Episcopal churches of Gloucester and Mathews counties will gather at Ware Episcopal Church at 6 p.m. next Thursday, Feb. 2, for a joint service of Lessons and Carols.

The service marks the traditional end of the Christmas season by commemorating the day that Jesus was presented in the temple, 40 days after Christmas. A service of Lessons and Carols is a traditional Anglican style of hearing a scripture reading, pausing for silent reflection and then singing a hymn in response, a release said.

One of the elements of the service for this day, the Feast of the Presentation, is the annual blessing of all the candles that will be used by the church in the coming year.

“It’s wonderful that we mark the end of the Christmas cycle with the annual blessing of the candles,” said the Rev. Scott Parnell, pastor of Ware Church. “It’s a beautiful bookend to what we began celebrating in December as the light coming into the world—next week we take and bless that light and remember that it is...