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.

Hot Wax! The candle has been poured

After a few false starts, this years candle has been poured. The first picture (above) shows the burners with the pouring pitchers. Solid wax is put into the pitchers. The pitchers are then placed in a pot of hot water (think double boiler). The wax is heated up to about 170 degrees. Then the wax is poured into a warm mold. The Paschal Candle requires two pitchers worth of wax.


















The second picture shows the mold with the hot liquid wax. The mold is actual a clear plastic tube which is really neat because it means you can see the wax as it is cooling. What looks like cloudyness at the bottom of the mold is actually the cooling white wax. Now it is important to "poke" the candle and repour hot wax into the candle as the wax will shrink as it cools.

Say a few prayers that the candle will slip right out of the mold. Hopefully... tomorrow.

Where's the candle?

Well... have a little patience. Roger is still working on the candle. Maybe tomorrow.

The Easter Vigil begins in silence and in darkness. A fire is struck and blessed. The Easter candle is lit from the fire and the fire is spread throughout the assembly, as the candle is processed to the front amid the the acclamation that grows louder:
Light of Christ! Thanks be to God!

The following is a portion of the Eucharistic Prayer that is proclaimed before the Easter light.

Accept this Easter candle,
a flame divided but undimmed,
a pillar of fire that glows to the honor of God.

Let it mingle with the lights of heaven
and continue bravely burning
to dispel the darkness of this night!

May the morning Star which never sets
find this flame still burning:
Christ, that Morning Star, who came back from the dead,
and shed his peaceful light on us all,
your Son who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.

2006 Paschal Candle

With one year under my belt, when it came time to design the 2006 Paschal Candle I felt up for a little more of a challenge. Somewhere along the line a very stylized version of the St. Juan Diego icon was created for use by the parish (letterhead, envelopes, etc). See below. I added color to this logo and thought that might make a nice design for the candle. The design can be easily transferred onto the candle. Since the wax is soft you can leave a slight impression in the wax and you just have to paint inside the lines. I put the printed design over the candle and trace the outline with a shape pointed instrument. I use an embossing tool. It works great. Once you paint the design you can no longer see the trace lines. You may have noticed the Greek letters - Alpha and Omega on both candles. I will explain the meaning of these symbols next week... stay tuned!

The pouring of this year's candle will probably take place this Saturday. If you want to see pictures of the pouring be sure to check back.