Candlemas Festival in Cornovecchio

The Village of Candlemas

Cornovecchio is one of the smallest Municipalities in the province of Lodi, a rural village in the Bassa lodigiana situated in the Po plain. Here, the main festival and most important annual event is the Feast of Candlemas, celebrated on February 2nd in honor of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the patron saint of the village and titular of the parish church.

The Meaning of the Festival

Candlemas falls exactly forty days after Christmas and commemorates the presentation of Jesus at the Temple and the purification of Mary, according to Jewish law. The popular name derives from the traditional blessing of the candles, a symbol of Christ "light to illuminate the peoples," according to the words with which old Simeon greeted the child at the Temple of Jerusalem. It is one of the oldest Marian festivals deeply rooted in peasant popular culture, which has linked proverbs and propitiatory rites for the end of winter to it.

The Church of the Purification

The heart of the celebration is the Church of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the parish church of Cornovecchio within the diocese of Lodi. The current building was constructed in 1772, replacing an older church dating back to 1684 which had become unsafe less than a century after its construction. The facade, in a classical style, is marked by pilasters and cornices and preceded by a portico supported by two columns; the interior, with a single nave with a barrel vault and side chapels, houses some 18th-century works of art. The history of the parish, documented since the 17th century, tells the story of a community that in 1690 numbered about 260 souls.

A Community Festival

In a village of a few hundred inhabitants, the Feast of Candlemas is the moment when the entire community of Cornovecchio gathers around its church and its roots. The liturgical celebration on February 2nd, with the blessing of the candles, remains the thread that binds generations and preserves the identity of this silent and authentic corner of the Lodi plain.