Worldwide Candle Lighting Memorial ServiceThe Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting on the 2nd Sunday in December unites family and friends around the globe in lighting candles for one hour to honor the memories of the sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and grandchildren who left too soon. As candles are lit on December 10th, 2023 at 7:00 pm local time, hundreds of thousands of people commemorate and honor the memory of all children gone too soon.
Now believed to be the largest mass candle lighting on the globe, the annual Worldwide Candle Lighting (WCL), a gift to the bereavement community from The Compassionate Friends, creates a virtual 24-hour wave of light as it moves from time zone to time zone. TCF’s WCL started in the United States in 1997 as a small internet observance and has since swelled in numbers as word has spread throughout the world of the remembrance. Hundreds of formal candle lighting events are held, and thousands of informal candle lightings are conducted in homes, as families gather in quiet remembrance of children who have died and will never be forgotten.
IMPORTANT: If you attempt to submit your candle lighting service and we do not contact you or your service is not listed within 48 hours, please contact kathiek@compassionatefriends.org.
We also will be holding a virtual candle lighting for those who would prefer to attend virtually. We will have four programs in the
Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific time zones.
Register below for your time zone.
Virtual Worldwide Candle Lighting
Every year you are invited to post a message in the Remembrance Book which will be available, during the event, at TCF’s national website. The Remembrance Book will be open to post a message Thursday, December 1st, through Friday, December 16th. Photos can be posted on our Worldwide Candle Lighting Facebook page.
The Compassionate Friends and allied organizations are joined by local bereavement groups, churches, funeral homes, hospitals, hospices, children’s gardens, schools, cemeteries, and community centers. Services have ranged in size from just a few people to nearly a thousand.
View International Countries
If you do not see a candle lighting program in your area, contact your local chapter to see if they are planning a program. Find a chapter.
Rancho Sahuarita
15455 S Camino Lago Azul
Sahuarita, AZ 85629
Grassy area between the clubhouse and the lake
Music, and reflection.
A picture of your loved one.
Cookies and hot chocolate
Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church
1212 E Glendale Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85020
SE corner of 12th St and Glendale
A short program with readings, music, and a video presentation before we light our candles at 7:00 PM.
A picture for the Remembrance Table.
There will be coffee and refreshments during the social time and an opportunity to make a memento before the program begins.
American Legion Post #35 2240 W Chandler Blvd Chandler AZ 85224
Special readings, reading of the children, grandchildren, and sibling names, keepsake memento to take home.
Precious children, grandchildren, and siblings slide show, submit 1 (one) picture via email to Patty Haldar eightoften@hotmail.com
or text to Patty at 1-508-649-7049 deadline for submitting a photo is December 1st.
Framed picture for our special memorial table if you are not participating in the slideshow.
We will provide memorial envelopes if you prefer to make a donation In Loving Memory or you children, grandchildren, and siblings.
Each attendee will be given a candle to light prior to the start of the service
Following our service, we will offer light refreshments and social time.
Children’s Memorial Park 4875 N 15th Pl, Tucson, AZ 85704
West of Oracle and River
We begin promptly at 7:00 PM with the lighting of our centerpiece candle and ringing of the bell.
Poems and songs alternate through the program. We have a lovely singer with us each year.
The program culminates with each person in attendance lighting their candle(s) and saying the name(s) of the children, grandchildren, and siblings they are remembering. We create a circle to light up the darkness.
Attendees are welcome to bring a photo or memento to set on the sharing table.
We will have refreshments available before the event. A couple who are active with the local Survivors of Suicide group are hosting that part of the event.
Refreshments will be available for a short time after the event while we clean up.
