Yesterday was Candlemas. We have been burning candles at dinner since Christmas, and I would like to set up a family altar sometime in the coming months, so I bought a bunch of candles with the intention of getting them blessed at Mass yesterday. And then forgot to bring them.
Drat.
I hope that as my boys grow older I am able to gradually build the habit of organizing things such that the rhythm of the liturgical year, with all its wonder and beauty, is second nature to them. And I myself want to enter more deeply into these feasts and learn what they mean. Right now, the spiritual significance of Candlemas isn't something I'm all that familiar with; instead I think: "Candlemas ... blessing candles ... COOL!" Which is probably what my boys will think.
But if we can really live that rhythm and allow it to shape our lives, I know it will sink in to a deeper level, shaping our minds and hearts as well. That's what it means to live liturgically; that's why we have a liturgy to begin with.
We got our tree down just under the wire--Keith took it out on Saturday evening. And I LOVE how open and light our living room feels now. I also love having my little corner back. Not that I have much time to sit in it with a book or knitting. I have been reading voraciously but that is only thanks to my Kindle. (Thank you, thank you, thank you Lord for that gift. My 25 year old self would be shocked and scandalized how much I love this device.)
ANYWAY. Stream of consciousness blog posting ... speaking of lighting dark places, I just consumed half a chocolate bar before 11am. I really don't know how that happened except February, and three poopy kids. And breastfeeding. Breastfeeding excuses all things ... right?
I love how open and clean everything feels when the Christmas tree first comes down!
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts on the chocolate bar: Good for you for having the discipline to only eat half. ;-)
In the spirit of full disclosure ... the other half was already eaten!! lol!
DeleteHa - I was about to comment similarly to Katie - I would totally have eaten the entire bar!
ReplyDeleteWe actually remembered our candles for Candlemas, which was exciting and surprising! They did all the readings, blessings, and a full procession. Pretty cool. In the old rite, the candles are required to at least 51% beeswax....we were lucky enough to find some vintage liturgically-appropriate candles at a church flea market a few months back, so we have six Candlemas candles now! I'm guessing - but not certain - that the new blessing doesn't have a requirement on beeswax content.
Hi dearest Rosemary! I only just discovered your little blog. I give my love to you and your beautiful family!
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ReplyDeleteI messed up Candlemas as well. And Ryan is heading home from Adoration right now and I forgot to remind him to bring home some blessed candles! Blast and consternation.
ReplyDeleteCandlemas was never a thing growing up. I thought it was so strange to come to Cincinnati and it was perfectly normal to have your Christmas tree up almost a month after Epiphany, which had always been the unofficial deadline for removal. Baptism of the Lord was the end of the "grace period" if you will. We're still burning through the million votives we got for our wedding, at the dinner table, believe it or not. But candles in the evening are certainly nice! We started doing it when we put the Advent wreath away because we missed the candlelight.
We were on the ball for Candlemas last year (we even made crepes, a tradition we learned about while studying in France) but this year we totally skipped out. We still have several blessed candles from last year, though, so I don't feel too bad...
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