Candlemas in Houghton Regis

On Sunday 2 February we celebrated Candlemas, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, at the Parish Church. In this great festival of Our Lord, which take place 40 days after Christmas Day, Jesus is presented as the light to enlighten the nations: all people everywhere.

The first part of the service included the blessings and distribution of candles and a procession. Unlike in the modern use, candles are blessed at the altar, lighted, and then distributed to the congregation, highlighting the fact the light of Christ, though represented by many individual flames, is one. These initial rites replace the penitential rite for the Mass and are adapted from the English Missal.

In our celebration the Sanctus and Agnus Dei were taken from Francois Couperin's “Mass for the Convents”, published in 1690, and newly edited by our organist from manuscripts in Versailles and Carpentras. The plainchant sung by All Saints’ Choir is from a Parisian Gradual published in 1696. The organ music before, during and after Mass consists of extracts from the same Couperin Organ Mass. After Communion the choir sang the anthem “O Thou, the central orb” by Charles Wood.