Wherever
you happen to be at 7pm on the second Sunday in December, light a candle in memory of your
child, and ALL children, brothers and sisters who have died.
Candles
will be lit at 7pm in every time zone , creating a wave of light that will
encircle the globe. As the
candles burn down in one time zone, it is passed on to the next time zone,
creating a 24 hour memorial to our children.
Held
annually the second Sunday in December, The Compassionate Friends Worldwide
Candle Lighting unites family and friends around the globe as they light
candles for one hour to honor and remember children who have died at any age
from any cause. As candles are lit at 7 p.m. local time, hundreds of thousands
of persons commemorate and honor children in a way that transcends all ethnic,
cultural, religious, and political boundaries.
Believed to be the largest mass candle lighting on the globe, the Worldwide
Candle Lighting creates a virtual 24-hour wave of light as it moves from time
zone to time zone. Hundreds of formal candle lighting events are held and
thousands of informal candle lightings are conducted in homes as families
gather in quiet remembrance of children who are no longer with them.
The Worldwide Candle Lighting started in the United States in 1997 as a small
Internet observance but has since swelled in numbers as word has spread
throughout the world of the remembrance. A memorial message board is available
during the event at the TCF USA Web site, www.compassionatefriends.org and
hundreds upon hundreds of postings are received each year from all over the
United States, as well as dozens of other countries. Some messages are in
foreign languages.
In the United States, publicity about the event is widespread, being featured
in the past in Parade Magazine, Ann Landers column, Guideposts magazine,
Annie’s Mailbox, and literally hundreds of U.S. newspapers, dozens of
television stations, and numerous Web sites. Information on the Worldwide
Candle Lighting and planned memorial candle lighting services is posted on the
TCF Web site at www.compassionatefriends.org each year as the event nears.
The United States Senate has, for several years, joined in the remembrance by
unanimously passing resolutions declaring the second Sunday in December of
each year National Children’s Memorial Day to coincide with The
Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting.
The Worldwide Candle Lighting gives bereaved families everywhere the
opportunity to remember their child . . . that their light may always shine!
International
Compassionate Friends Day
January
28th
“Many
chapters of our organization throughout the world have expressed the wish that
once a year,
a day should be set aside when The Compassionate Friends is mindful not only
of its worldwide family,
but of the children whose names we honour.
To this end our Birthday, January 28th has been designated
“Compassionate Friends Day”
"And
every member of our very large international family
is asked to burn a large white candle
to symbolize both the child loved
and the hope and the light
which The Compassionate Friends brings to
bereaved parents lost in the darkness of grief."
“It is the gift of HOPE which reigns
supreme
in the attributes of The Compassionate Friends.
HOPE that all is not lost,
HOPE that life can still be worth
living and meaningful,
HOPE that the pain of loss will become
less acute,
and above all else,
The HOPE that we do not walk alone,
and that we are understood.
The gift of HOPE is the greatest gift
that we can give those who mourn.”
Rev. Simon Stephens
Founder of The Compassionate Friends
Butterfly
Memorial Walk
May
24, 2008
When
some one we love dies, we mourn their death, no matter the cause. What
we can not lose site of is that they lived, no mater how short that life
was.
At
the Butterfly
Memorial Walk we walk to
remember, we walk to heal, we walk to give hope, we walk to give support to
other bereaved families.
Join
us to walk to "Celebrate
Life!"
Pledge
Form
For more
information about the upcoming Butterfly
Memorial Walk please contact us at (204)727-1823 or
mailto:tcf@compassionatefriends.ca