Christmas has many symbolic and very curious elements, although we barely know a few of them. The fir tree, the advent wreath, the candles or the star are the most popular. But there are other elements that are also present and that, if you knew their meaning, you would be amazed. For example the Christingle Service. Know what it is? Well, read this post completely, because we are going to explain everything about it. Christingle Service: what it is and what it means this Christmas liturgical element.
What is Christingle Service
The Christingle Service is nothing but an orange. An orange? You are right! And although it is difficult for you to find the analogy between orange and Christmas, beyond the fact that it is a typical autumn fruit, when we tell you about it, you will stay with the meaning and look at this object with different eyes from now on.
The Christingle Service is an orange. But an orange that acquires a very religious symbolism. In fact, you only have to pay attention to its name “Christingle”, to find a clue as to what it means. And the German translation is literally “Child Jesus”. In order for a common orange to acquire this category, we decorate it during the Advent period with a series of elements that are also very significant religiously speaking. But its meaning in depth we will see later.
When we talk about Christingle Services we are referring to a orange that has been decorated with the following elements: right in the middle, a candle is placed; surrounding the orange is a red ribbon; and then it has four spikes like, for example, toothpicks, also stuck in the orange surrounding it, where assorted candied fruits or whatever you find are inserted.
It is a tradition that was born mid-18th century in Moravia, in Germany. After losing the tradition over time, finally at the end of the 1960s it came back into fashion.
What does Christingle Service mean
As we anticipated at the beginning, when we talked about the Christingle Services we are referring to an orange decorated with a series of elements that have been given a liturgical meaning and, therefore, veneration is paid to it as if it were a adoration of the baby jesus.
Now, why this sacred character? Well, actually we don’t know exactly why an orange and not another fruit, but the fact is that the orange, thus conceived, would represent the world. To it we add the light of the candle, which symbolizes the divine light, of God, who is illuminating the world. With the red ribbon, what we do is represent the blood of Christ. While the fruit punctured on the 4 sticks, they represent the fruits that the earth provides us and the corresponding four seasons of the year.
Have you seen how in the Christmas decoration Everything has a reason? Now you know about another very significant element, from the religious point of view, in some countries like Germany. The next time you see a orange decorated for Christmas, you know what it is representing. It is nothing more and nothing less than the tradition of Christingle Services.
Do you know the history and origin of Christmas? Well, we tell you: