Altar candle
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Altar candles are candles set on or near altars for religious ceremonies.
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[edit] In the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church
[edit] Symbolism
To the three elements of a lit altar candle, some writers attached a symbolism related to Jesus Christ: the beeswax or other material symbolizing his body, the wick his soul, and the flame his divinity.
[edit] Regulation
For celebration of Mass, it is required that "on or next to the altar are to be placed candlesticks with lighted candles: at least two in any celebration, or even four or six, especially for a Sunday Mass or a holy day of obligation. If the Diocesan Bishop celebrates, then seven candles should be used".[1]
The Catholic Encyclopedia article[2] describes the complex rules that at the beginning of the twentieth century governed the composition and number of candles to be used at Mass. Lighted candles of the correct composition (beeswax, with no more than a minimal admisture of other material, and usually bleached) were considered so essential that, if before the consecration they happened to go out (quenched, for instance, by a gust of wind) and could not be relit within fifteen minutes, the celebration of Mass had to be abandoned, and some writers maintained that even if the candles could be relit within that time, Mass should in any case be begun again from the start.
Some of the rules indicated in that article were formulated, as the article itself states, only in the second half of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. The Roman Missal of the time continued to indicate merely that on the altar there should be "at least two candlesticks with lit candles" with a centrally placed cross between them (Rubricae generales Missalis, XX - De Praeparatione Altaris, et Ornamentorum eius).
On the other hand, the article ignores completely the rule given in the same section of the Roman Missal - and still included even in the typical 1920 edition[3] - that "a candle to be lit at the elevation of the Sacrament" should be placed with the cruets of wine and water to the Epistle side of the altar.
[edit] In other Churches
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Candles are placed on the altar in other liturgical rites of Christian Churches also. To avoid any appearance of imitating Catholic practices, some Protestant denominations forbid their use.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ General Instruction of the Roman Missal (PDF) 17. Catholic truth society (04 2005). Retrieved on February 13, 2007.
- ^ Catholic Encyclopedia, Altar Candles (HTML). Encyclopedia press (1907). Retrieved on February 13, 2007.
- ^ Missale Romanum (PDF) (1920-07-25). Retrieved on February 13, 2007.
