"A Christingle is a symbolic object, related to the pomander, used in the
advent services of many Christian denominations. It has its origins in the
Moravian Church.
At Christmas 1747, Germany, Bishop Johannes de Watteville thought about how he
could explain the love of Jesus to everyone, and what Christmas really meant to
the children in the church. He decided to make a simple symbol to express the
message of Christmas in a fresh and lively way. Pastor Johannes de Watteville
gave each child a lighted candle wrapped in a red ribbon, with a prayer that
said "Lord Jesus, kindle a flame in these dear children's hearts". This was the
first Christingle service.
Many years later, in 1968, John Pensom of The Children's Society introduced
Christingle services to the Anglican Church, where the custom spread quickly.
The Christingle consists of:
an orange representing the world;
a red ribbon around it representing the blood of Jesus;
dolly mixtures or dried fruits skewered on cocktail sticks pushed into
the orange, representing the fruits of the earth and the four seasons (the
representation of the four seasons was a later addition, not of Moravian
origin.); and
a lit candle pushed into the centre of the orange, representing Jesus
Christ as the light of the world."
Here's how to make your own Christingle:
You will need:
Orange
Candle
Red ribbon
Pins
Cocktail sticks
Sweet and/or dried fruit
Instructions:
If the orange does not sit flat, cut a small slice off the bottom (with adult
supervision, please!) Use an apple corer to make a hole in the middle of the
orange and push in the candle.
Wrap a length of red ribbon around the centre of the orange and pin into
place.
Thread sweets and dried fruit onto 4 cocktail sticks and push these into the
orange.
Christmas Doodle Fun
Get out the pencils and crayons and use your imagination! Decorate, design and create with our fun doodle pictures for all ages.
Colouring Advent Calendar
A mini colouring page each day of
advent with a countdown to Christmas Day. A second version features a
Christmas word underneath the picture for early reading practice.
