Candlemass at our Chapel in Christchurch

This is one of the three principal blessings observed by the Church during the year; the other two are the Blessing of the Ashes, and the Blessing of the Palms.

Saint Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury [Enarrations on St. Luke], speaking on the mystery, bids us consider three things in the blest Candle: the Wax, the Wick, and the Flame. The Wax, he says, which is the production of the virginal bee, is the Flesh of our Lord; the Wick, which is within, is his Soul; the Flame, which burns on the top, is his Divinity. 

The Candles in preparation for the blessing

The blessing before the Mass: “that as these candles, by their visible light, dispel the darkness of the night, so our hearts burning with invisible fire, and enlightened by the grace of the Holy Ghost, may be delivered from all blindness of sin; that the eye of our soul being purified, we may discern those things that are pleasing to thee, and beneficial to our souls.”

Distribution of Candles . . .

. . . to all the faithful, young and old.

A short procession outside the chapel. . . 

. . . representing the Holy Family

There were seventeen children below the age of ten
(Correction to previous figures. Apologies.)

The real presence of Our Lord presented during the Mass
at the Elevation to the Most High God

"We must hold this as a principle of our spiritual life - that the Mysteries brought before us, feast after feast, are intended to work in us the destruction of the old, and the creation of the new, man." Dom Gueranger