Things of the Church: Votive Candles

Beloved in Christ,

Last week, a parishioner mentioned that, standing resolute in the narthex (entrance) of the church, just towards the north side while approaching the oratory with the altar dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, is a votive candle stand.

A picture can be seen below!

Votive candles have been used in many Christian denominations for thousands of years.

They are lit as one prays, or after one prays, as a sign and symbol of our prayerful intention made manifest in light and offered to God.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, it was originally performed as a fulfillment of a vow that one had accomplished, hence the word votive from the Latin votum.

One may use them for many purposes - to pray for the dead, to seek the intercession of the Saints, to ask for the intercession of the Theotokos, to pray a particular prayer to Christ, to give thanks for something that has happened.

It is an act of embodied prayer which is made physically manifest in the lighting of the candle.

In my experience, it can be a powerful act of pausing and focusing on that particular prayer.

It is yet one more way to engage the rich tradition and reality of prayer in our lives of faith - which intersect all the experiences of our life. Divinity is constantly breaking into the world, if we have eyes to see (and Lord do I wish that my eyes could see more frequently!)

This coming Monday is the Feast of St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine of Hippo. She said, shortly before dying, that “God is never far from us.”

When lighting the votive candle, it is a true reminder of this reality - God is never far from us, and the light, and heat of the candles remind us of this profound truth as we offer ourselves and our prayers to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Yours in Christ,

Alex+