| Why do we use Candles? |
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| The Catholic custom of using candles is rooted in Church teaching that Christ is the light of the world. At Mass on Sundays, candles are often lit at the ambo where the Word of God is proclaimed, always on the altar where the Eucharistic Sacrifice occurs, and next to the tabernacle. |
| PRAYER |
| Lord, May this candle I am lighting be the light with which you enlighten me in my difficulties and decisions. May it be the fire with which you burn away the selfishness and impurity in me. May it be the flame with which you warm my heart. I cannot remain for long in your church. By leaving this candle burning, I want to give you something to myself. Help me to continue to pray in the midst of my daily activities. Amen. |
| The use of lights as an adjunct to worship goes back to the beginning of the Church, and even farther. Among the Jews and in many pagan rites the use of lights had long been looked upon as appropriate in connection with public homage to their God or gods. It is probable that among Christians they were first employed simply to dispel darkness, when the sacred mysteries were celebrated before dawn, as was the custom, or in the gloom of the catacombs; but the beautiful symbolism of their use was soon recognized by the writers of the early Church. Candles are commonly used to burn before shrines towards which the faithful wish to show special devotion. The candle burning its life out before a statue is symbolical of prayer and sacrifice. A curious medieval practice was that of offering at any favoured shrine a candle or a number of candes equalling in measurement the height of the persons for whom some favour was asked. This was called "measuring to" such or such a saint. The practice can be traced back to the time of St. Radegund (d.587) and later right through the Middle Ages. It was especially common in England and the North of France in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. |