Clarissa was mother to a large family, raising 11 children in a small rural town in the 1940s. She was a devout woman, and instilled her values in her children. One of the most important to her was the understanding that Christmas is about more than just getting presents, it's about Jesus' birth. She began the tradition of having a birthday party for Jesus.Each Christmas morning she'd bring out the small cake she'd made, decorated with a single blue candle. The children would sing "Happy Birthday to Jesus," and all blow out the candle for Him.
In later years Clarissa began spreading the word about this celebration. After their Thanksgiving dinner was finished and the dishes put away, the card tables came out and her children started a production line of wrapping the tiny blue candles in white tissue, tying a small blue ribbon around them, and taping them to a sheet of paper that was then folded around the candle. The paper showed the candle logo drawn by her daughter's art teacher, and explained its significance: "The Tiny Blue Candle on the Birthday Cake represents Christ, the Light of the World. The blue color honors His Holy Mother, to whom we are all indebted, and the tiny flame denotes the spirit of love that dwells in each of us."
Clarissa distributed the tiny blue candles every year at the local elementary school, and she always carried a candle in her purse to give to acquaintances who took an interest. The nearby bakery even displayed a blue candle cake in their front window at Christmastime. Clarissa's friends in other countries gave out the candles she sent them, as well. She claimed her celebration of Jesus' birthday had spread to every continent, with the thousands of her tiny blue candles.This website continues Clarissa's work, telling the world about the birthday party for Jesus that she began over 65 years ago.
Bring the tradition of the tiny blue candle into your home and your heart ... have your own birthday party for Jesus this Christmas!
Give Christmas Back to Christ
It began for her back in 1945 when the atomic bomb brought the Second World War to a sudden halt. Peace was declared. But many had died and one of them was Clarissa's brother, Sylvan. He was a glider pilot who had seen plenty of action, only to perish during a training flight mishap in England.
[Clarissa] wanted to make a memorial to her brother, not of stone or granite, but "a living memorial for him and all the men and women who had died with him for peace ... I had to have something that I could do the rest of my life and something I could do no matter what circumstances I found myself in -- rich, poor, healthy or otherwise," she recalled. She decided to center her work around the feast of the Prince of Peace which is Christ's birthday. It is the common denominator for all Christian religions. And it occurred to her that all children's birthdays are a very special, meaningful time celebrated with a party, birthday cake, and song. And she thought, Jesus was a child just like her own children, and Mary, his mother, must have celebrated his birthday. "And perhaps she would call her friends to celebrate with her."
So she decided to have a birthday party for Jesus. Everybody would go to church, and later in the day, they could get together at home, have a birthday cake, and one candle that would represent all the years since Christ's birth.
It started out as a family tradition, and later she began sending a card to members of the community with one candle. On the card was the motto, "Give Christmas back to Christ."
Excerpted from a local newspaper article, dated December 19, 1985.
[Clarissa] wanted to make a memorial to her brother, not of stone or granite, but "a living memorial for him and all the men and women who had died with him for peace ... I had to have something that I could do the rest of my life and something I could do no matter what circumstances I found myself in -- rich, poor, healthy or otherwise," she recalled. She decided to center her work around the feast of the Prince of Peace which is Christ's birthday. It is the common denominator for all Christian religions. And it occurred to her that all children's birthdays are a very special, meaningful time celebrated with a party, birthday cake, and song. And she thought, Jesus was a child just like her own children, and Mary, his mother, must have celebrated his birthday. "And perhaps she would call her friends to celebrate with her."
So she decided to have a birthday party for Jesus. Everybody would go to church, and later in the day, they could get together at home, have a birthday cake, and one candle that would represent all the years since Christ's birth.
It started out as a family tradition, and later she began sending a card to members of the community with one candle. On the card was the motto, "Give Christmas back to Christ."
Excerpted from a local newspaper article, dated December 19, 1985.
In Clarissa's Own Words
"When my young brother was killed in the last war I considered how he had given his life to bring peace to the world and decided at that time to devote the rest of my life to that same cause.
"I was just one little person very busy raising my family and being a good wife and I spent a long time exploring what I might do in my own life that others might imitate and pass on to others.
"Though the war had ended the world was sick from an overdose of man's hatred and greed and I sought some means of bringing it back to health. The hatred must be replaced with brotherly love and the greed by true Christian charity. The Feasts of Christmas sets before us the greatest example of such love & such charity. God loving us so much he gives us his own Son to be our Brother. [...]
"If I could bring the true meaning of Christmas back into the lives of men I would help drive out the poison in men's hearts and the world would become well again."
Taken from a personal letter, dated Christmas 1964.
small blue candle little blue candle Christmas traditions family traditions Christian traditions Catholic traditions religious traditions Christmas memories childhood memories Christmas party
"I was just one little person very busy raising my family and being a good wife and I spent a long time exploring what I might do in my own life that others might imitate and pass on to others.
"Though the war had ended the world was sick from an overdose of man's hatred and greed and I sought some means of bringing it back to health. The hatred must be replaced with brotherly love and the greed by true Christian charity. The Feasts of Christmas sets before us the greatest example of such love & such charity. God loving us so much he gives us his own Son to be our Brother. [...]
"If I could bring the true meaning of Christmas back into the lives of men I would help drive out the poison in men's hearts and the world would become well again."
Taken from a personal letter, dated Christmas 1964.
small blue candle little blue candle Christmas traditions family traditions Christian traditions Catholic traditions religious traditions Christmas memories childhood memories Christmas party
