Why did they change the order of the candles?

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Nils

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Dear CF,

I have been an altar server in both the Novus Ordo Mass and the Gregorian Mass, and here is a question that hit me last time I set up the altar.

In Novus Ordo, I was taught to put the highest candle to the right and the lowest to the left. In the Tridentine Mass, I was taught to put the highest to towards the center and the lowest to the right. Why did it change?

If this should be in the liturgy section, please feel free to move it!

Yours,
Nils

PS.
I have also seen other examples of the Tridentine Mass when all candles are of equal hight and such, but this is what I was told to do when we have candles or candle holders of different size./DS

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It might just be preference of the pastor or parish, I don’t think this is something governed by the liturgical rubrics, at least as far as I know. At my parish(EF) we have equal sized candles.
 
At my Cathedral, they use three candles in a triangle-shaped pattern on each side. 🤷 They’re all pretty close in height because they try to keep them evenly used throughout the week.

At my seminary, when we use 3 candles (for solemnities), then the tallest one (least used one) is on the outside and the shortest one (the one that is used everyday) is right next to the altar.

Really though, the arrangement of candles by height is not something to get upset about. I know people at CAF (especially in TC and Liturgy) like to get upset about small details sometimes, but this one is like crying over spilled milk.
 
It looks aesthetically bad to me to have the tallest outside and the shortest inside; the reverse looks better. However, I think the best arrangement is to have them all the same length.
 
I agree that the most beautiful arrangement is to have them all the same length. I was however told that we use the tallest ones to the center because they should all point towards the sky…

Is it possible to keep such arrangement in the NO Mass also?
 
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