Lent is coming to an end

As we finish up the candles for the Easter Vigil, I am reminded that Lent will be ending tomorrow evening. I still have a mess on my craft table from working on the candles as you can see in the picture below. Roger has polished the Paschal Candle so it is ready to go for Saturday evening. I've decided not to post a picture of the actual candle until Saturday so check back then.

I read an interesting article in this months issue of Living with Christ" which I will include bits of for you to enjoy also.

The Size of the Paschal Candle Early Christians rather naturally viewed the kindling of the new fire at the Easter Vigil as a symbol of the presence of their resurrected Lord, the new "pillar of fire" (see Exodus 12:21-22). Thus, the candle grew in size so as to merit the attribution of pillar mentioned in the Exsultet.

There have been paschal candles weighing more than 300 pounds. In the medieval church they often reached astonishing sizes. For example, the paschal candle at Salisbury Cathedral was said to be 36 feet tall! Remember our Paschal Candle is about 4 feet tall and weighs around 9 pounds.

Lighting of the Candle

The first part of the Easter Vigil is the Service of Light. Our Paschal Candle will be lit from the fire and the following prayer will be read:

Christ yesterday and today

beginning and the end

Alpha and Omega

all time belongs to him

and all the ages

to him be glory and power

through every age forever.

Amen.

During this prayer the priest will trace the vertical arm of the cross, the horizontal arm , the alpha above the cross, the omega below the cross, the '2' upper left, the '0' upper right, the '0' lower left and the '9' lower right.

The Symbols: The paschal candle is inscribed with a cross, the current year (traced on the four side of the cross), and the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet: an alpha (A) above the cross and an omega below. The symbols on the cross reinforce the point that Christ is present among us now and throughout eternity. Christ is the same yesterday and today, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End (Revelations 21:6;22:13)

Candle from 2008

Last year I tried a new technique for the design of the Paschal Candle. A friend at Holy Redeemer was showing me their candle and I was very intrigue by the design. An artist had used thin colored wax sheets to cut out the design and then pressed it onto the candle. Wax sticks to wax very well. So I purchased some of these sheets and got out my exacto knife and began cutting. The upper band represents fire, flames and the Holy Spirit while the lower band represents the waters of baptism. In the middle, we have the cross, current year and the Alpha and Omega symbols. This years candle will also incorporate these thin wax sheets which you will see come Easter.

Inspiration

Here is a picture from our pilgrimage that was part of the inspiration for the design on the Paschal Candle for 2009. The native people from the time of Juan Diego were master stone carvers as can be seen in this stone font found in the National Museum of Archeology in Mexico City. Both the color and design elements became the foundation for my design.

I have spent many hours today working on the candle. If your lucky I might post a picture of the work in progress.

The plain candle

The first picture shows the raw materials: a bowl full of white beeswax flakes, a spool of wick and the clear acrylic mold.

The second picture is the candle that finally decided to come out of the mold and the very happy and relieved candlemaker, Roger!

We have a candle!

This year's candle did not want to come out of the mold easily. Sometimes it just slips right out and other times it is a bit more difficult, requiring a few moments in the freezer and then finally a tug of war. A friend of Roger's held onto the first few inches of the candle that had managed to slip out of the mold while Roger pulled on the mold. After a few tugs... voila, the candle came out and nobody fell on the floor! Whewwww. I was starting to get worried but it looks beautiful. Now I just have to work on the design. Pictures coming soon.

The Legend of the Dogwood

The Paschal Candle from 2007 was 3-dimensional. The inspiration came from the graphic that was created for that year's theme which contained a dogwood branch as it was blooming. I wanted to try to create a branch as a cross for the Paschal Candle. So we bought this material that allows you to make your own molds. We cut a small branch off of our own dogwood tree and set it in the mold material. Once it was set and we removed the branch we had a mold to pour the wax into. Next, Roger made up some brown wax and poured it into this custom mold. We had a tree like cross mad of wax for the candle. I also added some silk dogwood flowers to the cross. Five to be exact - to represent the five wounds of Christ. In case you have never heard the legend of the dogwood tree, I have included it below.

Legend of the Dogwood

The Bible does not tell us what type of wood the cross Jesus was crucified on was made of. Roman history does not go into specifics as to how the crosses were made or what type of wood was used. There is a legend that the cross was made of dogwood. This is unlikely considering the typical size of a dogwood tree. The legend of the dogwood tree, author unknown, is as follows:

In Jesus' time, the dogwood grew
To a stately size and a lovely hue.
'Twas strong and firm it's branches interwoven
For the cross of Christ its timbers were chosen.
Seeing the distress at this use of their wood
Christ made a promise which still holds good:
"Never again shall the dogwood grow
Large enough to be used so.
Slender and twisted, it shall be
With blossoms like the cross for all to see.
As blood stains the petals marked in brown
The blossom's center wears a thorny crown.
All who see it will remember Me
Crucified on a cross from the dogwood tree.
Cherished and protected, this tree shall be
A reminder to all of my agony."

Again, this is just a legend. It is a nice poem, but there is no biblical basis to it.