Battery operated candles for personal prayer at home?

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Spyridon said:
I’d rather see no candles used at all than LED candles at Church. Totally inappropriate for use in Church.

However, use in private would be fine.
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I agree that for Church, one wants the real thing.
 
Christmysavor said:
I have battery operated candles are they allowed to be used for persanl prayers due to not being able to use real candles? Dose the church allow this?
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The Church does not have regulations on personal devotions.

The Church has rubrics on the public liturgy of the Church.

You can do whatever you want in your personal devotions.
 
pablope said:
I am beginnig to see them in churches. I was told one the reasons for the switch was because of fire hazards caused by unattended candles…
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That is sadly happening. It is lame. Incense and candles are real religion. Electric candles are subtle gnosticism in my opinion.
 
Personally, I don’t like them but the parish I attended in Manhattan used LED votives (it was just the votives; not the altar candles). Insurance premiums are high, and with a lot of parishes struggling financically, it could be a cost saving measure.

And there was this:

ny.curbed.com

Cause of Fire That Gutted Landmarked Flatiron Church Determined

The 1851 landmark was gutted by a mysterious fire on May 1.
ny.curbed.com ny.curbed.com
 
No, it smacks of Modernism.
We all know Modernism was thoroughly condemned by Pious X in 1907.

But then again, there was a time when candles were modern technology too!

So maybe it doesn’t matter at all.
 
Jewish people didn’t generally use candles, historically, until much later. In the middle east and the mediterranean oil was cheap and plentiful, so most people used oil lamps for illumination.
 
DarkLight said:
Jewish people didn’t generally use candles, historically, until much later. In the middle east and the mediterranean oil was cheap and plentiful, so most people used oil lamps for illumination.
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Yep. Candles became ordinary fairy recently in modern history. Candles that were reliable even more so.

If anything, an LED light…light from pure electricity…an unseen force…is even more appropriate for prayer use than a simple flame.
 
Yeah, it’s not uncommon for rental contracts to include a “no candles” clause. Landlords don’t want to deal with the risk of fire.
 
I think the ones that take AA batteries are okay, but the AAA ones might be against Church teaching…Just kidding…there is no requirement for candles, or the type of candles for personal prayer.
 
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Candles have a rich tradition and a powerful symbolism as sacramentals of the Church. We just heard some of that beautiful symbolism in the text of the Exsultet last night.
 
I remember back in Catholic grade school when this one lady (I don’t know if she was a nun or and older teacher) would come into the class for various things and that if she had a candle it was yellow paper cut to look like a flame. That was due to a rule against open flames as a fire hazard in our radiator-heated classrooms.

I’ll echo other that for personal devotion, electric candles are perfectly fine because there’s zero regulation on the matter.
For the record, I’ve got a rosary I made of white string and it doesn’t have an actual cross on it. Just a loop at the end because I am not artistic. Doesn’t mean prayers I say with it are any less valid. Our prayers get meaning from our hearts, not whether or not the candle in front of us is present, real flame, electric flame, or yellow paper. So if having an LED candle helps you pray, do it.
 
Indeed, I recall singing it in Latin by candlelight in a packed Church in my younger days. One day it may be with electric torches instead of wax/oil based torches 😉.
 
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