The pretty Christingles that alight church services this time of year have a long history and special place in our heart at Christmas time.
It really wouldn’t be the most wonderful time of the year without the candles stabbed into an orange and a red ribbon to top it off.
The idea of the Christingle came from the Moravian Church in 1747, when the minister John de Watteville gave children at the service a lighted candle with a red ribbon around it.
Missionaries brought the Moravian Church to England in the 1700s, and thus the Christingle tradition spread all over the world from its original base in Bohemia (modern day Czech Republic).
Christingles are used to celebrate Jesus as the ‘Light of the World’ during Advent, Christmas and the Epiphany.
In the Moravian churches the Christingle Service is usually held on the Sunday before Christmas or on Christmas Eve.
The Christingle in all its glory consists of:
- an orange, which represent the world,
- a candle, which represents Jesus Christ as Light of the World,
- a red ribbon wrapped round the orange, which represents the blood of Christ and
- some dried fruit and sweets skewered into the sides, which represent the fruits of the earth and the four seasons.
The Christingles were popularised in the UK by John Pensom in 1968 as he connected the religious meaning of the object to raising funds for the charity The Children’s Society.
Children would bring purses with money and receive an orange pierced with a candle in return.
Many schools and churches will begin to celebrate Christmas with the Christingle from this time in the merry season.
Some schools will have their Christingle service on the last day of term.