Vigilantius, a presbyter of Barcelona, still occupied the position of Tertullian and Lactantius in this matter. “We see,” he wrote, “a rite peculiar to the pagans introduced into the churches on pretext of religion, and, while the sun is still shining, a mass of wax tapers lighted.... A great honour to the blessed martyrs, whom they think to illustrate with contemptible little candles (de vilissimis cereolis)!” Jerome, the most influential theologian of the day, took up the cudgels against Vigilantius (he “ought to be called Dormitantius”), who, in spite of his fatherly admonition, had dared again “to open his foul mouth and send forth a filthy stink against the relics of the holy martyrs” (Hier. Ep. cix. al. 53—ad Ripuarium Presbyt., in Migne, Patr. lat. p. 906). If candles are lit before their tombs, are these the ensigns of idolatry? In his treatise contra Vigilantium (Patr. lat. t. xxiii.) he answers the question with much common sense. There can be no harm if ignorant and simple people, or religious women, light candles in honour of the martyrs. “We are not born, but reborn, Christians,” and that which when done for idols was detestable is acceptable when done for the martyrs. As in the case of the woman with the precious box of ointment, it is not the gift that merits reward, but the faith that inspires it. As for lights in the churches, he adds that “in all the churches of the East, whenever the gospel is to be read, lights are lit, though the sun be rising (jam sole rutilante), not in order to disperse the darkness, but as a visible sign of gladness (ad signum laetitiae demonstrandum).” Taken in connexion with a statement which almost immediately precedes this—“Cereos autem non clara luce accendimus, sicut frustra calumniaris: sed ut noctis tenebras hoc solatio temperemus” (§ 7)—this seems to point to the fact that the ritual use of lights in the church services, so far as already established, arose from the same conservative habit as determined the development of liturgical vestments, i.e. the lights which had been necessary at the nocturnal meetings were retained, after the hours of service had been altered, and invested with a symbolical meaning.

Already they were used at most of the conspicuous functions of the Church. Paulinus, bishop of Nola (d. 431), describes the altar at the eucharist as “crowned with crowded lights,”[5] and even mentions the “eternal lamp.”[6] Practice in the 4th century. For their use at baptisms we have, among much other evidence, that of Zeno of Verona for the West,[7] and that of Gregory of Nazianzus for the East.[8] Their use at funerals is illustrated by Eusebius’s description of the burial of Constantine,[9] and Jerome’s account of that of St Paula.[10] At ordinations they were used, as is shown by the 6th canon of the council of Carthage (398), which decrees that the acolyte is to hand to the newly ordained deacon ceroferarium cum cereo. As to the blessing of candles, according to the Liber pontificalis Pope Zosimus in 417 ordered these to be blessed,[11] and the Gallican and Mozarabic rituals also provided for this ceremony.[12] The Feast of the Purification of the Virgin, known as Candlemas (q.v.), because on this day the candles for the whole year are blessed, was established—according to some authorities—by Pope Gelasius I. about 492. As to the question of “altar lights,” however, it must be borne in mind that these were not placed upon the altar, or on a retable behind it, until the 12th century. These were originally the candles carried by the deacons, according to the Ordo Romanus (i. 8; ii. 5; iii. 7) seven in number, which were set down either on the steps of the altar, or, later, Eastern Church. behind it. In the Eastern Church, to this day, there are no lights on the high altar; the lighted candles stand on a small altar beside it, and at various parts of the service are carried by the lectors or acolytes before the officiating priest or deacon. The “crowd of lights” described by Paulinus as crowning the altar were either grouped round it or suspended in front of it; they are represented by the sanctuary lamps of the Latin Church and by the crown of lights suspended in front of the altar in the Greek.

To trace the gradual elaboration of the symbolism and use of ceremonial lights in the Church, until its full development and systematization in the middle ages, would be impossible here. It must suffice to note a few stages in Development of the use. the process. The burning of lights before the tombs of martyrs led naturally to their being burned also before relics and lastly before images and pictures. This latter practice, hotly denounced as idolatry during the iconoclastic controversy (see [Iconoclasm]), was finally established as orthodox by the second general council of Nicaea (787), which restored the worship of images. A later development, however, by which certain lights themselves came to be regarded as objects of worship and to have other lights burned before them, was condemned as idolatrous by the synod of Noyon in 1344.[13] The passion for symbolism extracted ever new meanings out of the candles and their use. Early in the 6th century Ennodius, bishop of Pavia, pointed out the three-fold elements of a wax-candle (Opusc. ix. and x.), each of which would make it an offering acceptable to God; the rush-wick is the product of pure water, the wax is the offspring of virgin bees,[14] the flame is sent from heaven.[15] Clearly, wax was a symbol of the Blessed Virgin and the holy humanity of Christ. The later middle ages developed the idea. Durandus, in his Rationale, interprets the wax as the body of Christ, the wick as his soul, the flame as his divine nature; and the consuming candle as symbolizing his passion and death.

