Candlelight Event In Preparation for the Glorious Birth of Our Lord
Candlelight Event In Preparation for the Glorious Birth of Our Lord
This is an event for women (adults, young adults) held sometime during the season of the Birth of Our Lord on a weekday typically 7 -8:30 pm, anytime from mid-November to the 1st week of December but can be done prior to the Lenten season. This is a time for us to prepare our hearts for Jesus’ coming. We want our focus to be on Jesus throughout this season, but all too often it seems we get caught up with the preparations in our homes, churches or communities. We have cleaning, decorating, shopping, baking and events that take up our time, in addition to all the normal daily routines and schedules. While these are all fun and good ways to prepare for our Christmas celebrations, we can easily lose our focus during the busyness.
Candlelight Event is an opportunity for women to set aside all of those preparations and focus our hearts and minds again on Jesus. It is a beautiful evening filled with talk, prayer, scripture, songs of praise and fellowship. There are certainly preparations to be done, but we can do them to the glory of our Lord while preparing for his coming!
Enjoy the evening when it arrives as you encourage your sisters in Christ with the Word of God!
This beautiful evening of reflection brings women together to focus on the true meaning of this Blessed Season. During the night you will hear a talk to prepare a place in our hearts for the Christ child, share a warm drink and dessert or snack with friends, and enjoy a festive spirit!
Enjoy creating a beautiful ambiance, but know that the power is in the message of the Gospel.
You will be given the opportunity to be the hostess of your friends on your table. Please check guidelines below to understand your role in this beautiful event.
This is an event for women (adults, young adults) held sometime during the season of the Birth of Our Lord on a weekday typically 7 -8:30 pm, anytime from mid-November to the 1st week of December but can be done prior to the Lenten season. This is a time for us to prepare our hearts for Jesus’ coming. We want our focus to be on Jesus throughout this season, but all too often it seems we get caught up with the preparations in our homes, churches or communities. We have cleaning, decorating, shopping, baking and events that take up our time, in addition to all the normal daily routines and schedules. While these are all fun and good ways to prepare for our Christmas celebrations, we can easily lose our focus during the busyness.
Candlelight Event is an opportunity for women to set aside all of those preparations and focus our hearts and minds again on Jesus. It is a beautiful evening filled with talk, prayer, scripture, songs of praise and fellowship. There are certainly preparations to be done, but we can do them to the glory of our Lord while preparing for his coming!
Enjoy the evening when it arrives as you encourage your sisters in Christ with the Word of God!
This beautiful evening of reflection brings women together to focus on the true meaning of this Blessed Season. During the night you will hear a talk to prepare a place in our hearts for the Christ child, share a warm drink and dessert or snack with friends, and enjoy a festive spirit!
Enjoy creating a beautiful ambiance, but know that the power is in the message of the Gospel.
You will be given the opportunity to be the hostess of your friends on your table. Please check guidelines below to understand your role in this beautiful event.
Hostess Guidelines
For more information on how to host a table and organize such event, you can check the guidelines here.
Candlelight Event Flyer
This is a sample of flyer that can be used and edited. If you need help editing it, please contact us.
You can download the flyer here.
You can download the flyer here.
Candlelight Event In Preparation for the Glorious Birth of Our Lord in Brooklyn NY
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Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral in Brooklyn NY hosted its first Candlelight Event In Preparation for the Glorious Birth of Our Lord on Friday December 6th, 209. 70 ladies registered for the event. You can read article below and check pictures for more information about the event.
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He knew me, He loved me... this is the joy of Christmas!!
On Friday, December 6, 2019, the ladies of the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception at Our Lady Of Lebanon Cathedral in Brooklyn hosted its first candlelight event in the presence of Bishop Gregory Mansour and the Rector, Father Dominique Hanna ; 70 ladies registered for the event that was held for the first time. This event is derived from Advent By Candlelight which is held at the beginning of the Advent season in the Latin Church to provide the ladies an opportunity to relax, be renewed and refreshed before the Christmas rush begins and to refocus their hearts and minds on the season of the Glorious Birth of Our Lord while surrounded by an elegant atmosphere lit by candlelight.Sister Elizabeth Hogan, CFR gave a talk about the joy of waiting. She shared about her excitement and joy while waiting a few days after Christmas for a friend’s visit after she had broken her foot many months before and had a lot of complications; it took over 7 months for its healing. Unfortunately a snowstorm didn’t permit the long awaited visit and Sister ended up staying alone in the convent that day after all her sisters left. While alone with Jesus, she realized that as her friend knew her, loved her and was going to meet with her, God also knows her, loves her and God wants to meet her. This is the joy of Christmas!!! God knows the hair over our heads and never abandons us. Sister shared few stories from the Old Testament to prove God’s love to His people and how He always provides for His children. He knows the deepest desire of our hearts. He meets us where we are and invites us to participate in his plan of salvation. Through Jesus ‘s humanity He knows and understands what it feels to be tired, hungry, hurt, betrayed… God is with us and is constantly revealing Himself to us. This is the reality of the incarnation. It is a mystery we have to receive!! Sister also shared the story of her father’s sickness leading up to his death and how in the midst of that difficult period in her life with so many crosses (mom’s heart surgery, childhood friend dying in sleep , dad’s sickness..) she cried out “ I don’t know how to do this, one day at a time “ and by remaining faithful to her daily prayer life and spending one hour daily with the Lord in adoration, she was never alone but felt Gods grace carrying her through all of it ; God was constantly showing her “He is there with all of us”. May her words sink deep in our hearts and bring us to encounter the Lord in a deep personal friendship "God knows me, God loves me, God wants to meet with me!!"
