Last Sunday saw the start of Advent; the season in which Christians prepare to celebrate the Nativity of Jesus, and at the regular Sunday Masses in our nursing homes in Newcastle and Sunderland, the first of the Advent candles were lit in their chapels.
Regular churchgoers will be very familiar with the five candles – traditionally, three purple, one pink and one white, one of which is lit each week in the lead up to Christmas. Not everyone though knows that each candle symbolises a different aspect of the Nativity story.
The first candle is known as the Prophesy Candle; the second as The Bethlehem Candle; the third is The Shepherd Candle; the fourth, The Angel Candle and the fifth, the white candle, is the Candle of Christ.
The final candles will be lit on Christmas Eve, when both nursing homes will be holding a special evening Mass again this year, bringing together families and friends of all their residents.