Passing On the Light

Dear Family and Friends,

Anna is my 19-year-old friend. Her mother was my student about 30 years ago. Needless to say, our connection, in both generations, is a long and happy one.

Anna is now a nursing student in Rosai Hospital (労災病院), which is a few blocks from my home. We do not meet often, but we send a daily LINE message. That way we keep in touch and are getting to know each other better.

The other day, Mariko, Anna’s mother, asked me if I would like to go to a special ceremony. It was for first-year nursing students. It was the “Florence Nightingale Lamp Lighting and Oath Taking Ceremony”. In Japanese that becomes the “Passing on the Light Ceremony”. (継灯式)

Of course, I said yes to going.

The ceremony itself was extremely formal and very well-rehearsed. 

But the meaning behind it was highly significant and very profound.

As you probably know, Florence Nightingale is called “The Lady with the Lamp”. She was British, but her fame as a nurse began during the Crimean War. During that horrific ordeal, she would go onto the battlefield at night, carrying a candle, to treat wounded soldiers.

Florence Nightingale felt her duty was to serve others as a nurse. She was not concerned with individual differences, such as race, age, or social status. She provided aid to anyone who needed her help. Later she made considerable contributions to healthcare in general, including basics like the importance of fresh air, clean water, and proper nutrition.

Her open-minded, selfless service continues to be a worldwide role model for nurses even today.

he “Passing On the Light Ceremony” is held all over Japan, and in many other parts of the world as well. Interestingly, here it is for first-year, not graduating, students. It takes place in a dark room, where a lighted candle luminates a statue of Florence Nightingale. During the ceremony, each student lights their own candle from that “mother light.” 

This solemn ritual signifies the transfer of knowledge, skilled training, and a caring inner spirit. Every nurse promises to uphold these throughout her life. It also marks entry into, and devotion to, the nursing profession. And it reminds the students to maintain the highest standards of nursing care, no matter the circumstances.

At the end of the ceremony, Mariko was proud of her daughter. Anna was pleased by how well it went. 

I was deeply touched by the entire event. I sense its meaning will continue to unfold as time goes by, not only for myself, but for everyone who attended. 

Rituals do indeed have a way of going deeply into the core of being and, over time, coming up with significant, often unexpected gems, personally light-filled, to pass on. 

Love,

Anne