We never dreamed this would happen to us...

It was not quite four years ago when the first CORDA candles launched. Honestly, for so much of these past years, we've been heads down, in the weeds, just trying to keep things going day to day.

You can imagine our surprise (shock, even) when Michael and I realized that there's more than 2,500 5-star reviews for our handcrafted Catholic candles... um, what?!

My hands are actually shaking a little as I'm writing this, it all feels unreal. There is something very few people know about the early days of CORDA, and we'd love to share it with you now. 

It takes time and effort to leave a review for something, and people have done that for us thousands of times over the last few years. All this feedback is invaluable to us, and it helps us as we continue to make candles, run the business side of things, and serve others.

These reviews also are a gift because we actually get to see that what we are doing day in and day out is meaningful to others, and that what we make helps people connect more deeply with the saints and our faith.

We don't have words to express how grateful, humbled, and amazed we are! 

How we're celebrating 2,500 reviews

With so much gratitude for God's grace and your support, we'll be offering 2,500 Hail Marys in thanksgiving for these reviews and for everything they signify.

We'll be lifting you up in prayer with each and every Hail Mary. If there's any particular intentions you'd like us to include, you can send them to us here: Contact CORDA.

Michael and I will be offering these 2,500 Hail Marys by praying 25 rosaries together, and we're beginning on Monday (July 31). Feel free to send your intentions before Monday, or even later, since these prayers will take us awhile. :o)

Favorite reviews!

We read through and talk about every single review that comes in, and each one is meaningful to us.

A few of Michael's favorites:

Best Candles Ever I am seriously blown away by Corda Candles. They are by far the nicest candles I have ever bought. Not only do they smell amazing but they last much longer than normal candles and there are no toxins being released into the air while you burn them. I also have no idea how Anna does it, but she literally gets the most perfect scents for each Saint. I am low-key obsessed with pretty much all of them.

Heavenly scents! With the abundant amount of candles and scent makers out there, I can honestly say that Corda has some of the most unique fragrances I have ever experienced. Burning one of these during prayer and contemplation time really heightens my invocations to God and adds a “scents” of heaven to the atmosphere around me. Thank you, Anna! Your CORDA candles are, indeed, a little piece of heaven on earth!

Such a beautiful scent! My son walked in the house not knowing I was burning this candle and he exclaimed “What is that best smelling smell I've ever smelled!” Pretty much sums it up.

A few of Anna's favorites:

Tealight Sampler Love these! They may be small but their scent is still enough to fill the room. I keep the sampler in my prayer basket and enjoy picking a saint that fits with my intentions or my struggles for the day. It's a fun way to engage all my senses during prayer and to remember to invite a saint to pray with me!

A Must-Have for Our Family Prayer! We purchased this as a suggestion to create a more positive sensory experience surrounding prayer with our children- kind of as a reminder of the intended mindset. It has really helped. I lit the candle the other day and my daughter asked if it was prayer time and grabbed a pillow to kneel. The scent is beautiful and not overpowering, so even my children who are sensitive to smells enjoy it. This is a high quality product, and we will definitely continue purchasing from Corda.

Padre Pio Candle—Incredible—Mom's Memory Love love love this candle!! I was never really a candle gal until I got my first corda candle. They really do inspire me and put me in a great place to want to get my prayer time in. Padre Pio was my mom's best Saint friend. With tragically losing my mom (and dad) this year.. has made me grasp onto her heavenly friends even tighter. When grief strikes especially hard I light this candle and feel just a little closer to my mom. Thanks for everything you do and for this incredible gift of heavenly scents.

And three bonus "guy reviews" (just because)

High quality, great smell As a dude, generally not into candles but these are great!

Great candle It's hard to find a non-floral, non-fruity, actually don't-mind-having-it-in-my-office-as a-man-candle. I took a risk on this one because it said "Michael the Arch-Angel" and is called "Battle Cry" which is about as manly as possible a name for a candle. Did not disappoint. Thank you for all the loving labor that goes into making this scent and the quality candle wax that is slow burning. Great value, too.

Perfect Mother's Day Gift! I'd like to share my recent experience with buying candles from the Cords website. First off, as a 56 year old father of seven, I am running out of ideas for those truly unique and personal gifts for my wife, especially ones that have a connection to our Catholic faith. A young man from one of my Men's groups, couldn't wait to tell me about the candle he'd gotten as a gift for Christmas, a Pier Giorgio Frassati candle. Go figure, a Marine recently separated from active duty, and an old retired cop, talking about candles! I took the info from the website from him, as candles were always a great fallback gift for my wife. After seeing the variety of candles, as well as seeing the Saint and prayer themes each one had, I decided to purchase the Pick Six Sampler, as well as two more candles. Each one of us picking our own personal pick. That was fun in itself, guessing who would pick what, and the reasons why. We also all wrote private notes, asking mom what to pray for, for us, when she lights that particular candle. This was certainly one of the best gifts she ever received. The quality of the Corda Candles are fantastic. They have been lit daily since we've given them to her and we can tell they will last a long time. The scents of each are fantastic and as I stated before, the way that they are presented, gives one a great opportunity to send someone a gift that is deeply personal, meaningful and different. I look forward to buying more of this terrific product in the future!

-------------------

And last but not least, here's a blooper reel. Enjoy. :o)