You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Matthew 5:15
A few months back I had written a post about how we are all called to become a city on a Hill, and that the Blessed Mother embodies the New Jerusalem. When you are in love with God, he opens your eyes to new meanings of the Scriptures you have heard for so long. Layer upon layer of meaning can peel back and help you to see what you had never seen before.
It is this way in the world of prophecy too. As with all private revelation, you are not obliged to believe, but prophecy should not be despised either. I have noted though that, almost always, something can be “predicted” and we get an idea in our head of what that thing is and don’t see any other possibility. Almost always we are wrong in how it plays out in our head vs. how God actually does something. God usually has multiple layers of meaning. Sometimes spiritual, sometimes literal, sometimes both, and even the emotional in between, where He gets right to your heart in particular with something just for you.
I was reading a post from a friend yesterday that spoke about the trickiness of prophecy and interpretation, and how we can get things so wrong. As someone with a prophetic gift, I know this to be true. I almost never know exactly what is meant when I feel God speak to me in prayer. It is why I talk more about trust in God and less about prophecy chasing. Prophesy, if it is causing you fear and anxiety, or causing you to store up your barn without thought of others, is then for you, lacking the lens of charity and the greatness of God, through which it should be read. In all things we must trust God and love others, desiring the good for them. This love of God and charity for others makes you a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. People are drawn to the light because the light belongs to Christ.
So last night my husband and I were watching a video on the 3 Days of Darkness and how the only thing that will allow you to see is Blessed Candles. They are the only thing that can be lit. My husband turned to me and said, “does that mean the match you try to light them with, you won’t see the flame until it hits the wick?”
I chuckled at the literalness of his statement. I answered, “I don’t know, maybe.” But then I further stated, “I think the Blessed candle, is you.” He looked at me like I was a little crazy. That’s not uncommon in my house.
I went on to explain how scripture, and Jesus, in particular, spoke of the lit lamp.
“No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a bushel basket; rather, one puts it on the lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but if it is unhealthy, your body is full of darkness. Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness.” Luke 11:33-35
If Jesus is the lamp, we are the lampstand for His light. If He is the light and our bodies and souls are his lampstand, it is His light we see with our eye. We become filled with His light. A living tabernacle, a sanctuary. We will be able to see in the darkness, whether the darkness is literal, or just the unknown. This is because it is a complete and total trust that God is bigger than any circumstance. This is also not to sugarcoat the severity of surrounding darkness, just a reminder that Christ is brighter than the darkness and He can dwell within you. God can guide us through literal darkness as He did for the Israelites. He can guide us through interior darkness in all of life’s circumstances.
While I don’t doubt that this prophecy about Blessed Candles as literal as I believe it is, I also know without a doubt that it is what is in our interior that matters most to God. It is prudent to have blessed candles in your home. It is imperative to have purity of heart and complete trust in God. Your perseverance doesn’t depend on the candles. It depends on your heart. It is easy to go out and get a Blessed Candle. It’s the conversion of your life to the ways of God that is hard. A candle won’t save you if you haven’t done the work with God on your own heart.
In one of the prophecies it even states that the candle must be wax. Okay, so make sure to have wax candles, but I point this out to you;
I am poured out like water, And all my bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It is melted within me. Psalm 22:14
This is a Psalm of deliverance during tribulation. It ends with Good News, salvation from enemies and the Lord being worshiped by the whole world. Our wax hearts melted in suffering, but lit with continual praise of the Lord.
The prophecy also speaks of the air being poisoned, but if the Spirit is in you, He provides your breath. Think bigger of God. Do not be beholden to fear. Satan is but a puff of smoke compared to the hand of God.
Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. Ezekiel 37:5
I have stated in the past that creation is sick, but it is not sick the way the world sees it, it is sick because of the blackness of the human heart. Creation flourishes when love fills hearts, that is because love comes from God alone. When God alone is worshipped and He perfects you in His love, glory flows outward. And glory, well it looks, glorious.
Believe in order to persevere. Don’t put your faith in the candle you have, but in the God who made all that goes into that candle. Put your faith in the God who made you, for you a beautifully and wonderfully made. The more you love, the more you will be a light in the darkness.
Veil of Veronica 
This is a beautiful interpretation about words many of us have heard about. Thank you!
I have my house full of blessed candles but I know when it comes to sacramentals it’s not like Sacraments. Sacraments are valid if the words are valid. Sacramentals though are dependent on the beliefs of the people using them. A person who believes candles save vs a person who believes God saves and can use candles in the process, the latter is in the position to have the grace. Our interior really does matter. And our God is good. As I said, this is not to sugarcoat the darkness and suffering, but just to point us to look up at God. God Bless you! I think we need blessed candles, but we need trust and faith more!
Thank you for this article Susan, it makes perfect sense that we would be lit lamps.
