” ― predicts the weather of the coming months. Scottish Christians had a rhyme: “If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there'll be two winters in the year.”

This is where Groundhog Day comes from. Indeed, they’re the same day. If the groundhog sees shadows and heads back to hibernate in his burrow, it means there will be “two winters in the year.”¹

1. Wait. Why does the groundhog seeing its shadow suggest more winter? If the sun is out and shadows are being cast, shouldn’t that indicate that Spring is near? One theory: groundhogs (and medieval Christians, apparently) are pessimists who, upon seeing sunny days, assume the worst is yet to come and head back in for winter. Moreover, if the groundhog does not see his shadow because of the cloud cover, he assumes rain is imminent ― a hallmark of Spring.