Focolare Movement

The “Festival of lights”

Dec 13, 2017

The Jewish feast of the Hanukkah, known also as the “Festival of lights,” starts every year on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev and extends to the month of Tevet. This year it will start on the evening of 13 December and will last up to 20 December. The feast recalls the […]

The Jewish feast of the Hanukkah, known also as the “Festival of lights,” starts every year on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev and extends to the month of Tevet. This year it will start on the evening of 13 December and will last up to 20 December. The feast recalls the revolt of the Maccabei in the 2nd century BC, who rose in defense of monotheism, and their own land and customs, against the Greeks who wanted to strip the Jews of their identity. After the Greek occupation, upon returning to the Temple of Jerusalem for its rededication, they found only an ampule of oil that was sufficient for just one day. Miraculously, that small amount of oil gave light for eight days.  Every year during this period, every night in their homes, all Jewish families light up a candle of the menorah (the nine-arm candelabra) for eight nights, as the number of days in which the oil ampule remained alight in the Temple. The candelabra is placed close to the window, so that it can be seen also from outside, as a warning to always respect life and its ideals.  

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to Newsletter

Thought of the day

Related post

Together WE connect project

Together WE connect project

A few months ago in the Holy Land, the Focolare community and the international music groups, Gen Rosso and Gen Verde, collaborated in a training programme for young people. The objective of the programme was to prepare young people to be promoters of reconciliation and dialogue.

Youth Jubilee: ‘Aspire to great things’

Youth Jubilee: ‘Aspire to great things’

Over a million young people from 146 countries around the world: a pilgrimage full of joy, accompanied by music, with moments of silence and listening, nourished by faith, open to hope, calling for peace.

Chiara Lubich to the young people: the joy of the early Christians

Chiara Lubich to the young people: the joy of the early Christians

In April 1984, the Jubilee of the Youth was celebrated, a few days before the conclusion of the extraordinary Jubilee of the Redemption. There were 300 thousand young people present. Chiara Lubich, foundress of the Focolare Movement, held a catechesis on joy for the young people gathered in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran on the 12th of April. Here is an excerpt of her talk.