“Lord, now let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled:
My own eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared in the sight of every people:
a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel.” Luke 2:29-32

These words of Simeon, also known as the Nunc dimittis or Song of Simeon are said every day during the night office of the Hours.

The feast of Candlemas, also known as the Presentation in the Temple (among other things) is celebrated on February 2nd. On this day, we remember Mary’s presentation in the temple 40 days after the birth of Jesus (Christmas). It is both the day of cleansing for Mary after giving birth and the ceremony of the redemption of the firstborn according to Jewish custom. This feast marks the official end of the Christmas season, even though in many churches today, we stop celebrating after the feast of the Epiphany on Jan. 6th.

We remember this day with the blessing of candles, a symbol of the Light of Christ, a “light to reveal you to all nations.” The candles used in the parish throughout the year are blessed this day along with any candles parishioners bring to Mass, candles typically used for home prayer spaces.

Like many a homesteader, I’ve dabbled with candle making. A few years ago, I was given all of the stubs from the altar candles and the remains of our Pascal candle at our parish, with permission to melt them back down and turn them into new candles for use in our home. The candles have been used gradual over the course of the last two years on our home altar for prayer. Since these candles were made from the wax of blessed candles, I was informed that I did not need to have them blessed again, but I did bring some to Candlemas for blessing.

Blessed candles are a sacramentals, and as such, should be disposed of properly when they are no longer usable. Like the stubs I used for making my candles, sacramentals could be recycled for some respectful use, otherwise they are typically either buried, or burned and the ashes scattered in a cemetery or buried. Useable sacramentals that are no longer needed, you can give them away as well.

Candle making, whether poured or dipped can be a fun project, and is simple enough for anyone to get into. If you burn candles regularly in your home, save the wax and remelt it to make new tapers for prayer. I’ve seen some pretty neat molds made from certain types of plants, but craft stores like Hobby Lobby often sell molds, and they can be found on Amazon as well. I’ve got my eyes on an 8-candle mold sold by Lehman’s that I am itching to buy to help speed up my candle-making process. The mold I use now is silicon, and threading the wick through the mold is tedious, but it does work well. Of course, you could also make pillar candles or jar candles or use whatever shape or vessel works for you.

Another great way to make candles for home prayer is to use beeswax you’ve harvested. We kept bees for a couple of years, but when our hive died, we decided not to get another, and instead harvested all of the honey and wax. The wax at this point was largely old and dark, but still useable. I used this wax to practice dipping candles. That went pretty well, and I learned a few things in the process, but I didn’t have a very deep vessel for dipping, so all of these tapers ended up rather short (about 7″). Though they weren’t the prettiest candles I’ve ever seen, these ones we had blessed by our priest friend during one of his visits, and we gave the blessed candles to family and friends for emergencies.

Blessed candles are typically burned during times of prayer, and during times of emergency (such as severe weather or during illness). Today, we can still purchase sick-call sets, but they are not so well-known or common as they once were. They can be found in antique stores, sometimes with just the stubs of candles remaining. If you have a sick call set that still needs candles, a pair of homemade tapers that were blessed at Candlemas would be a good addition to the set.

Someday, I will try to do a post just on candle making and beeswax to provide more detail for anyone interested. I don’t do anything fancy, and I don’t do it often, but it’s something I enjoy doing when I have the time to do it. The process is made more enjoyable for me in knowing that I’ll be using these candles in prayer! Please, let me know if you have any questions.

In Christ,
Danielle