Light the Candles
A song for advent; watercolor & digital art, December 2020
My family is a singing family. Growing up, we sang grace before eating dinner (it was a little intimidating to anyone visiting us for the first time; ask my husband). The season of Advent, too, involved lots of singing, but grace looked different from the rest of the year, replaced by a specific song from my grandmother’s Episcopalian tradition. The dinnertime liturgy involved lighting candles, reading Scripture and prayers, and declaring our hope for the eventual return of Messiah. This hope meant we were always watching and waiting; the candles symbolized our remembrance.
As we lit the candles, we sang, a different verse each week. Over the course of the season, the earliest candles melted deeper and deeper, wax dripping down the sides and onto the table: one pink, three purple, and a white one in the middle. Although the verses changed and the molten candles shifted, the melody (a Yiddish folk tune, Tif in Veldele, adapted by Wold1) remained the same.
The fifth verse is my own adaptation. As a child, I wanted something to sing on Christmas day that was different from the rest of the fourth week because we were lighting five candles, not four. So I came up with some words that fit the second half of the melody and presented it to my family, who graciously let me squeeze my young handwriting beneath the other four verses on the sheet music.
This year, the season of Advent begins this Sunday, December 4th. Will you join me in singing?
Light one candle to watch for Messiah; let the Light banish darkness. He shall bring Salvation to Israel; God fulfills the Promise.
Light two candles to watch for Messiah; let the Light banish darkness. He shall feed the flock like a Shepherd; gently Lead them homeward.
Light three candles to watch for Messiah; let the Light banish darkness. Lift your heads and lift high the Gateway for the King of Glory.
Light four candles to watch for Messiah; let the Light banish darkness. He is coming, tell the Glad Tidings; let your Light be Shining.
Light five candles to watch for Messiah; let the Light banish darkness. Christ is born to Save the world in a humble manger.
Wayne L. Wold, “Light One Candle to Watch for Messiah,” found in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2006), 240.
Thankful that the song continues...as does the Hope for Christ's return!
It warms my heart that we will ALL be singing Advent songs—regardless of time zones— thru the Advent Season again this year!! We’ll share some of it with your sister Becca and her husband Trevor, this coming week. The singing and the celebrating keeps us together as family and those anticipating the coming of the Christ Child. What a Blessing!