Compassionate Friends lead Whanganui candle ceremony

The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting on the second Sunday in December unites family and friends around the globe.

For 26 years, families have gathered around the world in quiet remembrance of children who have died and will never be forgotten.

The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting on the second Sunday in December unites family and friends around the globe in lighting candles for an hour to honour the memories of the sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and grandchildren who left too soon. Now believed to be the largest mass candle lighting on the globe, the annual Worldwide Candle Lighting (WCL), a gift to the bereavement community from The Compassionate Friends, creates a virtual 24-hour wave of light as it moves from time zone to time zone, starting here.

Families celebrate with a quiet elegance, at 7pm local time, lighting candles for an hour to remember their child. Such a moving occasion bypasses all geographical, religious and cultural divides.

As everyone lights their candles, far-flung parts of the world get illuminated in turn, as their children are remembered. Some are public gatherings or families will remember at home.

What happens in Whanganui?

As New Zealand is the first country to greet the dawn, we commence this wave of candlelight at 7pm NZ time.

We in Whanganui will meet at Virginia Lake at 6.45pm on December 11, and gather around the statute of Peter Pan by the lakeside.

Peter was “the boy who never grew up”, a poignant reminder to us.

The Details

What: Worldwide Candle Lighting Day

Where: Virginia Lake Whanganui by the Peter Pan statue, follow the footprints

Highlights: Readings; poetry; candle lighting ceremony at 7pm; roll call of our children; music; candles supplied.

Bring: Photos; mementos; picnic chair/umbrella if needed.

After the event there will be light refreshments.

Contact Keren 06 3443345 marshkandb@gmail.com

Go to the New Zealand website www.thecompassionatefriends.org.nz — other New Zealand gatherings will be listed there.