February: Between Frost and Flame
February is a month of thresholds, not quite winter, not quite spring. The earth is still cold, but light is slowly returning, stretching the mornings and lingering into evening. In the Church, we stand near Candlemas (2nd February) and often at the beginning of Lent, making this a time of quiet turning, from darkness to light, from stillness to pilgrimage, from resting to preparing.
Candlemas marks the moment Mary and Joseph bring Christ to the Temple. He is just a child, but old Simeon sees what others do not: “a light for revelation.” It is a story of recognition, not spectacle. February invites us to that kind of sight, to notice where light is quietly present in our own ordinary days.
This is not a month of immediate blossoming, but of hidden movement beneath the surface. Lent approaches, not as punishment, but as permission to begin again, slowly, gently, honestly.
From the Earth
The land is still spare and raw. Bare branches stand against pale skies, but if you look closely, you’ll see the first tight leaf buds forming on hawthorn and hazel. Snowdrops appear in clusters, like prayers whispered from the soil, and catkins dangle like soft bells from alder and willow trees.
Fields remain sodden, paths muddy, and the wind comes sharp from the north. Yet birds have begun their subtle shift: robins sing more boldly, and larks rise over open fields. Even in cold air, something stirs. February is quiet, but not lifeless.
Those Who Went Before
St Milburga of Wenlock (Feast Day: 23 February)
St Milburga was a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon abbess in Shropshire, daughter of a Mercian king but known more for gentleness than grandeur. She founded the abbey at Much Wenlock, where prayer, land-tending, and hospitality shaped daily life. Tradition says she had a special love for birds and asked her sisters to leave grain for them in winter.
Stories tell of wild geese that followed her and of crops protected from frost through her prayers. She is a saint deeply tied to the land: between farm and cloister, between cultivated field and wild sky.
Milburga reminds us that holiness can be rooted, local, attentive, found in caring for creation and community rather than seeking status.
A Prayer in Action
In February, choose one act of clearing or preparing—not for productivity, but for welcome. It might be:
Clearing a small corner of your home to make a quiet place for prayer or rest
Planting spring bulbs or herbs in a pot for the windowsill
Tidying a drawer, shelf, or garden bed as a way of making space
As you work, pray:
“Christ, make room in me for Your light. Let whatever is cluttered be cleared, whatever is cold be kindled.”
“For with You is the fountain of life;
in Your light we see light.”
