Los Angeles herald., 1908-02-03
CANDLEMAS DAY OBSERVED
WITH ELABORATE SERVICES
Bishop Conaty breaches on "Purifica-
ton Through Christ" and Candles
Which Are Blessed Serve
as Illustrations

Candlemas day, or the Feast of the
Purifcatjon, was observed yesterday
at the Cathedral of St. Vibiana with
elaborate services, at which Bishop
Conaty preached. Rev. Edward H.
Brady was celebrant of solemn mass,
assisted by Rev. Paul Dillon as deacon,
Rev, Joseph McManus as subdeacon
and Rev. Frarcis j. Conaty as master
of ceremonies.
Preceding the mass Bishop Conaty
blessed the candles, after which There
was a procession of the congregation
through the aisles of the church.
Bishop Conaty said in part:
"The first great lesson taught us by
this feast is obedience to the law.
Christ is presented in the temple and
his mother is purified in the temple,
both following the precepts of the
Mosaic law, while neither was strictly
bound Ivy the law, for Christ was
above the law and his blessed Mother
did not fall under the obligation of the
law, inasmuch as in giving birth to
Christ she was not made unclean, and
hence was not subject to the purifica-
zion incumbent upon the mothers OF
Israel.
Jesus Christ is the light of the
world. for he is the Saviour who died
for our salvation. Faith and worship
illumine the minds of mankind, teach
ing them the truth of God and leadlng
them in the ways Of salvation. IDOL
airy and error and vice had blinded
the eyes of the nations; they were as
blind men sitting in darkness until
Christ came and revealed to them the
faith of God, removed from their eyes
the veil that darkened their sight,
from their minds the ignorance that
held them in falsehood, and from their
hearts the sensuality that bound them
to evil. God is light, and in him there
Is no Darkness Christ came to teach
the world the truth of God, to atone
for the sins of men and, by the plot-
ting out of sin, to restore mans mlha
to the truth and his heart to the good
and the pure. Christ lifted man out OIL
the degradation and infamy in which
sin had cast him. He came to restore
life to the soul and health to the BODY,
to teach men their relations to Goa
and Gods mercy toward them' to
plant eternal hope in human hearts
and to Dring to human lives the pos
sibility of perfect happiness.
HE delighted to call himself the
light of the world assuring all VINO
followed him that they would not walk
in darkness, but should have the light
of life. When Christ came into the
world the darkness of evil hung as a
heavy pail over human life, the revela-
lions Of God were but slightly under
stood, the traditions of religion had
lost their hold upon the races OF men,
the word was largely sunk in 1dolatry
and misery, and mankind almost en-
tirely had grown ignorant of the true
God. Paganisnl was intrenched as the
state religion, barbarism ruleu III
many nations, despotism and tyranny
were characteristics of governments
and the lowest forms of human degra-
dalton were common in the highest
circles Of authority.
wrhe church would have us bear
very strongly in mind the lesson Of
Christ as the light of the world, and
hence ON this feast she blesses her
candles, lights them and carries them
in solemn procession through the
,hurch. The candle is symbolical of
Christ, for in the purity of its wax
there IS symbolized the divinity OF
christ, and ir it's light the illumina-
ton of the gospel. The lighted can
ale banlshes darkness, and as such is
svmbol,cal of Christ, whose truth dis
nels error and establishes knowledge.
The candle is also symbolical of life,
for lust as the burning candle de-
crea SEES as it is consumed SO life, day
hv day. decrea SEES as we travel onward
~ death. The lighted candle is also
synbolicaI of light eternal and gives
nc hope in immortality. 1t also re-
minds us of Gods grace, which to our
lives is light"