Thoughts to ponder...

We're just days away from another brand new month, the month of February, otherwise known as the love themed month, at least that's what the Hallmark calendar will proclaim it to be, and the florists, and the chocolate factories. :)

Other feast days and festivities enter our thoughts when perusing the freshly turned page on the calendar; The feast of the Presentation, Candlemas, and Blessing of the throat on St.Blaise feast day are but a few, and then very shortly afterwards, we will begin thinking about the seasonal changes ahead when spring will soon be here.

Perhaps this upcoming week of feast days will bring to mind the topic of candles for you. Why not adopt the practice of lighting a blessed in your home, somewhere safe and practical, one that has actually really and truly been blessed already or purchase/make a suitable one for blessing this week.

We spoke on this topic at length one year at a mother's meeting I hosted. One woman had everyone in the room amazed at the possibility and feeling all tingly when stating she makes a rather large candle, one she has blessed every year, that her family goes to great length to decorate with personal meaning, one enabling them to mimic a type of paschal candle all year long for using when saying morning prayers as a family together.

Needless to say, we all loved this idea and had her lead a workshop on candle making for us!

The Blessing Of Candles

Lord Jesus, You are the Light of the World:
we praise You,
and ask you to guide our steps each day.
Help us to love You and serve You faithfully,
and to carry our daily cross with You.

Bless this candle,
and let it always remind me
that You are our Light in darkness,
our Protector in danger,
and our saving Lord at all times.

Lord Jesus,
we praise You and give You glory,
for You are Lord forever and ever.

Amen!

Thinking this past week myself about our decreasing supply of candles, those blessed during days past, I've decided making candles just hasn't been something I've practiced for a few years and have accidentally come to discover using pure beeswax candles over pure white candles.

Rather than light small tea candles and be exposed to lead in regular bulk purchases of these types, I've made a conscience decision to spend a little more for quality beeswax tealights instead.

Did you know they last more than double the time of a regular tealight candle? And the smell alone is worth the price when the scent of pure beeswax waifs through the air.

I love candles and as the children have grown I find I use them more than ever before. Being almost freakishly safety minded, I was not ever real comfortable having candles lit about my home unless I was present right in their midst every second they were lit.

Call me crazy but I've known too many people with personal stories of tragedy when it come to children and candles. As our children have grown and the younger ones are now already into their tweens and teens, so just now, I am much more comfortable with candles all over my home.

We light them for the family's evening rosary, at the dinner table every night, and delight in scented ones made from soy lit about the home. Soy candles like the pure yellow beeswax are a recent and delectable discovery for our home.


At first I shopped on Etsy and found several suppliers of pure beeswax candles, bookmarked them all, and then quite accidentally I found them located in a general store not even a mile away from our home. I bit the dust and decided to shop (pay more) to support the locals, and I'm happy to be able to do so.

Now that we've used the pure beeswax candles, I doubt I'll be returning back to regular candles again. There is a vast difference between both kinds, believe me.

Also, our maple syrup and lavender organic soy candles were made local to our home, another option for longer burning wax and nothing scented in the air to become a problem for allergy sufferers here.

Little reminders are now very obviously sprinkled about our home for creating warm happy thoughts and rendering simple possibilities with gentle reminders for creating happy hearts.


Memories begin here in the home by choosing to adopt happy hearts despite all of life's adversities and sorrows. Since love abounds in all things, why not celebrate that in action.


I would encourage you to look around your homes and into the faces of those loved ones living there. You know just as I do, we can never relive this day again once it ends.

How will you spend your time this day?

How do you foresee it ending?

What sort of memory are you hoping to make today?

Now why not go and light a candle. In silence, begin to pray, hope, dream, cherish, hug and love those in your home.

This is the message we have heard from him
and proclaim to you, that God is light
and in him there is no darkness.

~ 1 John 1:5