What Christian holiday is also celebrated on February 2?

The Christian holiday also celebrated on February 2 is Candlemas.

Candlemas, also called the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ, commemorates Joseph and Mary presenting Jesus at the Temple. The date is traditionally the 40th day after Christmas and is based on the account in Luke 2:22–40, in which Simeon and Anna encounter the infant Jesus.

The holiday’s candle imagery explains its name. In many Christian traditions, worshippers bring candles to church to be blessed, symbolizing Jesus as the “Light of the World.” Candlemas has been observed in various forms since late antiquity; the pilgrim Egeria described a celebration in Jerusalem in the 380s.

Candlemas is closely connected with Groundhog Day through European weather folklore. German traditions held that a sunny February 2, marked by an animal casting a shadow, predicted a longer winter. Pennsylvania settlers adapted that custom by replacing the hedgehog of older European lore with the native groundhog. Candlemas is not the same holiday as Epiphany, Christmas, or Ash Wednesday.