Sanctuary Candle and candles in general?

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What would the next step on from that would be? Charging people so they can have an exposition of the Eucharist dedicated for their intentions?
 
I absolutely agree with jmcrae - this is an outrageous practice and I wish it would cease. The Sanctuary Candle is for the Blessed Sacrament.😦

Light a votive candle for any other reason.
 
MonkMoses said:
This is the case in every Roman Catholic parish I have ever belonged to…you usually have to put your name on a waiting list…no worry the lamp will not be lit. Asking for a stipend for lighting the lamp is no different than asking for a donation for having a mass said.
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It is this way in my parish, too. There is a stipend , just like there is a stipend for the votive candles that are lit. It is done in memory of the deceased. Every parish I know of does this.
 
jmcrae said:
Actually, there is a double-booking - with Jesus.

If the candle has to be lit for Jesus anyway, how does it make any sense to say that it is being lit for some other reason? :confused:

If the parish is short of funds, they should just say so, instead of making something up like this.
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It seems to me that practice is fairly widespread, and I don’t really see a problem with it, of course depending on how it’s handled.

The problem these days is that suitable candles have become a bit expensive. Sure, cheap votive candles are available in a “large” size, (which isn’t necessarily the same as anymore as the old standard) but they burn very quickly (usually gone within 4 days), and even those aren’t particularly inexpensive anymore. The “real thing” (which usually burns for a full 7 days) can be costly.

I’ve seen notices of request for donation for the Presence Lamp, but it’s done the same way it is for just about anything else: it’s the donation that is in memory of a departed person, not the candle itself. Indeed, the candle has to be lit anyway, but I really don’t see anything wrong with helping to defray an expense in the process. And as MonkMoses says, it’s a very common practice.
 
I have never heard of this practice!!

Paying for the Sanctuary Lamp to be lit for a dead person…it is only lit for Christ, showing His presence in the tabernacle…period

Still can’t grasp this…
 
I still do not believe that this is a “common” practice - I do not live in a bubble and have never heard of it.🤷

I suggest that all churches that are having a problem buying candles - take up a special collection (once a month or every few months) especially to buy a box of Sanctuary Candles (the votive candles are paid for by the person lighting the candle).

Then we could have the Sanctuary Candle telling us that our Dear Lord is present in the Blessed Sacrament and he is not sharing.:highprayer:
 
Carmelite1 said:
I still do not believe that this is a “common” practice - I do not live in a bubble and have never heard of it.🤷

I suggest that all churches that are having a problem buying candles - take up a special collection (once a month or every few months) especially to buy a box of Sanctuary Candles (the votive candles are paid for by the person lighting the candle).

Then we could have the Sanctuary Candle telling us that our Dear Lord is present in the Blessed Sacrament and he is not sharing.:highprayer:
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And that last is exactly what we do have. There is no “sharing” involved. The Presence Lamp is the Presence Lamp. What difference would it make if a “special collection” were taken to help defray the expense rather than having a specific donor? That particular candle doesn’t burn in memory of anyone. It burns as a … Presence Lamp.
 
MonkMoses said:
I live in the USA. I have lived in NJ, NY, FL, CA, PA and WI. The practice of having the sanctuary light lit in remembrance of a deceased person has been the norm in each of these places.
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I’m live NJ !
God bless you! 😃
 
Carmelite1 said:
Sounds like a scam to me. The Sanctuary Candle is ALWAYS LIT but if you want it to be for a specific person then you pay $15.👍

So, any number of people can just pay $15 for a Candle that is ALWAYS LIT (hopefully, assuming it is initially lit to indicate that the Blessed Sacrament is present in the Tabernacle).

I am sorry but I am 83 years old and have been a member of a number of parishes (Roman Catholic, US, to be specific); and have never, ever, heard of such a thing.
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Each week it’s lit for someone individually. God bless you!
 
malphono, the difference is - a special collection is buying a box of candles.

Paying a donation to add the name of a specific person to the Sanctuary Candle is exactly that - sharing. And, we must not push Our Saviour aside.:knight2:
 
1ke said:
No. The Sanctuary Lamp has a specific purpose and it is not lit for the dead.

No, lighting a candle cannot “get them out” of Purgatory. Our prayers can aid those in Purgatory.

