Votive candles

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Elaine2014

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This is a trivial question but one I have not been able to find the answer to: when is it acceptable to light votive candles? Should you always do it between masses? I’ve picked up some information while looking for the answer but it would be nice to have a detailed statement on the etiquette. Probably too obvious for a cradle Catholic, but if I hadn’t been looking for an answer I would have stuffed a $10 bill in the change box and lit 10 candles
 
Light one anytime you would not be disrupting a liturgy.
Generally, there is a suggested amount on the box, like $1 per very small one day candle or $7 for a seven day candle.
Ask around. Many parishes leave to your discretion. It’s not necessary to light a candle for every person or every intention. You can leave a decent donation and light one. All the prayers go to the same place. 🙂 The donation is to help defray the cost of the candle.
 
Cone said:
Generally, there is a suggested amount on the box, like $1 per very small one day candle <<<
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Volunteer to cover the shipping and handling for 10 cases of candles and scrape the candle holder, you might get that cost lowered. 😉

Seriously though, many people (and I mean MANY) just light a candle, and put nothing in the box. How do I know this? We open the box weekly…find about 14 bucks.
60 candles lit.
🤷
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OraLabora said:
Probably fire insurance is to blame.
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Yup. Our parish had to buy a special floor mat to prevent accidents or sparks. And, we are limited to seven day candles since they are really large, the glass is really thick, and they generally are no problem. The small ones are really hazardous. I remember at my old parish those little glasses were always exploding.
The parish in Ireland has those little finger sized candles, and hundreds of years of wax built up on the stone floor. LOL
 
In Brooklyn, New York, we had electric candles, but there were never enough. My husband and I could never find a candle to light!

We moved to Albany, city of my dreams, (really! :love:) and we never had candles anywhere. Of course, I didn’t go to every single church in Albany, but they didn’t even have them in the Cathedral. Since I moved to drab old Santa Fe, Albany got a new Bishop, and maybe he will encourage the pastors to haul out the old candle stands that must be in every church attic.

I’m sure they’ll have to use electric candles. (Fire code) A necessary evil sigh but I sure did like the fragrance of the real ones.😛
 
P.S. In Santa Fe I started going to this ancient church, (founded 1610) and we have a candle stand! Unfortunately, I’m usually so exhausted, I never get up to light a candle! Maybe I’ll make a point to do it next Sunday…and light it for some of the prayer requests

:byzsoc:
 
Weejee said:
P.S. In Santa Fe I started going to this ancient church, (founded 1610) and we have a candle stand! Unfortunately, I’m usually so exhausted, I never get up to light a candle! Maybe I’ll make a point to do it next Sunday…and light it for some of the prayer requests

:byzsoc:
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The Cathedral?
I’d give anything to go back home to New Mexico. You are lucky.
 
pianistclare said:
In Ireland they have electric ones! You press a button! 😛
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Sometimes I attend Mass at a beautiful church in my city in Michigan. But dang they have those chintzy electric ones. Love any church that has candle stands. Takes me back to my youth before the parish I grew up in removed the statues and the candles.
 
Duane1966 said:
Sometimes I attend Mass at a beautiful church in my city in Michigan. But dang they have those chintzy electric ones. Love any church that has candle stands. Takes me back to my youth before the parish I grew up in removed the statues and the candles.
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I don’t know why so many churches stupidly did that. Want to hear something really stupid? The church I grew up in waited till 1990 to ditch their statues. Can you believe it. They must have gotten some throwback priests, or members of the Parish comittees. By 1990, I thought sanity had returned. :confused: Guess I was mistaken. :mad:
 
Electric votive candles are my pet peeve. And I do not believe insurance is a valid reason to ditch real candles. I used to be involved in the financial/business management of our parish. We have lots of votive candles. Never once did it come up as an issue with insurance. Perhaps I am being cynical, but votive candles have been around a long, long time. It is not difficult to have safe, real candles. When I hear reasoning for ditching votive candles, but yet the neighboring parish has them (and insurance is usually arranged at the Diocesan level), I think someone is just making an excuse that seems believable.
 
tafan said:
Electric votive candles are my pet peeve. And I do not believe insurance is a valid reason to ditch real candles. I used to be involved in the financial/business management of our parish. We have lots of votive candles. Never once did it come up as an issue with insurance. Perhaps I am being cynical, but votive candles have been around a long, long time. It is not difficult to have safe, real candles. When I hear reasoning for ditching votive candles, but yet the neighboring parish has them (and insurance is usually arranged at the Diocesan level), I think someone is just making an excuse that seems believable.
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This is true…I think another “possibility” is that insurance agents that come and do an audit, see the ancient, rickety candle bank, and think “man, this is an accident waiting to happen”. Parishes don’t want to buy a whole new set-up, and if they do, they think “hey! lets get electric candles and then the sacristan doesn’t have to spend hours scraping and replacing glass and candles each week”.
Of course it’s not that bad, but people do complain. And the auditors worry about the lighters, and the possibility of kids playing with them because you have to leave them, or matches out for people to use. I like using the long wicks to light the candles, but our Sacristan insists that they are too expensive and that people take them home. 🤷

Another reason is that many Catholics no longer believe in the value of having a candle lit. Like they think it’s superstition or something. It’s really unfortunately.
 
What I’ve seen is that in smaller, or regular parish churches, people light them when they come in for Mass, or after Mass is finished, or any time they come in to pray in between.

But at Cathedrals where there is often a lot going on at any one time…Mass, confessions, etc people light them at any time, as often people are passing through and not staying for Mass etc.

I’ve had a variety of experiences as far as paying for candles etc. Many churches have had a suggested offering sign, and at shrines I’ve been to, you purchase the candle in the shop and then bring it to the particular altar or shrine and light it there.
 
Elaine2014 said:
This is a trivial question but one I have not been able to find the answer to: when is it acceptable to light votive candles? Should you always do it between masses? I’ve picked up some information while looking for the answer but it would be nice to have a detailed statement on the etiquette. Probably too obvious for a cradle Catholic, but if I hadn’t been looking for an answer I would have stuffed a $10 bill in the change box and lit 10 candles
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You should be able to light votive candles anytime the church is open and Mass is not going on or other activity such as wedding or funeral. I have stopped many times at a church when out and about and gone in and lit candles and stayed to pray. You can come early before Mass or stay late after Mass and light candles. There is usually a sign somewhere near by that tells you how much they would like per candle, small or large.

God bless.
 
The real candles lent aroma and atmosphere, but I’d rather light a plastic-push-the-button candle than no candle at all!

If I had the strength to offer, I’d go on candle clean-up duty. When I was in grade school, our real-candle candlestand looked so nice. When I came back to town about twenty years later, the stand looked disgusting, uncleaned, etc.

I complained to a fellow at work, and he turned around and said, “then why don’t YOU go and clean up the candles?” I pushed his suggestion aside, but often I had thought about it.

MIssed the boat on that one. Now I imagine my childhood church ditched the candles when they ditched the statues. Probably as a result of the same Reign of Error.:mad:
 
Is the flame that lights the first votive candle (to light the rest from) the same flame from the constantly burning, “eternal flame” that is lit at easter? I know the orthodox have this tradition in which the it is the same source of fire. Or does the priest just light up one of them with matches or a lighter?
 
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