Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Candlemas

"When the day came to purify them according to the law Of Moses, the couple brought him up to Jerusalem so that He could be presented to the Lord "Every first-born male shall Be consecrated to the Lord."  -Luke 2:22-23

It was Simeon to whom Mary presented Jesus, and in his prophecy to her, he told Mary her heart would be pierced with a sword, a prophecy found in the second chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke 2:34-35:
And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.
Now, before Simeon gave this prophecy to Our Lady, he referred to her Infant Son as the Light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and because of this, light and candles play an important role before and during the Mass, hence the most common name for this Feast -- "Candlemas."  
(*This is a brief excerpt from Fish Eaters' wonderful explanation of this feast day.)


Our craft for today was making candles!  We painted toilet paper rolls, used construction paper, tissue paper, and foam heart stickers for the flames, and put glitter glue, or "Spah-ker-les" as Addie would say, all over everything; silver for the candle and gold for the flame.


Lord God, you are the source of everlasting light.
Your son, our beloved Lord Jesus
was presented in the temple 40 days after his birth.
He was recognized by Simeon and Anna,
and welcomed as the promised Messiah.
May we like them, behold the glory of the Lord Jesus.
Grant that we may stand before you
with hearts cleansed by your forgiving love.
May we serve you all our days
and make your name known
as we worship you as our Lord.
So may we come by your grace
to eternal life .
Amen.

3 comments:

Margaret said...

"Spah-ker-les"... Hee!

Jen said...

Karen, those candles are adorable!

...and again, I only see two. Couldn't get Gabe involved in this, either? Heh. He's such a guy. (Maybe if you use *real* fire next year -- or even better, real spah-ker-les!)

Karen said...

Heh, yeah, Gabe's just totally not into being artsy. I keep trying to get him interested, "Gabe, do you want to paint? Look at all this paint we're slopping around. Do you want to smear some glitter with your hands? Look at how much fun Addie is having!" And his only response is a look that seems to say, "And?"