I would suggest you ask your pastor, as I would think that the Mass is for the person not the candle-- although perhaps they change the candle on a particular day. It is not the lighting of the candle that is efficiacious. It is the private prayers or offering of the Mass that are.

You will have to ask your pastor. Never heard of it.
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Thank you! I just can’t imagine why someone would pay the $15 if it is not beneficial to their deceased loved one. Having a mass said is $10 so…you save $5 and it’s beneficial to the deceased’s soul. God bless!
 
Carmelite1 said:
malphono, the difference is - a special collection is buying a box of candles.

Paying a donation to add the name of a specific person to the Sanctuary Candle is exactly that - sharing. And, we must not push Our Saviour aside.:knight2:
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But that’s the point: it doesn’t. All it does, in fact, is allow the parish to publish a donor’s name and reason for the donation (and even then, a great many donors prefer to remain anonymous by their own wish.). Same as for Christmas or Easter flowers, same as for a repair in the church, same as for a chalice or communion set, etc. IOW, it’s the donation to the church that gets the “press” so-to-speak, and not the candle itself. As I said, it burns for one purpose and one purpose only: as a Presence Lamp. Who may have donated it is irrelevant.
 
malphono said:
But that’s the point: it doesn’t. All it does, in fact, is allow the parish to publish a donor’s name and reason for the donation (and even then, a great many donors prefer to remain anonymous by their own wish.). Same as for Christmas or Easter flowers, same as for a repair in the church, same as for a chalice or communion set, etc. IOW, it’s the donation to the church that gets the “press” so-to-speak, and not the candle itself. As I said, it burns for one purpose and one purpose only: as a Presence Lamp. Who may have donated it is irrelevant.
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Now I’m completely confused. The original question made it seem like you could have the Sanctuary Lamp lit for $15 to have your loved one released from Purgatory.

So - are people making a donation “in memory of”? And they know that the candle isn’t actually being lit for their loved one? In the way that one buys a stained glass window or a pew in memory of a loved one? (With no expectation of prayers being said for them.)

Or do people think they are donating to have the candle lit and prayers said for their loved one, to release him or her from Purgatory?
 
I’d be very surprised if ALL your parishes didn’t do this, and you just are not aware of it. I just looked at 5 local church bulletins and they all listed who the sanctuary lamp was burning in memory of for the next week. Ask your priest or parish secretary. 🙂
 
jmcrae said:
Now I’m completely confused. The original question made it seem like you could have the Sanctuary Lamp lit for $15 to have your loved one released from Purgatory.
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Well … I saw that but just couldn’t believe it. I guess I didn’t read the OP correctly … :o
jmcrae said:
So - are people making a donation “in memory of”? And they know that the candle isn’t actually being lit for their loved one? In the way that one buys a stained glass window or a pew in memory of a loved one? (With no expectation of prayers being said for them.)
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As far as I’m aware, that’s the way it works, (or at that’s the way it should work) in most places. I’ve never seen it put it any other terms, and I’ve been around the block a few times.
jmcrae said:
Or do people think they are donating to have the candle lit and prayers said for their loved one, to release him or her from Purgatory?
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I’ve not encountered anything like “hey, pay your 15 bucks and give your departed loved one a fast-track to heaven” and I truly hope I never do. It sounds almost like a carnie come-on. :eek: Oh, my, but that just doesn’t sit well with me at all. 😦 But if that’s the case (I hope not but it may be), uh … well … all I can say is that it seems to me that parish has problems. 🤷
 
malphono said:
I’ve not encountered anything like “hey, pay your 15 bucks and give your departed loved one a fast-track to heaven”
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Stuff like that could result in people nailing declarations to the church door 😃
 
MonkMoses said:
I’d be very surprised if ALL your parishes didn’t do this, and you just are not aware of it. I just looked at 5 local church bulletins and they all listed who the sanctuary lamp was burning in memory of for the next week. Ask your priest or parish secretary. 🙂
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That reads like a donation to me. When I’ve seen it printed, (and that’s been more than a few times) it’s always in terms of “the Presence Lamp for week X was donated by Y in memory of Z.” Just like “the repair of the pulpit was donated by X in memory of Y.” That’s a donation. Never have I seen it otherwise.
 
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