A lot of people has been asked me about our Colombian tradition “The little candles night”, and I said Colombian because I’m not sure if this is part of the other culture (if so, please let me know). that’s why I want to share a little bit of this sweet and beautiful tradition. Hopefully, somebody wants to adopt it for the rest of the life. Lol
Basically, the tradition started a long time ago; around 1854 when Pope Pius IX defined as a celebration of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary and our Catholic church decided to keep this celebration in Colombia every December 7th, due to this, people started to lit candles to show their support to this announcement.
My grandmothers and my parents, teach me that every night of December 7th, about 7 pm, we lit seven little candles each one; to honor the Virgin Mary, and with each light, we take advantage to thank her for the blessings received. The other hand, we make a personal prayer to her, mentioned all the important people for us and asking her to bring light, love and hope to them, that illuminate their ways and guide their life at all times. If you are asking yourself why we do it around 7 pm; is because it is believed that this is the moment when Virgin Mary visits the houses that have lit little candles. How sweet, huh!
Additionally, we feel this day as the beginning of the Christmas time in Colombia, we spend that night with close family and friends, sharing some Christmas dishes like “Natilla” or “Buñuelos”, drinking some beverages, listening to our dear and emotive Christmas carols; and getting ready for the more special time for us.
Everybody says we Colombians are people highly familiar and very united, but commonly, they forget to say that we Colombians are extremely Christmas people and, to be honest… We are so proud of this!
Curly thoughts... 