Candlemas for Catholics

 

Christmas goes 40 days til Candlemas. It is tradition At Candlemas mass, for the faithful to bring their basket filled with their entire year’s supply of prayer candles for their home/family, to be blessed by the priest. It is tradition that the candles are usually 100% beeswax.

The women of the family take great care & joy in making or purchasing the prayer candles as well as embroidering intricate linen basket liners for their baskets.

Some leftover bees wax cakes from a honey harvest. Ready to be melted down to candles.

I really like this company for good quality 100% beeswax candles.

We roll some of our candles ourselves using wax from our bee hive frames.

In the tradition of the Candlemas basket as well as the Easter basket & other liturgical baskets to be blessed by the priest, is one where the women of the family take great care & joy in making embroidered, intricate linen basket liners for their baskets, as well as linen cloths to cover the candles with in the basket. These candles will be our prayers for the next year. It is a beautiful tradition to cover those prayers with a prayerful linen veil. All treasures of the church are veiled.

Candlemas mass is usually an evening, absolutely beautiful candlelit mass.

It is such an amazing way to close the Christmas Season.

May all beautiful traditions be restored & remembered so as to enrich the faithful with perseverance on this pilgrim journey.

Click above photo for a link on Candlemas mass info.

it's really important to note the woman holding the beeswax candle. that is the custom to meet the priest outside or at the door with the blessed beeswax candle that was blessed in the Candlemas basket on Candlemas.

Praised be the Most Holy Name of Jesus Christ!
Blessed be the Holy Names of Mary & Joseph!
Blessed be God in His Angels & Saints!

Yours in Christ,

lisa