Round Robin: Holy Fire (entry 2 of 2)

Here is my second of my two Round Robin entries on the topic of Candlelight. For this one, I'm going to share some of my archived photos of candlelight at The Episcopal Parish of St. Michael and All Angels.



This was the scene on the Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday), December 13, 2009. On each of the four Sundays, the evergreen wreath is lowered from on high, and the priest celebrant (in this case Father John Smith) lights one more candle than the previous Sunday. There's some symbolic reason why of the third candle is rose instead of purple, but I don't remember the details at the moment. Wikipedia claims it's meant to be the combination of Advent purple and Christmas white.



April 11, 2009: Easter vigil. For part of the service, the congregation sits in relative darkness, little candles in hand. A single large candle is processed up the aisle (nave) by a priest, intoning "The Light of Christ!" The congregation sings back, "Thanks be to God!" The large candle lights the torchbearers' candles, which are used to light someone's candle in each row of the congregation. The light is then passed from candle to candle, until all are lit.



Usually there's at least one baptism during Easter Vigil. During that rite, the priest hands a candle to each newly-baptized person, or their parent if it's a baby or small child.




This very tall candle is the Paschal Candle. First lit at Easter Vigil, it is used until Pentecost Sunday, and on certain occasions thereafter. This shot is from June 28, 2009, when another baptism took place. I often sit right behind this candle. The baptismal candles are lit from the Paschal Candle.



And here's a shot from July 2007 that I suspect I have used before. Back then, the candlesticks ("torches") I and other acolytes carried on Sunday held real candles. Our church only has evaporative cooling, not true air conditioning, so in the height of Tucson summer the church gets quite hot. But if we used fans to keep the acolytes from becoming ill from the heat, the candles burned down quickly and unevenly. Sometimes I even got wax in my hair! The church then invested in new $800 candlesticks, featuring refillable oil-based plastic candles. They present a completely different set of problems, as I detailed in another entry in 2008.




Even on an ordinary Sunday, there are lots of candles to light. This was last Sunday (January 10, 2010).


Now that I've applied my typical overkill to this topic, let's see what the other Robins have come up with!

Linking List:
as of 11:15 PM MST, 01/16/10


Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

Karen - Posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com

Hip Chick
Hip chick's photos
http://hipchickphotos.blogspot.com

Linda - Posted!
Mommy's Treasures
http://mommystreasures.blogspot.com

ellen b - Posted!
The Happy Wonderer
http://happywonderer.wordpress.com

boliyou
endomental
http://www.endomental.com

Vicki - Posted!
Maraca
http://mymaracas.blogspot.com

Jama - Posted!
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com

carolynUSA - Posted!
Ford Family Photos
http://carolyn1209.blogspot.com/2010/01/round-robin-challenge-candle.html

Sherrie - Posted!
Sherrie's Stuff
http://sherrie-plummer.blogspot.com

Lana G - Posted!
Above the Clouds
http://airmiles.wordpress.com

Ann
Sandcastle Momma
http://sandcastlemomma.blogspot.com

Gattina - Posted!
Keyhole Pictures
http://gattina-keyholepictures.blogspot.com

Julie - Posted!
Julie's Web Journal
http://www.barrettmanor.com/journal

Brianne **Welcome, New Member**
All Kids & No Play
http://allkidsandnoplay.blogspot.com

Sandy **Welcome, New Member** - Posted!
From The Heart Of Texas
http://sandytrefger.wordpress.com

Jen - Posted!
My Muskoka
http://mymuskoka.blogspot.com

Ruth - Posted!
The Scrabblequeen Knits, Too
http://scrabblequeen.blogspot.com

Peggy - Posted!
Holmespunfun Memes and Themes
http://holmespunfunmemesandthemes.blogspot.com

Freda Mans - Posted!
Day One
http://fredamans.blogspot.com/2010/01/round-robin-challenge-candlelight.html

You can also scroll down to see my other, non-religious Round Robin entry. And don't forget our other memes...

Monday Photo Shoot (A New Photo Shoot assignment posted each Monday)

Weekend Assignment (A New Weekend Assignment posted each weekend)


Karen

Round Robin: Cinnamon Fire (entry 1 of 2)

I'll be doing two entries for this week's Round Robin Photo Challenge: Candlelight, as challenged by Carly of Ellipsis. For this first entry, I made my first serious use of my new tabletop tripod, pointing it at a "cinnamon & nutmeg" votive candle I bought in a pack of four at Christmas. Normally we get bayberry, but apparently that's not boutiquey enough for places like Walgreen's to carry any more. Anyway, I took a number of shots, fussing with the settings a couple of times along the way. Here are some of the results, in the order taken:









None of the above shots have been lightened or darkened or saturated, just cropped in a couple of cases. But I can't resist doing just one FX edit. This uses the solarization effect in PhotoStudio, followed by a negative effect. Cool!



The next entry will follow shortly, and include links to the other Robins. Stay tuned!

Karen

Monday Photo Shoot Results: Candles and Such

Torches at St. Michael's

Last week for the New Monday Photo Shoot, I asked to see some candles, or candle-related objects. Here's what people came up with:

Jama has matched up some interesting candles with interesting candle holders.

Julie actually needed to use her candles this week during a power outage.

Kiva is allergic to candles, but that hasn't stopped her from doing the chianti bottle melty thing.

Carly has a cute cat candle.

Laura has a cute cat candle holder, intended as a gift for a cat-loving cancer patient.

Thanks folks! The new MPS topic will be posted momentarily.

Karen

New Monday Shoot #25: Candles, or Something Like Them

New Monday Shoot #25: Nearly everyone has candles, for one purpose of another. Photograph one or more candles - real or otherwise.

Leaky oil-fed torch candles

It occurred to me today at church that St. Michael's has a lot of candles of various sizes and uses, and not all of them are actual wax candles. Last summer the "torches" (basically candles on a pole) tended to burn down fast and unevenly, due to a large box fan situated near whether the acolytes sit in the sanctuary. Sometimes the candles blew out entirely in the middle of mass, and at least once I ended up with wax in my hair. To solve this problem, the Altar Guild bought plastic torches filled with lamp oil. They look identical to the real candles from a distance, but they don't burn down. One problem, though: the oil tends to leak down the pole onto the acolyte's hands. Yuck! And they still go out in the middle of mass sometimes.

Spot the real candle.

Other candles at St. Michael's are partially real, like most of the ones on or near the altar. A normal-size white candle is fitted into a much larger housing. The large "candles" stay the same size, but the real candle inside burns down and is replaced.

Still other "candle"-shaped lights are just electric bulbs, as in the chandeliers.


And still other candles at St. Michael's are real, like these votives.

Here at home, we mostly have votive candles for jack-o-lanterns and Christmas luminaria. But my favorite candle is this snowman, which is roughly as old as I am. My mom wanted to burn it down once as a symbolic goodbye to winter, but I got upset that she was destroying a relic of my childhood and she eventually relented. I don't regret this.

Your turn! Do you have candles around for aromatherapy or romantic dinners, religious use or decor, or simply as a light source in case of power failures? Whatever they look like, whatever they're for, please show us in your blog or journal, with a link from there back here, and from the comments here back to your blog. I'll be back in a week to show off everyone's candles. Thanks!

Karen