Light Your Very Own Easter Candle
Have you bought your candle yet? It is not too late to get one. Fr Terence’s suggestion that we get our very own candle for this year’s Easter celebration may have sent some of us hither and thither to Ikea or Spotlight in search of one. Or some of you may have bought the candle from our very own religious shop. What is the significance of the Easter candle and what is all the fuss about?
Light Penetrates Darkness
During the Easter Vigil, the priest carries a lighted Paschal Candle into a darkened church to signify the light of God returning because of Jesus Christ’s resurrection. The people in procession light their candles from the Paschal candle which eventually illuminates the church.
“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.” – 1 John 1: 5
Light Your Fire
So what do you do with your candle? Decorate it! Make it your very own design. You can stick images on it to remind you of your Lenten commitment. Perhaps the image of the sun to remind you to pray every morning, a star to help you remember to reflect on your day in the evening, even a telephone icon to remind you to spend less time on the phone and more time with God. Last but not least, don’t forget to bring your unique Easter Candle for the Easter Vigil.
BE INSPIRED
Exodus 27:19-20 speaks of keeping “a flame burning perpetually,” and Luke 11:33 says, “No one who lights a lamp hides it away or places it under a bushel basket. It is placed on a lampstand so that those who enter might see the light.” The lighted candle symbolizes a prayer offering when we present our petitions to the Lord and ask the saints to pray with us and to pray for us during our most dire need. This light, as it is kept burning, also shows our desire to remain in God’s presence as we go through our daily duties at home and in the workplace. Having designed an Easter Candle containing the symbols unique to your situation and your life, you are invited to enter into prayer with this candle. The lighted candle represents Christ who is the Light of the World, and as we pray with our Easter candles, we unite our prayers to the glowing heart of Christ. In difficult times, in thanksgiving, when prayers are yet to be answered, when prayers have been answered, at all times and seasons, we pray with our lighted candles, knowing that Christ the Light, has triumphed over the darkness.
By Karen Roberts- Fong
Making Our Easter Candle
The origins of the Paschal Candle are uncertain, however scholars of the Early Church such as Fr. Edward McNamara, professor of Liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum University, have proposed that it is derived from the practice of Lucernarium, the evening office with which early Christians began vigil for every Sunday, especially that of Easter. In turn, this rite was inspired by the Jewish custom of lighting a lamp at the conclusion of the Sabbath. Initially the candle was broken up into fragments and given to the faithful, but from the 10th century, it came to be placed near the altar or ambo for the duration of the Easter Octave.
During the Easter Vigil, the candle is blessed. Five grains of incense representing Christ’s wounds are inserted in the form of a cross. An alpha above the cross and an omega below (the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet) indicate that Christ is the beginning and end of all. The current year is traced on the four sides of the cross. As a form of preparation for Easter, the parishioners of the Church of St. Michael were invited to create their own Easter candle using symbols of things that they would like to pray about. In this article, Brian brings you through a step-by-step How-to tutorial to make your own customised Easter Candle: