TECUMSEH (SNR) – Catholic churches around the globe lit new Paschal candles at Easter last weekend, praying that each candle’s presence “may the light of Christ, risen in glory, dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.”
The Exsultet – the Easter Proclamation – prays, “accept this candle, a solemn offering, the work of bees and of your servants’ hands, an evening sacrifice of praise, this gift from your most holy Church.”
In the parishes of St. Andrew in Tecumseh and St. Mary in St. Mary, the “servants’ hands” that made the Paschal candles were right there in the pews. Carrie Wusk and her daughters Kaity and Calle have made Paschal candles for the parishes at the request of pastor Father Craig Clinch since 2019.
That year, Father Clinch visited parishioner Virginia Thiesfeld regularly, bringing Holy Communion to her at her home. After their prayer together, conversation often turned to her grandchildren, and Thiesfeld – “Grandma Ginny” to the Wusk girls – showed Father Clinch some of Kaity and Calle’s artwork.
“She was beaming as a proud grandmother would and I was quite impressed at their talents,” he said. “I began to think about asking them to use their talents for the Church.” He eventually suggested making Paschal candles to the girls’ mom, Carrie.
Carrie said their family is surrounded by talent in many forms.
“We have artists, musicians, craftsmen, and wordsmiths,” she said. “We – the girls and I – would all say we are crafty, not real artists. We enjoy trying new things and dabbling in different mediums.
The girls have been involved in art classes and have worked with glass, clay, beadworking, and paint. Calle “dabbles” in many mediums, and has started to create digitally. Kaity – the one with “all the technical skills in our family,” her mom said – has gifted friends, family and teachers with amazing artistic gifts. Carrie likes to paint and has ‘covered’ some walls at home with her work.
“We are definitely not professionals, but we thoroughly enjoy being ‘artsy,’ she said. “When Father asked if we would paint the Paschal candles we were honored but very green. We had no clue what all went into decorating a Paschal candle.”
Father Clinch enlisted the advice of Elizabeth Lemme, a local artist, and a friend since his time in the seminary.
“She made a beautiful illumination of a passage from St. John’s Gospel for my first Mass of Thanksgiving,” he said, “and I have since purchased her Christmas and Easter coloring pages from her etsy shop (PelicanPrinteryHouse) for the children at my parishes.”
He remembered Lemme had been commissioned to decorate Paschal candles in the past by several priests.
“I contacted her to see if she might be able to share the process of what all is involved in designing and painting a Paschal candle. She was more than happy to share her knowledge, and examples of the Paschal candles she had decorated, with Kaity and Calle.”
Lemme sent the Wusks an email detailing her process and shared some of her designs and dimensions: she first sketched ideas, then copied it onto tracing paper. Then she placed the tracing paper on the candle and etched it in with a pen, to leave slight indentation in the candle.
The next step was to use gesso to prep the candle before painting. The gesso acts as a primer or base and helps the acrylic paint stick to the wax so it won’t peel off when it is handled, and the last step is to paint the design.
As for the design chosen for each candle, “Elizabeth is a true artist who made her own sketches and paintings,” Carrie said. The Wusks began by looking on the internet for different images of the elements they needed to complete a candle.
“Over the years,” Carrie said, “I made several slides that include a multitude of images of crosses, lambs, and Alpha and Omega symbols. Each year we look over the slides to give us an idea of what we would like to try.”
Before the Wusks started decorating the candles, they really didn’t know all the elements that go into a Paschal candle, or all of the symbolism, Carrie said.
“Each candle needs to have a cross, the Alpha and Omega, and the year; those are the three main parts we make sure each candle encompasses.”
That first year, she said, Father Clinch told them the candles were made of beeswax and “encouraged us to smell their light, sweet scent.” The candles are made of beeswax because it is considered to be the purest form of wax, as Jesus took flesh in the purest form, Carrie continued.
“The wick is considered His soul and as the candle burns it gives of itself, like Jesus, giving light to the world. The five incense pins symbolize the five wounds of Christ on the cross.”
This year, Carrie said, Calle – currently a freshman at Sterling Public Schools – found a couple of different designs she liked and chose to blend them together.
“I would have been ‘old school’ and gone to the light board and traced them out,” her mother said, “but she digitally recreated them using the tools in Google slides. It was impressive what she could do and how adeptly she did it,” she said. “In the beginning we were pretty focused on how we were going to get it all to work, and now we are focused on what we are going to design.”
Some years the candles used in the two small parishes were still large enough to re-use another year, so the Wusks altered the designs to reflect the correct year. They also moved re-designed candles from one parish to another “for a change of view for their parishioners,” Carrie said.
The candles have been a team effort. Carrie pointed out that the first year, Kaity was a sophomore in high school and Calle was just a sixth-grader. Their father Mark also has a role, in the delivery of the candles.
“I still help out in the beginning stages,” she said, “but the girls are more comfortable and capable of completing a candle on their own.”
Calle said she usually does the tracing of the design onto the candle, and the painting.
“But I have my mom do the outline since she’s better at keeping a steady hand,” she said.
Kaity, now in her first year at the University of Nebraska Omaha and a self-proclaimed perfectionist, said she likes to have certain details turn out “just so.”
“My Type-A personality means that after Mom helps prepare the candle, I finish the rest completely solo,” she said.
She credited her mother, though, for encouraging her with a prompt or direction to follow during the design process. She said she doesn’t think of herself as a very creative person, “but rather a technical artist.”
Kaity put both her technical and creative skills to work for a special candle in 2021, however, to honor Grandma Ginny.
“I typically am in charge of decorating the candle for St. Andrew, which was Grandma’s home church,” she explained. “When Grandma’s health started getting really bad, Mom thought it might be nice to dedicate this last Easter candle to her as she loved her faith and my art.”
They chose green as the color, both to call to mind the many green things she owned, but also to compliment the Celtic knots on the border “since Grandma often recalled her Irish heritage.”
“I put some 20 hours of continuous painting into Grandma’s candle which is by long and far the most time and focus I’ve ever dedicated to a candle,” Kaity said.
Grandma Ginny died March 25, 2021 – the feast of the Annunciation.
One of Ginny’s final wishes was to go to the church in person, Carrie said, but that wasn’t possible. However, after her rosary in the church, Father Clinch lit the Paschal candle “and let its light shine for Grandma through the night.”
Kaity said the finished product was very beautiful and she was positive her grandmother would have appreciated it greatly.
“Seeing it lit for the first time during her vigil was bittersweet, but in the end I felt like I had given my Grandma a good last gift,” she said.
Seeing each of the candles at the altar remains a moving experience for all of the family.
“I think it’s pretty amazing to look up and see the candle and know that I was the one who made it,” Calle said. Her mother agreed.
“It is pretty amazing to see your daughters’ talents giving glory to God right there on the altar at Mass. Easter morning is always special as we rejoice that Christ has risen and the Paschal candle shines with His light.”
Father Clinch is also pleased with the results.
“I think it is one way we could help artists, especially aspiring artists, find their vocation in the Church and help them put their talents at the service of God and for God’s glory,” he said.