I have a question about the blessings for sacramentals and candles. It’s happened to me a few times that a priest has not blessed an object using the prayer that I requested, preferring to bless it using his own words – what do people do when this happens? I confess that I’ve taken St Benedict medals already blessed to another priest for the appropriate blessing but for other objects, I wonder if doing so is disrespectful or a sign of lack of faith?
Candlemas is coming up, do we have to go to a traditional mass for the blessing? I’m sorry if this opens a can of worms.
I actually don’t know the answer. A Priest who gives his own blessing could be very holy, or not. His belief matters when it comes to Sacramentals. I know of many holy Priests who are Spirit filled that spontaneously pray. I also know that the prayers of tradition are efficacious too. God is not the legalist, the demons are. God knows the heart of every man. Demons know the law and will exploit it to take your eyes off Christ.
When I get things blessed, I look at the example I see in the Priest. Does he treat people with mercy? Does he have orthodox belief? Is he willing to gently and lovingly tell people hard things? Does he have a good prayer life and encourage people to pray? Does he have care for the poor? etc. etc.
Thank you for another thoughtful, faithful piece. On an evening where the snow simply continues to fall from the sky after many hours, and when I am already tuckered out after committing to Fr. Mike Schmitz’ Catechism in a Year with my wife, your thoughts are, as the line runs in Shakespeare, words of fair encouragement. My candles are here and ready, with the special exorcism blessing of my priest Fr. Gregory! Jeff in Minnesota
Wonderful. God Bless you!
Wow! I mean Wow! I am not sure if you had thought of this before or if this just came out when speaking with your husband, but it is absolutely brilliant and just like God! All the scripture verses fit perfectly. Truly a Holy Spirit moment! It makes total sense because what about those who never heard about having blessed candles? Somehow it didn’t quite fit that they would all be sitting in the dark. Thanking God for your blog and post.
Fiat and Joy!
Fiat!
Your last sentence is the best of the entire missive:
“The more you love, the more you will be a light in the darkness.“
Love is really what it’s all about. I pray all the time to love and not fear. Perfect love casts out all fear.
Stunningly beautiful. No wonder we are being purified…emptied. a favourite song of mine fits in.
When the Lights all Shine.
YouTube….have a listen.we are the Lights.
Thank you for sharing.
I listened to the song! That was great. God Bless!
Thank you for listening and commenting. Music can speak so loudly. USA has a wonderful children’s choir….One Voice Choir. Stunning.
This is why I count you among three mystics in the country that I listen to very seriously, Susan. It has always baffled me why some Christians would think God is equivalent to a bureaucrat at the Division of Motor Vehicles. Does anyone really think that God would give pardon to a rapist or murderer who happened to have the right beeswax candle while condemning a fully righteous man who did not?
You put this together in serious contemplation of the nature and justice of God. This is an interpretation that approaches the throne of God without slandering Him as an unjust God who is only interested in whether you fill in the right blanks. Thank you.
Thanks Charlie.
Ma’am, you are flat-out slandering half a dozen or so Venerables, Blesseds, and Saints – including Padre Pio – who have received revelations of the 3DD. You’re attributing to them a truly disgusting claim that you think is implicit in their revelations.
Well, Our Lord foresaw supernaturally faithless & mean-spirited claims such as you just made and specifically revealed that the candles would NOT light in the homes of the unrighteous. That point was heavily emphasized.
Even if He hadn’t clarified, it should still be common sense that sacramentals are not superstition & magic. None of them will work if a person is not properly disposed. This is widely known doctrine & probably comes from the catechism. The rules didn’t just suddenly change when it comes to Candlemas candles.
So, really, you ought not to spout off so ignorantly. Teaching others to despise Our Lord’s protective measures probably won’t work out well for you.
I rebuke the curses you have spoken over me in the Holy Name of Jesus. I send the spirit of the accuser to the foot of the cross to be judged in the Holy Name of Jesus. Amen.
Re: how to light candles during 3 days of darkness.
Months ago I brought this up to our friend who is a priest. He agreed it could be problematic. Solution? We bought wooden match sticks and he blessed them too.
I love that so much. What a great idea. I thought my husband’s question was brilliant because you never know exactly how things will happen and he thought of a detail I didn’t. Sounds like you did too. We need each other in times like this because I think they’re surely will be very rough times ahead. Thanks for the suggestion.
Uh, Ma’am? The Three Days of Darkness are extremely literal, and your dismissive and ill-informed attitude is extremely dangerous. My chapel got a taste of the 3DD at our midnight Mass on New Year’s Eve this past weekend. Demons literally ran up & down the roof, romping in apparent glee, making the most ungodly commotion. They even mimicked the sound of a woman being murdered at one point. It was everything I would have expected to hear during the actual 3DD, and it was scary enough with Our Lord there in the Blessed Sacrament. It would have been horrendous on our own. Let this sink in. New Year’s Eve, the day Benedict died, around midnight, demons attacked a chapel during Mass.
