On a Bee wing and a Prayer

 

On this, your night of grace, O holy Father,

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.

But now we know the praises of this pillar,
which glowing fire ignites for God's honor,
a fire into many flames divided,
yet never dimmed by sharing of its light,
for it is fed by melting wax,
drawn out by mother bees
to build a torch so precious.

      The  Easter Vigil Exultet

I am appreciative of the wonderful diversity of bee species, including the honey bees which are an introduced species in North America. They are vital to pollination of all manner of plants and without them we would starve to death. I can hardly wait to see the bumblebees which nest in our back yard. They are a hopeful sign, even though our two cats would disagree. 

I hadn't realized until this year that one of the prayers of the Roman Catholic Church for the Easter Vigil (the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter) speaks of bees -- mother bees, even. 

I am grateful to Sister Rose Pacatte who drew my attention to this, even though in years past I participated in an ecumenical Easter Vigil and the Exsultet. Back in 2016 she wrote a lovely, informative piece on the subject. https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/bees-return-enriches-easter-vigil

Sister Rose quotes Pope Benedict, the least favourite pontiff of my lifetime who in 2012 offered what I begrudgingly admit was a thoughtful Easter Vigil homily:

The great hymn of the Exsultet, which the deacon sings at the beginning of the Easter liturgy, points us quite gently towards a further aspect. It reminds us that this object, the candle, has its origin in the work of bees. So the whole of creation plays its part. In the candle, creation becomes a bearer of light. But in the mind of the Fathers, the candle also in some sense contains a silent reference to the Church. The cooperation of the living community of believers in the Church in some way resembles the activity of bees. It builds up the community of light. So the candle serves as a summons to us to become involved in the community of the Church, whose raison d'être is to let the light of Christ shine upon the world.

I wasn't aware that at another time there was a requirement that candles have a certain content of beeswax in order to be considered worthy of the liturgy -- that's hard-core!

I suppose this entry should be in my Groundling blog, but I've had bees on the brain lately.  We're hearing that beekeepers are opening hives this Spring to find that the bees within have been badly depleted or entirely wiped out. Hives are communities which must be built up, so these losses are disastrous for the keepers, the crops and orchard they pollinate, and for the honey supply. A nasty mite is one culprit in their demise, but the use of pesticides on crops weakens bees and makes them more susceptible to disease and predators. 

We are scheduled to visit a honey operation for a tour in June, as a gift from family, and while I was a beekeeper with a parishioner once upon a time I'm looking forward to the refresher.One of our daughters is keen to have hives on their property and her four-year-old daughter is fascinated by them as well. 

Thank you, God, for mother bees and for their essential part in Creation.  

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