In the completed ritual system of the medieval Church, as still preserved in the Roman Catholic communion, the use of ceremonial In the Roman Catholic Church. lights falls under three heads. (1) They may be symbolical of the light of God’s presence, of Christ as “Light of Light,” or of “the children of Light” in conflict with the powers of darkness; they may even be no more than expressions of joy on the occasion of great festivals. (2) They may be votive, i.e. offered as an act of worship (latria) to God. (3) They are, in virtue of their benediction by the Church, sacramentalia, i.e. efficacious for the good of men’s souls and bodies, and for the confusion of the powers of darkness.[16] With one or Dedication of a church.
At Mass and choir services. more of these implications, they are employed in all the public functions of the Church. At the consecration of a church twelve lights are placed round the walls at the twelve spots where these are anointed by the bishop with holy oil, and on every anniversary these are relighted; at the dedication of an altar tapers are lighted and censed at each place where the table is anointed (Pontificale Rom. p. ii. De eccl. dedicat. seu consecrat.). At every liturgical service, and especially at Mass and at choir services, there must be at least two lighted tapers on the altar,[17] as symbols of the presence of God and tributes of adoration. For the Mass the rule is that there are six lights at High Mass, four at a missa cantata, and two at private masses. At a Pontifical High Mass (i.e. when the bishop celebrates) the lights are seven, because seven golden candlesticks surround the risen Saviour, the chief bishop of the Church (see Rev. i. 12). At most pontifical functions, moreover, the bishop—as the representative of Christ—is preceded by an acolyte with a burning candle (bugia) on a candlestick. The Ceremoniale Episcoporum (i. 12) further orders that a burning lamp is to hang at all times before each altar, three in front Sanctuary lamps.
Symbol of the Real Presence. of the high altar, and five before the reserved Sacrament, as symbols of the eternal Presence. In practice, however, it is usual to have only one lamp lighted before the tabernacle in which the Host is reserved. The special symbol of the real presence of Christ is the Sanctus candle, which is lighted at the moment of consecration and kept burning until the communion. The same symbolism is intended by the lighted tapers which must accompany the Host whenever it is carried in procession, or to the sick and dying.

As symbols of light and joy a candle is held on each side of the deacon when reading the Gospel at Mass; and the same symbolism underlies the multiplication of lights on festivals, their number varying with the importance of the occasion. As to the number of these latter no rule is laid down. They differ from liturgical lights in that, whereas these must be tapers of pure beeswax or lamps fed with pure olive oil (except by special dispensation under certain circumstances), those used merely to add splendour to the celebration may be of any material; the only exception being, that in the decoration of the altar gas-lights are forbidden.

In general the ceremonial use of lights in the Roman Catholic Church is conceived as a dramatic representation in fire of the life of Christ and of the whole scheme of salvation. On Easter Eve the new fire, symbol of the light of the newly Tenebrae. risen Christ, is produced, and from this are kindled all the lights used throughout the Christian year until, in the gathering darkness (tenebrae) of the Passion, they are gradually extinguished. This quenching of the light of the world is symbolized at the service of Tenebrae in Holy Week by the placing on a stand before the altar of thirteen lighted tapers arranged pyramidally, the rest of the church being in darkness. The penitential psalms are sung, and at the end of each a candle is extinguished. When only the central one is left it is taken down and carried behind the altar, thus symbolizing the betrayal and the death and burial of Christ. This ceremony can be traced to the 8th century at Rome.

On Easter Eve new fire is made[18] with a flint and steel, and blessed; from this three candles are lighted, the lumen Christi, The Paschal Candle. and from these again the Paschal Candle.[19] This is the symbol of the risen and victorious Christ, and burns at every solemn service until Ascension Day, when it is extinguished and removed after the reading of the Gospel at High Mass. This, of course, symbolizes the Ascension; but meanwhile the other lamps in the church have received their light from the Paschal Candle, and so symbolize throughout the year the continued presence of the light of Christ.

At the consecration of the baptismal water the burning Paschal Candle is dipped into the font “so that the power of the Holy Ghost may descend into it and make it an effective Baptism.
Ordination, etc.
Funeral lights. instrument of regeneration.” This is the symbol of baptism as rebirth as children of Light. Lighted tapers are also placed in the hands of the newly-baptized, or of their god-parents, with the admonition “to preserve their baptism inviolate, so that they may go to meet the Lord when he comes to the wedding.” Thus, too, as “children of Light,” candidates for ordination and novices about to take the vows carry lights when they come before the bishop; and the same idea underlies the custom of carrying lights at weddings, at the first communion, and by priests going to their first mass, though none of these are liturgically prescribed. Finally, lights are placed round the bodies of the dead and carried beside them to the grave, partly as symbols that they still live in the light of Christ, partly to frighten away the powers of darkness.

Conversely, the extinction of lights is part of the ceremony of excommunication (Pontificale Rom. pars iii.). Regino, abbot of Prum, Excommunication. describes the ceremony as it was carried out in his day, when its terrors were yet unabated (De eccles. disciplina, ii. 409). “Twelve priests should stand about the bishop, holding in their hands lighted torches, which at the conclusion of the anathema or excommunication they should cast down and trample under foot.” When the excommunication is removed, the symbol of reconciliation is the handing to the penitent of a burning taper.