In truth, this liturgical feast has its distant origins in the Eastern Liturgy, under the name “Hypapante” (which in Greek means “Meeting”), commemorating the meeting of old Simeon with the Child Jesus in the Temple when Mary and Joseph, to fulfill Jewish law, present their firstborn to the Lord with the offering prescribed by the laws set down in the Old Testament (Es 13,2.11-16; Lev 12,6-8).
In the West, in the medieval period and in particular in Rome, this procession takes on an additional meaning. Since it took place in February, and since February is called February because it is the month of fevers, this procession with torches also had a penitential character, with a supplication to the Lord that he be clement and merciful and that he not let us suffer fevers too much.
Well, it had been practically a year since I had had a fever, and so, as I was explaining this thought at the beginning of the candlelight procession, I smiled complacently, happy not to have suffered this ailment that practically everyone gets sooner or later each year. I looked at everyone around me who sooner or later caught, at various times of the year (even in summer!), a nice cold and, why not, even a bit of fever. I attributed (and perhaps there is even some truth in it) my bodily strength in resisting the wretched fever to the fact that, for a year, I have been taking almost every day 4000 IU of vitamin D. I learned this advice from an aunt of mine during a trip home to the United States, which turned into a penitential pilgrimage since, yet again, I caught a nice cold from the plane trip. Who knows, perhaps it was due to the recirculated air with so many passengers on board… In any case, this aunt told me that it had been a long time since she had caught any flu or cold, thanks to the vitamin D she had begun taking within the daily limit (and it is never advisable to exceed this limit; too many vitamins are not good for you) of 4000 IU.
Her theory had somewhat convinced me, because in learning about this Vitamin D (one hears so much talk about Vitamin C, little about Vitamin D), I discovered that vitamin D is produced naturally by the body when it is exposed to the sun, depending on how much skin surface is exposed each day… Well, considering that in our present civilization (at least, for the most part, though there are exceptions) we have the custom of going around well dressed and covered, and that we spend so much of the day inside buildings and homes, in fact we are not as exposed to the sun as those who live in nature. Therefore I can understand that the body tends to have a deficiency of vitamin D.
Well, until the day before yesterday the theory held up. But no theory is infallible. On the very last day of the month of fevers, I too caught, after a year, a nice fever. So I did not make the candlelight procession of February 2 in vain; I too find that I cannot boast of my own strength, nor even too much of my vitamins which, though they can help, are not infallible. Be clement with us, Lord, and do not let the wretched fever strike us too harshly!