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Candice was newly assigned as pastoral associate to a parish that was challenging her since she arrived. The pastor put her in charge of the Holy Week and Easter liturgies. Candice was eager to prove herself and up to the task, organised, thorough and thoughtful. A parishioner came to her with the idea of creating the Paschal candle out of candles people had in their homes. He volunteered to take the donations and mould it himself, assuring Candice that he was quite capable. Candice had reservations but didn’t want to say no. Parish announcements and blurbs in the bulletin caused an enthusiastic response. The parishioner took the boxes of used candles home and a beautiful 4-foot candle, with colours that mirrored stain glass windows, was carried up the aisle, lit and blessed, at the Easter Vigil liturgy on Holy Saturday.
Easter Sunday beginning with the earliest Mass people came up to the sanctuary and admired the lit candle, the light of Christ, the symbol of Jesus rising at the morning sunrise. It stayed lit throughout Easter morning. After the last Mass, the church locked, an exhausted Candice went to extinguish the wick. She noticed the candle leaning. Trying to straighten it caused it to implode in slow motion. The heat of the flame was too much for the candle to withstand. The outer decorative layer hid the too soft wax melting inside. It’s not just a candle that has to be strong to carry and sustain the light of the Risen Jesus through the darkness.