“For in hope we were saved. Now hope that sees for itself is not hope. For who hopes for what one sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance.” (Romans 8, 24-25)

The first candle is struck, an act of defiant Hope. It burns not against the darkness of the night, but against the darkness of despair and the long silence since the fall.

This flame recalls the ancient promise of salvation (Genesis 3:15) and the prophet’s cry for the coming of the Messiah (Isaiah 9:2).

Hope is the bedrock; it is the unwavering conviction in God’s fidelity, the certainty that the King is coming to redeem His exiled people.