For us it one of the
important traditions that we, as a family,
enjoy; yet, for others, it is a real central activity at this time of year and
with that it is always lovely to see a filled church with a varying degree of
generations together.
For everyone who is
unsure of what a Christingle is I thought I would share it here.
A Christingle
consists of:
An Orange, which represents the earth.
A red ribbon around it representing the blood of Christ.
Dried fruits
skewered on cocktail sticks pushed into the orange, representing the fruits of
the earth and the four seasons.
A lit candle pushed into the centre of the orange, representing Jesus Christ as
the light of the world.
This is one of my favourite things leading up to Christmas as it is a real
change of pace compared to other events that might be going on full of festive
fun and cheer!
I am a little
confused this year as to the origins of the Christingle and its use. Previous
years we were told that there were three children, who were very poor, but
wanted to give a gift to Jesus, like the other families at church were doing.
The only nice thing they had was an orange, so they decided to give him
that.
The top was going slightly green, so the eldest cut it out and put a candle in
the hole. They thought it looked dull, so the youngest girl took her best red
ribbon from her hair and attached it round the middle with toothpicks.
The middle child had the idea to put a few pieces of dried fruit on the ends of
the sticks.
They took it to the church for the Christmas mass, and whereas the other
children sneered at their meagre gift, the priest took their gift and showed it
as an example of true understanding of the meaning of Christmas.
However, this year
we heard a different origin where we learnt that Christingles have been taking
place in England for nearly 50 years, the idea of the Christingle actually
began in Marienborn, Germany in 1747. At a children’s service, Bishop Johannes
de Watteville looked for a simple way to explain the happiness that had come to
people through Jesus.
He decided to give the children a symbol to do this. This was a lighted candle wrapped in a red ribbon. At the end of the service, whilst the children held their candles, the bishop said a prayer.
In 1968, John Pensom
of The Children's Society adapted Christingle and introduced it to the Church
of England in the style that we have it now.
I don’t know which
is true as the latter story is new to me but it is what the Children’s Society
is promoting as the reason for doing it. Either way, I think the meaning behind
it still remains the same; that Christmas isn’t about the best presents that we
can give each other but the effort and love that we share with the added
message of the church.
Whatever the truth,
this is now the symbol for the Children's charity, the Children's Society.
Such a great cause check out.
With the story told we went to make
our Christingle's and we did with the help of the child group director dressing
up as one!
Poor
Liam! Although I secretly think he likes it!
Then
finally the boys made a Christingle each.
With
the Christingle's made and then lit it was a great reflection of what each part
meant.
Although it is great to know the
reason behind the Christingle the message behind each part is important. I have
always found that this time of year you are caught up in the rush of Christmas,
pulled into the commercialisation of it all with the idea of what the best
present and toy is. This service however strips all that away and shows the
meaning behind why we have it. For me, most importantly, tell a story of
children who didn't have that much at Christmas but continued to give
rather than receiving.
The Boys and I, this Christmas day, will be
lighting our Christingle and remembering amongst the hype why we're celebrating
Christmas.
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