This Sunday is the third Sunday in Advent, and traditionally you light the "joy" candle. There are other versions of this one, but I like joy.
We sing Joy to the World at Christmas, but it's not really about Jesus being born. It's about Jesus coming. And He's the true source of joy. Back in Bethlehem, today in the midst of difficulties, and forever in eternity. And I actively seek that.
Anyway, here are the patterns for "joy" and "love", which is the fourth candle. These go with the Advent Candle Garland project I shared.
On Christmas Day, one last candle is lit, and it's the Christ Candle. This one is white, and for my pattern, I chose to use the name Jesus. It has a crown image to welcome the King of Kings.
Side note: Can I just tell you how much it bugs me that the joy candle is pink? I either want them all to be the same, all be different, or at least make the love candle pink. Honestly...this has always been a pet peeve of mine, but nobody asked me when they were planning this whole Advent thing...
Mollie, I completely understand about the color thing. Some years I have only been able to find candles in sets of four, so you have one left over purple and three left over pink. We live in Texas so every thing is stored in our attic because there are no basements in this state. You can't store the leftover candles with the rest of the Christmas trappings because they will melt in the attic and you always forget where in the world you put the candles to keep them out of the way for a year. lol
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ReplyDeleteWhile we are usually very traditional/orthodox around here, I have to admit: I don't always stick to the purple/pink thing. Firstly, they're my least favorite colors...which means they also don't match a thing in my house, esp when decorated for Christmas, and they're really not that easy to find. I have heard that it's perfectly fine to use other colors as long as it's a 3:1 ratio and I kinda sorta never researched to find out of that's legit or not ... ;o) So, this year I have sparkly red with the "joy" candle being gold.
ReplyDeleteI hear you on the colors not matching anything else! It really is fine to use any colors. The meaning of each week is far more important, and actually having it mean something in your life and relationship with Jesus is even more important than that.
DeleteDear Mollie,
ReplyDeleteThere may be an explanation for the pink candle, but I've never heard it, and in any case, it's tradition, not doctrine. I'd never even seen an advent wreath until I was in my 20's, and that one had all white candles! Now I like tradition as much as the next gal (what-no turkey on Christmas?!!!), but I think sometimes we get carried away. A lot of the friction we experience between Christians is due more to tradition than to core beliefs (and I expect that's true in most other religions, too.) Yes, some traditions will have deep meaning to you and you'll want to treasure those and pass them on, but others, well, eh. So if the pink candle is an "eh" for you, change it, start a new tradition for your family, maybe one with more meaning, or maybe just to stop wasting candles. Realize, of course, that an "eh" for you might be deeply meaningful for someone else and keep in mind that Jesus wants us to love one another no matter what they say to make us feel bad/guilty/angry....OK, back to making the tortillas for Christmas eve--what, you don't have tacos on Christmas eve??? But, but..it's TRADITION!
You are so right. I do love traditions (even when I don't understand them fully) and I'm also okay with breaking them at the right times. Hopefully no one thinks that I'm actually upset with this one...to me it's more like when you want to straighten a picture on a wall, but can't. Silly, I know!
DeleteFor the record, we have had tacos on Christmas Eve too!