Liturgy of Light 2012

We celebrated the Liturgy of Light with all three atria last Sunday. It was a lovely morning! You can read about this celebration in a previous post. One dimension I particularly enjoyed this year was seeing children grow into new roles in the celebration. It was great to have children new to the atrium applying the wax to our candle, and older children being leaders and readers in the celebration. It is such a joy to be a part of the children's growth over their years in atrium!

I wasn't able to take many pictures, but here are a few for you to enjoy!

Our newly decorated paschal candle and the individual candles
that each of us held as we "received the Light of Christ."

Ready for the feast!

Thank you parents for bringing food for our feast! It was enjoyed by all!

The Paschal Candle in our Church

In my last post, I talked a bit about the symbols from the paschal candle that we decorate in the atrium as a part of our Liturgy of Light Celebration. I mentioned that this candle is quite a bit different than the one we see in Church. My blogging friend Storyteller asked about the Church's candle and I thought I would include a few photos of it here.

Our candle was painted by a former priest of the parish and is oil filled and reusable. The paschal candle has a cross in the center without the year, a thistle above (symbol of the suffering of Christ) and flames below (symbol of the light of Christ and of the Holy Spirit).

In the atrium, our desire is always to point toward our practice in Church as a way of enabling children to fully participate in our worship and in the Christian life. Thus, it would probably be more appropriate for us to decorate our paschal candle in the atrium as our Church candle is decorated. However, I love the traditional design and words so much and find that they speak so powerfully to the children that I haven't had the heart to adapt them. 

So for now, a little explanation is sometimes necessary when the children see the paschal candle in the Sanctuary. Parents and Caregivers - feel free to comment upon or ask about the differences between the candles when you are sitting with your children in Church!

The Paschal Candle

The paschal candle is a symbol of the Risen Christ which speaks very powerfully to children. In Church, the paschal candle is placed on its stand and blessed in the sanctuary during the Easter Vigil each year and it remains throughout the fifty days of the Easter season. The paschal candle is also present for baptisms and funerals, which I think is quite beautiful.

Isn't the paschal candle from our atrium lovely? It looks a bit different than the paschal candle which we have in Church so I thought I'd tell you about it.

Before we begin the Liturgy of Light Celebration in the atrium, we show the design of our Easter candle to the children, beginning with the cross in the center. We teach the children the names of the the two gold symbols on the candle - the alpha and the omega - which are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Together they remind us that God is the beginning and the end. We also place the numbers for the current year on the candle to remind us that God is present with us today. I love the words that we say with the children while they press the wax pieces onto the candle. Here they are for you to enjoy.

Christ, Yesterday and today (place the vertical piece of the cross)
The beginning and the end (place the horizontal piece of the cross)
The Alpha (place the A)

And the Omega (place the Ω)
All time belongs to God (place the 2)
And all the ages (place the 0)
To God be glory and power (place the 1)
Throughout every age forever (place the 1)
AMEN

In the Good Shepherd Atrium children can prepare a paschal candle as we do in the celebration, using a candle and pieces made of felt. Often an adult or another child will repeat the words above as the child prepares the candle. It is always a popular work with the children in the weeks after the celebration. Children also like to draw pictures of the paschal candle throughout the Easter season.