The crown of thorns candle holder pictured here is made from copper.  It was made for us by James Caesar, an artist in Vancouver, BC, Canada (see more of James' work at www.fiatluxglassworks.com).  This centrepiece is quite dramatic but you can use a simpler set up of six purple candles in individual holders set in a circle or triangle around the Christ candle used in Advent to achieve your goal, which is to mark the change in the season from Epiphany to Lent.

   We begin on Ash Wednesday (February 17, 2010) with lighting the white Christ candle.  A purple candle is then successively lite on each of the six Sundays in Lent.  The growing light in this process is to symbolize the growth in discipleship we are called upon to undertake in this season.  The season of Lent in the church has long been an intensified time of training for all disciples, though it began focused primarily on new converts who were preparing for their baptism at Easter.  Purple is the colour for Lent, signifying penitence as well as royalty.

   To symbolize the challenge of discipleship, each of the candles is extinguished over the course of Holy Week until the Christ candle itself is extinguished on Good Friday and the centrepiece is covered with a black cloth until we mark Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday.