Held annually the second Sunday in December, this year December 9, The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting unites family and friends around the globe in lighting candles for one hour to honor and remember children who have died at any age from any cause. As candles are lit at 7 p.m. local time, hundreds of thousands of persons commemorate and honor children in a way that transcends all ethnic, cultural, religious, and political boundaries.
The Worldwide Candle Lighting is a gift from The Compassionate Friends to the bereavement community allowing us all to join together in unity to remember and honor the memories of all children so they may never be forgotten.
Believed to be the largest mass candle lighting on the globe, the Worldwide Candle Lighting creates a virtual 24-hour wave of light as it moves from time zone to time zone. 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 special children to always be remembered.
The Worldwide Candle Lighting started in the United States in 1997 as a small Internet observance but, as it has been embraced by the bereavement community, has swelled in numbers as word has spread throughout the world of the remembrance. A memorial message board is available during the event at TCF's USA website http://www.compassionatefriends.org/. Thousands of postings are received each year from all over the United States, as well as dozens of other countries, with many messages in foreign languages.
