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From the Archive: At Christmas ~ Candles in the Window
Trips down “memory lane” seem more frequent lately. Christmas time certainly lends itself to remembering. Family traditions, ethnic and cultural traditions, religious traditions… are all part of the fabric of our lives. The Irish “candles in the window” at Christmas tradition continues. from the archive:
Christmas Traditions: Candles in the Window and Memories
One of my favorite Christmas traditions is placing candles in the windows of our home. I still use some triple candles used years ago to light-up the Sweeney home on St. James Street. While the white light is my preference, my mother preferred the soft glow of amber in her windows. Growing up as the oldest of five, many of the decorating chores fell to me – candles in the window, decorating the fireplace mantle, creating a wrapped-box Christmas gift motif on the front door, helping set-up the illuminated manger nestled in the front yard shrubbery. Bill and I celebrated our first Christmas together was just days after our wedding in 1967. It was a hectic time but a thoughtful shower gift of Christmas tree decorations and a stand meant we just needed a tree. Bill spent the outrageous sum of $5 for a beautiful tree from Danas Market on Andover Street – it was their last one! Over the years we’ve collected many ornaments in our travels and searching never missing a perusal in those special Christmas shops. Alas, this year they are still stored as we have downsized to a smaller table-top tree – it glows with white lights and some small gold balls. We have a second small tree that glows with lights and miniature Waterford ornaments that speaks of our Irish heritage and a reminder of the special significance of a light in the window in the homes in Ireland.
The candle in the window at Christmas symbolizes many things in Ireland. It’s still a favorite traditional Irish Christmas decoration, harkening back to that ancient Christmas Eve when Mary and Joseph could find no shelter. It is a symbol of Irish hospitality – a way of welcoming Mary and Joseph…and any travelers who might happen to pass by looking for a warm place to stay.
In the days when it was illegal and even dangerous to practice the Catholic faith in Ireland because of the oppressive Penal Laws, the candles seen in the windows of Irish homes at Christmas also signaled traveling priests that this was a home where they would be welcome and where they could safely conduct the traditional Irish Catholic Christmas Mass.
The words from the “Kerry Christmas Carol” give a senses of the roots of this old Irish tradition”:
Don’t blow the tall white candle out But leave it burning bright, So that they’ll know they’re welcome here This holy Christmas night!
What are your family, faith and ethnic traditions?
For those Sacred Heart people… This is an undated photo of the Dr. Joe Sweeney home at 27 St. James Street in Lowell, Massachusetts (behind the Sacred Heart Church) lighted up for Christmas. I’m guessing it’s the late 1950s. Note the TV antenna, the circa 1955 Olds Delta 88, the fencing around St. Christopher’s Park behind the Church, the trees were too tall for a full covering with lights! Those were the days!
Thanks for the memories Marie. I remember how nice the Sweeney Home always looked as we made our way to the Church Parking Lot on Christmas Eve. The lights and the small wreaths that hung on each window made the Sweeney Home look like something you would see on a Hallmark Card. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and I wish Health and Happiness to all in 2014.