Last week I described the Moravian Lovefeast Service, which is held on special occasions, one of which is Christmas Eve. Like all Lovefeasts the Christmas service consists mostly of singing; this service is especially joyous, because the Church sings Christmas carols for the first time after the less exciting songs of Advent. The Christmas Eve service is also a candle service. This was originally (in colonial times) a treat for children, but is now enjoyed by all. 
 At our church, Bethabara Moravian in Winston-Salem, North Carolina all of the candles were made by the congregation, usually on a January Saturday. It was an all-day project that involved melting the beeswax, stringing the wicks in the molds, pouring the wax, and then cutting the candles to length after they were removed from the molds. Cold weather was needed to have the wax set up in a reasonable amount of time. A Family Fellowship was held in early December to trim the candles. This consisted of wrapping the base of each candle with a frill of fire retardant crepe paper. The candles were then placed in trays.

                                                                                                     Lovefeast Candles

 Near the end of the service the dieners pass out the candles to the congregation, and the minister gives a little explanation of the symbolism of the candles. The pure beeswax composition represents the purity of Christ, the consumption of the candle as it burns represents the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, the red fringe at the base stands for Christ’s blood, and the light of the flame symbolizes Christ as the Light of the World. The minister then invites anyone who is willing to help spread the light of Jesus to hold their candle high on the last verse of the last hymn, which at Bethabara was usually “Christ the Lord, Most Glorious.”

 At this point the lights in the sanctuary are turned off, so the only light comes from the Advent Wreath and a few pesky exit signs. The dieners come forward and light their candles from the Christ candle on the Advent Wreath. They then light the candles of the people at the end of the pews. Each person in the pew lights the candle of the person next to them until all of the candles are lit. The sanctuary now has a gentle glow. The congregation stands for the last hymn, and on the last verse all raise their candles high. The sanctuary becomes bright with light, a visual reminder of the coming of the Light of the World!

 Our sanctuary had a small balcony for the choir and organ that overlapped about four rows of pews. The ceiling height below the loft was about ten feet. For many years there was a black smudge on that ceiling, and I was blessed every time I saw it by thinking about the (necessarily tall) person holding his/her candle very high and promising to spread the Light of the World. It saddened me when we finally repainted the sanctuary; I think we should have kept the smudge. If you want to read Christ’s words about sharing the Light of the World read Matthew 5:14-16, and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Jim