The last three weeks of July, 1995,
were hectic indeed. As with every bride who wants
to be sure her wedding is 'the wedding' of perfection,
and suddenly things begin to happen at a 'three
steps forward and one back', you wonder how it
will all come together as planned. Especially
when three days before the big event, you find
that the tall Unity Wedding Candle riding in the
back seat of the car along with items intended
for use at the wedding, is now a bent out of shape
melted crooked column of wax. Arizona is not all
that pleasant in the 120 degree summer heat.
I had sent my
fiancee back to the store with the hope,
"Get the
exact same kind of candle. It has to have golden
letters on it stating, "AND THE
TWO SHALL BECOME ONE..."
Since he had other errands
to do I reminded him that the candle should be
picked up last so that it doesn't melt again.
Two days before our big day he brought the candle
with different words on it. I sent him back again
reminding him,
"AND
THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE!" How
proud he was upon return this time with the right
candle. It was the last one the store had.
Being raised
Catholic, I also wanted my statue of Blessed Mother
Mary to be placed upon the white pillar pedestal
adorned with soft pink and dusty rose roses. The
Unity candle was to be set there also in front
of Mary. Our Wedding Day arrived at last!
As I stepped into place
before the Minister, my eyes fell upon the pedestal
with the Unity Candle.
Mary's statue
was not there! It was
on the end table near the lamp. (We were married
in our home). Well, at least she was in the same
room, I thought. As I glanced around, I saw a
number of things that weren't as I had planned
them to be. It was difficult trying to light the
candle, because the fan kept blowing it out. After
cupping our hands around the flame, the candle
was lighted. We exchanged two white rosebuds and
placed them in a vase. I didn't notice the absence
of water from the vase until we came back from
our honeymoon and found them drooping, wilted
and unopened. The place cards didn't get to the
reception dinner and in the next room I saw three
dozen roses, semi wilted, that were supposed to
be given out to those who were in the wedding
party and certain other named people.
I sat on the sofa and looked at the statue of
Mary. Half-heartedly, I said, "Well,
I really wanted you on the pedestal, but I guess
it wasn't meant to be. At least I felt your presence
with us, Mary, and I hope you blessed our marriage."
My husband sat down next
to me and said, "Do
you think we can light our Unity Candle now?"
Somehow after our wedding ceremony,
someone had blown our candle out several times.
Each time we inquired, it was a different person
who said, "I
didn't think you wanted to go away and leave that
burning in case of a fire, so I blew it out"
(A
Unity Candle is supposed to
stay lighted until it burns all the way down.
It is a special symbol.)
We decided to go to my
former home and stay a few days in order to pack
my remaining things and move them into our new
home. We thought we'd take a chance, and we lighted
our candle again, placed it in a white glass bowl
and set it on our glass range top. If the wax
dripped it would fall onto the bowl or the range
and wouldn't hurt anything. We left for my house.
Upon returning home a few days later, we first
ran into the kitchen to make sure our candle was
still burning with no ill effects. What a surprise!
My husband and I stopped short in our tracks and
I know we both felt the same awesomeness. Our
mouths flew open simultaneously as we shouted
"Look at
our candle! It is the Blessed Mother Mary!"
The candle flame
was a brilliant gold color that reflected its
light upon the image of Mary, standing tall against
the side of our candle! I shouted to my husband
to get our camera as he exclaimed, "Blessed
be all of Heaven!" Go get the camera!"
I insisted. (We were both
in a state of wonderment. I, not wanting to move
from my spot, and he seemingly with feet glued
to the floor.)
Meantime,
my thoughts raced. If he takes the picture it
may not come out well because Mary's image is
totally engraved in the pure white wax, and the
wall paper in the background had an abundance
of little pink and blue climbing vine flowers
in it which might obscure the image. I reached
under the counter for a cookie sheet and held
it behind the beautiful waxen image. When the
flash went off, I just knew that the light reflected
off the metal, so I picked up a small burner cover
and held that behind Mary's image thinking that
the larger pink flower would show her up better.
Inwardly, something told me that I didn't need
all that. Mary would not be lost in the field
of flowers on the wall. I requested my husband
to take a third photo without anything in the
background just to be sure. He asked,
"what
do you think this means?"
I
prayed to Mary and asked her that question. Inwardly
I heard her speak:
"This
is a reminder to let you know that I am always
with you. I have never left you and I will never
abandon you. You are blessed."
Tears
filled our eyes as I related the message to my
husband. We used up the film quickly and took
it in for developing. On August 7th, we picked
the photos up and marveled even more. By this
time, Mary's image had been leaning forward towards
the flame, as she silently and slowly bent over.
We thought it looked like she was bowing to the
Light. Each and every day we watched as Mary leaned
further and further into the Light of the flame.
She began to curl around herself.
Again, we had to leave for three days to baby-sit
my grandsons. By morning, August 15th, sadly,
our Unity Candle went out. It must have gone out
during the night, burning
almost
all the way down.
The figure of the Blessed Mother Mary was now
a curled up rounded mass of wax. This mass, if
one looks closely, reveals yet another wonder.
Mary is still visible, head bowed, and looks as
though she is holding a handkerchief to her face
or eyes. There is also attached this image, a
small camel. Some say it looks like a goat with
a yoke, but all agree it is an animal with Mary.
Mary's
gift of Love is her graven image in the wax Wedding
Unity Candle. We have the remains of this candle
yet we now wonder why we didn't take successive
photos of the bending, bowing Lady from Heaven;
or why didn't we think to use our movie camera?
Our Minister told us to let the candle burn all
the way down as a symbol of our Everlasting Love.
It is tradition. Perhaps our three photos are
enough and the candle remains. It is now enclosed
in a glass dome.
