02/07/2024 0 Kommentarer
Tænd et lys
Tænd et lys
# Begivenheder i kirken
Tænd et lys
Prayer is an experience and the experience itself is what changes the heart, and grows a centred life. Each moment in prayer that brings us into ourselves, into the heart of God, also sends us out in better relationship to the world and others in our lives. Our centre makes our circle whole.
In many different traditions lighting candles is a sacred action. There ia a tradition for lighting a candle as a ritual of prayer used individually and together; found in cathedrals and roadside shrines; lit in need or in gratitude. It is a sign of God’s presence and the light of Christ.
Fire is one of the earliest and richest images associated with the heart of God and the human passion for the Divine. It is an image that echoes throughout the Judeo-Christian story and the rich written history of the great spiritual figures of christianity including Teresa of Avila, Richard Rolle, St Macarius, Julian of Norwich, Meister Eckart, Mechtild of Magdaberg, St Columba and Teilhard de Chardin.
In this tradition, the flame represents the meeting place between us and God in which we are formed and transformed by the love and life of the God of relationships. Among early Christians, the bringing of light was especially symbolic of the presence of Jesus, and this ritual now claims a central significance in the lighting of the ‘great candle’ or paschal candle at Easter eve. This is the Light of Christ among us, into eternity.
From early times, candles remained a central symbol for Christian communities as they developed and spread. The best (and most expensive) candles were made of beeswax and were used for the ‘great candle’ and also in other rituals. People would kneel in prayer before their bibles or icons, light a small candle, pray, asking for help, giving thanks, or just kneeling in the presence of a holy place. These prayer were often made from tallow – cheaper and more easily made.
And so the church became the physical gathering place for Christians, the paschal candle still lit at each community gathering as a reminder of Christ among us; votive candles drawing on the power of the great saints who’ve travelled the journey, and the sanctuary light too, always burning, night and day, to welcome the stranger, to shelter the hurt, to be the constant centre in an inconstant world.
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