Candles- must bees be involved?

[mfundis]

I am hoping for some guidance from those who are smarter than I…I thought I read somewhere that the candles at church had to be made of bees wax. In parish council tonight- it was brought up that there is a neighboring parish who is using some sort of oil candle, and some people wanted to look into that.

Am I right that bees must be involved- or did I dream that (perhaps after eating too much honey)? If I am right, does anyone know where it’s documented so I can pass it along to our parish life coodinator.

THANK YOU!

 

[katolik]

mfundis:

I am hoping for some guidance from those who are smarter than I…I thought I read somewhere that the candles at church had to be made of bees wax. In parish council tonight- it was brought up that there is a neighboring parish who is using some sort of oil candle, and some people wanted to look into that.

Am I right that bees must be involved- or did I dream that (perhaps after eating too much honey)? If I am right, does anyone know where it’s documented so I can pass it along to our parish life coodinator.

THANK YOU!

Is a parish life corrdinator a priest???

 

[mfundis]

no, she’s a lay woman…

 

[tee_eff_em]

Composition of Candles
and/or
Use of Candles in the Liturgy

tee

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

I believe that the Church at one time specified that candles used in liturgy had to have a specific minimum percentage of beeswax. The stories behind this are all over the place. In past history the lamp that burned before the tabernacle burned the old Sacramental oils from the prior year. A lamp that burns olive oil would seem to me to be liturgically correct.Oil lamps are also found through out the Scriptures.

I draw the line however with electric lamps!

 

[DominvsVobiscvm]

In the Tridentine Rite, the candles must be 51% bees-wax.

In the New Rite, you can do whatever the heck you want, and you don’t even have to use real candles. My own parish uses fake ones; not sure what they’re called.

 

[mfundis]

Thanks- I will pass this stuff along. Probably to no avail…(there are those who would do something just because the bishops said not to…not the plc, but people who run over her like mac trucks…)