Categories: uncategorized
Date: 18 December 2007 12:10:55
I wondered whether everyone would know what a Christingle service is. I love it - as do many people. Explanation to follow.
It originated about 200 years ago when a Moravian (I think) clergyman used it as a way of getting people more aware of the gift of Christ to the world. It's become increasingly popular in the UK in recent years with many churches holding a special Christingle service some time in the pre- or post-Christmas period when the evenings are dark. The Children's Society (charity) took the concept and promoted it quite widely too, which may be a reason why it is so widespread. Some churches present people with pre-made Christingles but we like to make our own, each sharing the materials and helping each other as we go.
First take your orange. The orange, being conveniently almost round but usually quite happy to stand upright rather than roll around, represents the world. It also fits quite nicely into the palms of your hands, just as the world is in God's hand.
Then take four ######## sticks and stick them into the orange in each of the four "corners". These represent the four seasons. Onto the ######## sticks go a plethora (or at least one) of dried fruits (and sometimes small sweeties) to represent the fruits of the earth which God provides and all the good things he has given us. The bounty of all the seasons and from every corner of the earth. (I get a bit irritated when they only give you enough for one or two raisins on each stick - it looks a bit paultry, hardly representative of the abundance that God has given us! - I think I may top our ######## sticks up a bit! :o) )
Next comes the ribbon. This represents the life and death of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, the love of Jesus which goes all the way around the world like a big hug. It is red to show that Jesus died for the world.
Into the top of the orange, then, goes a tall white candle. No prizes for guessing the symbolism of this bit. This is Jesus, the Light of the world.
When the Christingles are completed, we light one from the candles on our advent wreath. The church lights are put out and the flame is passed from candle to candle, christingle to christingle, until the whole room is lit up with these tiny lights. It's lovely. It symbolises the passing of the Good News until the light of Jesus lights up every dark corner of the world.
The Christingles then come home with us, to stand on the mantlepiece, to be lit from time to time, and strangely somehow the part representing the fruits of the earth seem gradually to diminish ;o) The aroma from the oranges is lovely, of course, and feels really quite Christmassy.