The Easter Candle is used during the Easter Season and then throughout the year at baptisms and funerals.
Most Easter candles have three common features - the five wounds or Christ, the year and an Alpha and Omega.
Most Easter candles have three common features - the five wounds or Christ, the year and an Alpha and Omega.
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There are five marks that make up the cross representing the five wounds of Christ.
Top - Crown of Thorns Left and Right - Nails in each hand Bottom - One nail through his feet. Middle - Where a spear put into his side, which then flowed out blood and water. Also on the candle is 2021 for the Year in which the Easter Candle was blessed. The Alpha (looks like the letter A) is above the cross and the Omega (looks like a horseshoe) below. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and Omega is the last one. These two letters represent the eternal nature of God. It anticipates Jesus' second coming and comes from the Book for Revelation 1:8. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,”* says the Lord God, “the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty.” |
On our Easter candle we have additional images
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1) Below the cross is a victorious Lamb with the seven seals (Revelation 6) similar to what is on the front of the Saint Valentine Altar of Sacrifice (see http://www.stvalentinechurch.com/mosaics.html)
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2) In a golden oval, an angel is bowing down to a risen Christ. The oval is a symbol of holiness and new life.
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3) Above the risen Christ is a decoration of the overflowing abundance of God's love, mercy and grace. It has lilies and other plants showing the new life we have in Christ through the Paschal Mystery of His passion, death resurrection and ascension.
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Sometimes the Easter Candle is referred to as the Paschal Candle, coming from the word Passover. Christians believe the Easter is the fulfilment of the Jewish Passover celebration - the Last Supper was a Jewish Passover meal and the resurrection was the fulfillment of the ancient Israelites passing from slavery to new life from the Exodus narrative.
From the Easter Vigil Blessing
Christ yesterday and today,
the beginning and the end,
Alpha and Omega,
all time belongs to him,
and all ages;
to him be glory and power,
through every age and for ever. Amen.
By his holy and glorious wounds
may Christ our Lord guard and keep us.
Amen.
May the light of Christ, rising in glory,
banish all darkness from our hearts and minds.
The light of Christ.
Thanks be to God.
Christ yesterday and today,
the beginning and the end,
Alpha and Omega,
all time belongs to him,
and all ages;
to him be glory and power,
through every age and for ever. Amen.
By his holy and glorious wounds
may Christ our Lord guard and keep us.
Amen.
May the light of Christ, rising in glory,
banish all darkness from our hearts and minds.
The light of Christ.
Thanks be to God.
