Worldwide Candle Lighting Memorial Service
The 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 11th, 2022 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.
Add a Candle Lighting Program
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.
Click on your state below to view Worldwide Candle Lighting events in your area.
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.
Massachusetts
Westminister
North Central Massachusetts Chapter
- Date & Time:
- December 11, 2022 - 6:00 - 9:00 PM
- Location:
Redemption Rock Church, 3 Hager Park Rd, Westminster, MA 01473
- Highlights:
The program will include speakers, readings, special music, optional sharing of stories, and lighting candles.
- Bring:
Attendees should bring a photo and/or memento of their child(ren), grandchild(ren) and sibling(s) to put on our memory table.
- Special Events (before):
6:00 PM doors open
6:30 PM event starts
7:00 PM candles lit
- Special Events (after):
Approximately 7:40 PM, light refreshments served
- Contact:
- Jody Pupecki
- Telephone:
- 978- 786 - 5014
- Email:
- info@tcfncm.org
Boston
TCF of Boston
- Date & Time:
- December 11, 2022 - 6:00 PM
- Highlights:
This is being held on Zoom contact the chapter for the zoom link.
We will have a variety of music and readings, ending with a slideshow of our children, siblings, and grandchildren.
- Bring:
Attendees should have a candle ready to light at the end of the program. They are invited to contact us at tcfofboston@gmail.com for instructions as to how to submit a photo of their loved one for the slide show.
- Contact:
- Amy Kremer
- Telephone:
- (617) 539-6424
- Email:
- tcfofboston@gmail.com
- Additional:
All are welcome, whether living in the Boston area or not.
Newbury
TCF of Greater Newburyport
- Date & Time:
- December 11, 2022 - 7:00 PM
- Location:
64 Northern Blvd, Plum Island, Newbury, MA
- Highlights:
Hosted at chapter leader’s home, 64 Northern Blvd, Plum Island, Newbury, MA
Arrive 6:45P, Candle Lighting 7:00 -8:00 PM. December chapter meeting 8:00-9:00 PM (normal location closed on 12/26/22 normal date.) Park on street or in front of house.
Readings, music, candles, and a Memory Tree. Please bring your child(ren), sibling(s), and grandchild(ren) photos and optionally a special candle and ornament to hang on the Memory Tree.
Light refreshments. Chapter meeting attendance optional following candle lighting.
- Bring:
Photo of your child(ren), sibling(s), and grandchild(ren), optionally a special candle, and tree ornament for Memory Tree.
- Special Events (after):
December chapter meeting ~8:00-9:00 PM.
- Contact:
- Barbara Hopkinson
- Telephone:
- 978-697-1349
- Email:
- barbarajhopkinson@gmail.com
