Sunday, December 4, 2011

Spiral of Light


The Advent Spiral of Light is a beautiful tradition that has made its way into our church, thanks to the talented and insightful woman who previously held my current job as Director of Youth Education. 
Today we worked together to create this special event for the children of our parish..


A chalk sign for outside..


Carving the apple candle holders...

My mother really came to the rescue with this...it is a lot harder than it looks!
Between flattening out the bottom so they stand up...and getting the candle to fit snugly...
There's probably an art to doing this!


We began the evening with a potluck for friends and family...
We were hoping that by adding low lighting the children would not run about the large room,
 but they are always so excited to see each other and it comes out in different ways...
We weren't sure just how many people would be in attendance, but it just so happens that we had exactly enough chairs.
(Later, we discovered that we had exactly enough apples and candles, as well!)


Holy Family in the center of the Spiral 




Wesley lights his candle with his Grandma, "Granny Smith"



It was so special to watch Wesley have reverence for the whole setting...
I was stationed by the door; handing each child a candle...
A helper called each child, one by one, from the other room to the Spiral.
A parent played beautiful music on the Native American flute in the background, which really added to the experience.
A young boy and girl dressed in white sat in the center of the spiral to assist the very young children with their candles.


We all heard Wesley coming down the hall to the Spiral room; talking loudly and running...

The moment he walked into the room, his expression totally changed...






My beautiful friend, Heather and her son, Vethan


 We watched as the room went from almost completely dark (except for the Christ candle in the center and the light from our Advent wreath) to full of brilliant light. A twelve year old boy turned to me and said, "Rebecca, it's beautiful..."


Winter is dark,
 yet each tiny spark brighten the way 
to Christmas Day..

Shine, little light
and show us the way
to the bright light of Christmas Day...


7 comments:

  1. Wow, what a moment for your family. The spiral is beautiful I can see why Wesley's expression changed in an instant! I love how you add poetry to your posts too!
    Happy 2nd week of Advent!
    xoxo
    ~ joey ~

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  2. It's such a beautiful ceremony isn't it. I love how children can eat the apples at the end. Candle light adds such a beautiful ambience to the room. You have captured it beautifully in your photos. Jacinta

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  3. Oh heavens, Rebecca- how completely beautiful! Little W. will have such memories of his childhood, and of this time of year! How fortunate you are to have such a community.
    <3

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  4. LOVELY! LOVELY! Thank you for continuing Ellyn's sweet tradition for our children.

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  5. So beautiful... thank you so much for sharing this lovely tradition!

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  6. This is so beautiful. Thank you for posting and happy Saint Nicholas day.

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