Sister Catherine Hogan, CFR shared her own witness talk. From age of 16 she started competing in Olympic ice speed skating and broke a world record, the youngest top 8 in the world.. Yet she experienced restlessness and felt there was more to life than medals & Olympics. She knew she was made for more. An encounter with young people from Cross Rose group was a turning point in her life. Their joy (not their words) had impacted her so much that she wondered about the source of their joy and how she could have it. She realized they knew Jesus (not of Jesus), experienced His love and had a personal relationship with Jesus. At that moment she invited the Lord to come into her life by asking Him “Lord what do you want from my life?” A series of events followed and led her to World Youth Day in Canada where the joy and radical poverty of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (CFR) touched her and made her join the community. 16 years later, Sister says “every day at a daily Mass every Holy Communion is an invitation to the Lord to come to her heart”. Sister reminded all present of this powerful message “You are precious to God, He wants to care for you, to cherish you to call you my beloved daughter”.. Sister concludes with Pope Benedict XVI message in Madrid to WYD:
Dear friends, God loves us. This is the great truth of our life; it is what makes everything else meaningful. We are not the product of blind chance or absurdity; instead our life originates as part of a loving plan of God. Let nothing frighten you. Be afraid neither of the world, nor of the future, nor of your weakness. The Lord has allowed you to live in this moment of history so that, by your faith, his name will continue to resound throughout the world.
The evening continued with some trivia challenge questions related to Christmas to bring us to the question of the night “Is there room for Jesus to be born in our hearts?” We get so busy planning for Christmas by shopping, buying gifts, baking and decorating.. and it is all good but we forget to slow down and think about our interior, our hearts. Everyone present was invited to fill out an offering card in preparation for the Glorious birth of Our Lord with a maximum 3 things they want to do to get their hearts ready for Christmas and to make room for Jesus to dwell in our hearts so that His joy can radiate through us. The cards were mailed the following week to everyone to remind them of their preparation and help them get back on track.
The program for the night also included fellowship time with other ladies, hymns, uplifting Scripture quotes and a meal shared on each table.
Sister Catherine Hogan, CFR shared her own witness talk. From age of 16 she started competing in Olympic ice speed skating and broke a world record, the youngest top 8 in the world.. Yet she experienced restlessness and felt there was more to life than medals & Olympics. She knew she was made for more. An encounter with young people from Cross Rose group was a turning point in her life. Their joy (not their words) had impacted her so much that she wondered about the source of their joy and how she could have it. She realized they knew Jesus (not of Jesus), experienced His love and had a personal relationship with Jesus. At that moment she invited the Lord to come into her life by asking Him “Lord what do you want from my life?” A series of events followed and led her to World Youth Day in Canada where the joy and radical poverty of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (CFR) touched her and made her join the community. 16 years later, Sister says “every day at a daily Mass every Holy Communion is an invitation to the Lord to come to her heart”. Sister reminded all present of this powerful message “You are precious to God, He wants to care for you, to cherish you to call you my beloved daughter”.. Sister concludes with Pope Benedict XVI message in Madrid to WYD:
Dear friends, God loves us. This is the great truth of our life; it is what makes everything else meaningful. We are not the product of blind chance or absurdity; instead our life originates as part of a loving plan of God. Let nothing frighten you. Be afraid neither of the world, nor of the future, nor of your weakness. The Lord has allowed you to live in this moment of history so that, by your faith, his name will continue to resound throughout the world.
The evening continued with some trivia challenge questions related to Christmas to bring us to the question of the night “Is there room for Jesus to be born in our hearts?” We get so busy planning for Christmas by shopping, buying gifts, baking and decorating.. and it is all good but we forget to slow down and think about our interior, our hearts. Everyone present was invited to fill out an offering card in preparation for the Glorious birth of Our Lord with a maximum 3 things they want to do to get their hearts ready for Christmas and to make room for Jesus to dwell in our hearts so that His joy can radiate through us. The cards were mailed the following week to everyone to remind them of their preparation and help them get back on track.
The program for the night also included fellowship time with other ladies, hymns, uplifting Scripture quotes and a meal shared on each table.
