Good Morning Brown Clee!

Today I want us to learn about the meaning behind the Christingle.

The Meaning of the Christingle

Christingle means ‘Christ’s Light’ and it is a symbol of the Christian faith. Lots of churches hold Christingle services around Christmas time. The custom of giving out lighted candles in these services began in Germany in 1747 but it wasn’t introduced to the Anglican Church in England until 1968.

Christingles are made up of different parts, each one being there to remind us of something.

• The orange represents the world.
• The candle reminds Christians of Jesus who they believe to be the light of the world.
• The red ribbon goes all round the ‘world’ and being the colour of blood, reminds Christians that Jesus died.
• The four cocktail sticks could have either of two meanings; the four seasons or the four corners of the world.
• The sweets (or sometimes dried fruit) remind Christians of God’s gifts to the world including kindness and love.

As we go through the season of Advent we will be thinking of many of the symbols that we learn about during this special time. As we learnt earlier this week, the word ‘Advent’ comes from the Latin word ‘adventus’, which means ‘coming’. Christians use Advent to get ready to celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world. They believe that God sent his son into the world to show people how much he loved them. So as we get ready to celebrate Christmas, may we be patient and pause to ponder the significance and meaning behind each piece of the Christmas story.

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you for the time of Advent, a time when we stop to consider the true meaning of Christmas.
Please help us to make this Christmas a time of peace for those around us.
Please help us to focus on the things that really matter.
Thank you for the celebration of the birth of Jesus.
Thank you for his example and all that we can learn from him.
Amen.