And FYI, people with prophetic gifts are a cheap dime a dozen. Our Lord has a million of us running around, and we all think we’re special. To illustrate the point, the priest at that chapel is the Diocesan exorcist, and he finally decided that he believed I was having visions, when I was the *third person* to suddenly show up on his doorstep one week telling him about visions of asteroids.
But, heck, I’ve not only had visions of asteroids and the coming 3DD, but now I’ve experienced a small taste of the 3DD myself, and so has that priest.
So, you go on shining your little light, that’s great, but don’t dissuade people from taking coming catastrophes seriously.
May God have mercy on you and protect you from all fear when the time comes. God Bless you.
“And FYI, people with prophetic gifts are a cheap dime a dozen. Our Lord has a million of us running around, and we all think we’re special.”
This is actually an offensive, untrue statement. St. Paul taught that the gift of prophecy should be sought first and foremost. Prophecy is a gift of the Holy Spirit. To claim that it’s a “cheap dime a dozen” gift illustrates your need for humility and repentance. Most “prophetic” words being proclaimed today are simply fortune-telling/Kundalini spirits at work in pride filled, worldly people. True prophetic gifts should lead the one receiving the prophecy to intercession. For instance you and two others seeing asteroids. The Lord is calling you three then to intercede with the Father and plead for His Mercy. They aren’t news clips for entertainment or information….they’re a “call”..
Your language and attitude toward Susans post also reveals a pride that Satan will surely take advantage of, like the demons on the roof and a woman being murdered…it sounds as though he put on a heck of a show. The Lord allowed it, it’s up to you to discern why.
your description of what the prophetic gift is for is beautiful. Intercession!
Every line you wrote was a sharp light to my mind, Susan. I’ve often wondered about the 3 Days of Darkness and the advice to have on hand beeswax candles. Now I haven’t the foggiest idea where to get beeswax candles for our home and neither am I inclined too but what you said makes perfect sense to me.
God bless you and your loved ones.
Happy New Year, Susan.
Thanks Caitlynnegrace. I actually do recommending having them. As I said it is prudent to do so and I do think it’s literal. This is one of those things that I think is multi-layered. But the point is not to despair if you can’t get them. I found some here; https://shop.catholicsupply.com/3-day-100-beeswax-devotional-candle.aspx
and the ones from Shop Mercy are here;
https://shopmercy.org/blessed-candle.html
I used to buy my beeswax candles from a man in Ukraine, sadly, his site isn’t up anymore.
One of the many things I love about what you write is how marked with humility and prudence it always is. The truth of what you post always resonates with me, having confidence too that you always submit to the authority of the Church.
I thank you for affirming that there is both reason to have the blessed candles as well as to see a deeper meaning in what they also represent. One does not negate the other. While I am fortunate enough to have access to blessed candles for my home, I can’t imagine how Our Lord would treat those who can’t get them with less mercy.
For those who are interested, the store associated with the Marians (ShopMercy) have blessed candles; you can purchase the beeswax candles, which – after being purchased- are blessed by Fr Chris Alar before shipping.
Thank you so much for pointing to a great place to get candles.
Wonderful Susan. Thank you for sharing. It always amazes me when I reflect and see the layers to how God works! We can’t pray enough for the grace of final perseverance. But a literal question, why can’t blessed candles be lit like any other candle with a butane lighter??
Maybe it can be lit by that. I don’t know how it will happen. The prophecy says only blessed candles will light, it says nothing about how they get lit. Thanks and God Bless.
Hi. I go to a traditional Mass where I live and I know it is important for them to have wax candles for the altar but what I noticed, since I also altar serve there, is that their candles which they buy from a church supply place are 51% beeswax. Rather than being pure, which is expensive, they can rightly say that the candles have a majority of beeswax. I think that is so awesome! The Church, in Her wisdom, makes small allowances for our frailty. And I think God, being good and merciful, would certainly bless and light those 51% blessed candles when the darkness hits. Why wouldnt He? As well, a traditional Church would be a great place to pick up a case of those candles, if you just ask the Pastor to order a case for you and you would get it at cost! Then he could also bless them for you! Winner, winner!
Thanks for the information!
I love your words on trust. Can you write more on this please. It is so helpful ⚘
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I’ve read of the 3 days from several different mystics. I used to wonder about the lighting of the candle too, but one of the mystics, maybe Marie Julie Jahenny, said that the faithful will be told by God when it is about to happen. So that they could make everything ready like covering the windows, providing feed and water for their animals outside, and yes, lighting the candles before hand.
It’s also a good idea to look up Marie Julie Jahenny and the purple Scapular. I wasn’t going to bother after I read about it, but I saw a video with Father Rippenger the exorcist supporting it.
I have a book all on her prophecies. It’s incredible what she said and what has come to fruition. What you have said makes the most sense to me too. And it aligns with what I am saying, that if our hearts are prepared then God provides. Thanks for the comment and God bless you.
The 3 days are so upon us!