The easiest way our family has found to keep the Easter Festival going through out the whole of the season is with a family Paschal candle. Our boys love anything to do with fire and the change to be the one to blow it out is an excellent positive motivation.

During the Easter Feaster, as it's called at our home, we light our Paschal candles for supper and prayers afterwards or when we pray in the chapel. We make one for each spot and use the tall glass votive type for the table Paschal as it is closer to little hands. We don't have an ambo, so in the chapel we place our pillar Paschal candle on a pedestal on our family altar.

The use of a Pascal candle goes back to at least the 300s and the time of St. Jerome. And Paschalis Sollemnitatis, the 1988 Circular Letter on the preparation and celebration of Easter, tells us:

"The paschal candle should be prepared, which for effective symbolism must be made of wax, never be artificial, be renewed each year, be only one in number, and be of sufficiently large size so that it may evoke the truth that Christ is the light of the world."

Paschalis Sollemnitatis

Likewise the other elements of the Pascal candle also have their own meanings.

• Pure Unused Beeswax = Christ's sinlessness
• The Wick = His Human Nature
• The Fire = His Divine Nature and the Resurrection
• The Cross = Christ's Sacrifice for Mankind
• The Alpha and Omega = Christ is the Beginning and End of all
• The Year = As the blessing says, "All time belongs to Him, and all the ages.”
• The 5 Grains of Incense = Christ's 5 Sacred Wounds and the spices brought to His tomb

Since a new one must be blessed each year a Paschal candle has to be either melted down or used up before the next Easter. It was customary for old Pascal candles to be melted down as funeral candles for the poor. The Paschal candle is traditionally moved to the baptistery at Ascension after the Gospel or at Pentecost for Novus Ordo parishes.

For liturgical use in a church, a Paschal candle must adhere to the above guidelines. However, for at home use in our domestic churches or monasteries however, we have a bit more flexibility. So use what you have!

We use 3 Steps to make these simple Paschal candles and only 3 items that you probably already have at home for supplies:

• Any Size Candle
• Puffy paint
• Clove in some form, ground or whole
• 
  

A great thing about using this paint is that if you mess up you can easily wipe it off with a damp paper towel or baby wipe until you get it right. And the best part is, you don't have to worry about them catching on fire like the paper covered candles have the tendency to do. We want the Light of Christ in our homes, but we don't want THAT much light!

Our 3 Steps to a Family Paschal Candle

1. Gather your supplies

• Any colors can work. We usually for spring colors. Also I really like the design of the Tulip brand paint bottles, especially for projects involving writing. They are easier to manage and control than the usual short and stout bottles of other brands.

2. Paint your design

I start by making the first bar of the cross as straight as possible.

Turn the candle sideways to make the other bar of the cross. A fingernail is great for evening out the thickness of the bars.

Then I add the little edges to the cross. Add the embellishment you like. Make it your own.

Next to make the Alpha symbol I start both sides at the bottom and meet in the middle at the top to keep it equal. For the Omega I draw a horseshoe then add the feet.

Finally, add the year with with a number at each corner of the cross or below the Omega symbol and any other decorations you would like.

3. Add your cloves

Push in whole cloves or sprinkle the 4 ends and middle of the cross with ground cloves to represent the incense. Dipping a toothpick or knife into the jar then tapping it over the intended spot works well. Blow off any excess.

Until it can be blessed by a priest, your Family Pascal candle may be blessed by the father of your home with the following prayer. Burning candles blessed by a priest clear the air spiritually so it is important to still seek out their blessing when possible.

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Blessing of Candles

V. Our help is in the name of the Lord.                                                    R. Who made heaven and earth.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. May He also be with you.

V. Let us pray.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, bless + these candles
at our lowly request. Endow them, Lord, by the power of the holy cross, with a blessing from on high, you who gave them to
mankind in order to dispel darkness. Let the blessing that they
receive from the sign of the holy + cross be so effectual that,
wherever they are lighted or placed, the princes of darkness may
depart in trembling from all these places, and flee in fear,
along with all their legions, and never more dare to disturb or
molest those who serve you, the almighty God, who live and reign
forever and ever.
R. Amen.

Then sprinkle with holy water.

Finally, as we are reminded in the Roman Missal, "May the light of Christ rising in glory dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.”

A Blessed Holy Triduum to y'all!

Genie

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