[15] “Venerandis compactam elementis facem tibi, Domine, mancipamus: in qua trium copula munerum primum de impari numero complacebit: quae quod gratis Deo veniat auctoribus, non habetur incertum: unum quod de fetibus fluminum accedunt nutrimenta flammarum: aliud quod apum tribuit intemerata fecunditas, in quarum partibus nulla partitur damna virginitas: ignis etiam coelo infusus adhibetur” (Opusc. x. in Migne, Patr. lat. t. lxiii.).
[16] All three conceptions are brought out in the prayers for the blessing of candles on the Feast of the Purification of the B.V.M. (Candlemas, q.v.). (1) “O holy Lord, ... who ... by the command didst cause this liquid to come by the labour of bees to the perfection of wax, ... we beseech thee ... to bless and sanctify these candles for the use of men, and the health of bodies and souls....” (2) “... these candles, which we thy servants desire to carry lighted to magnify thy name; that by offering them to thee, being worthily inflamed with the holy fire of thy most sweet charity, we may deserve,” &c. (3) “O Lord Jesus Christ, the true light, ... mercifully grant, that as these lights enkindled with visible fire dispel nocturnal darkness, so our hearts illumined by invisible fire,” &c. (Missale Rom.). In the form for the blessing of candles extra diem Purificationis B. Mariae Virg. the virtue of the consecrated candles in discomfiting demons is specially brought out: “that in whatever places they may be lighted, or placed, the princes of darkness may depart, and tremble, and may fly terror-stricken with all their ministers from those habitations, nor presume further to disquiet and molest those who serve thee, Almighty God” (Rituale Rom.).
[17] Altar candlesticks consist of five parts: the foot, stem, knob in the centre, bowl to catch the drippings, and pricket (a sharp point on which the candle is fixed). It is permissible to use a long tube, pointed to imitate a candle, in which is a small taper forced to the top by a spring (Cong. Rit., 11th May 1878).
[18] This is common to the Eastern Church also. Pilgrims from all parts of the East flock to Jerusalem to obtain the “new fire” on Easter Eve at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Here the fire is supposed to be miraculously sent from heaven. The rush of the pilgrims to kindle their lights at it is so great, that order is maintained with difficulty by Mahommedan soldiers.
[19] The origin of the Paschal Candle is lost in the mists of antiquity. According to the abbé Châtelain (quoted in Diderot’s Encyclopédie, s.v. “Cièrge”) the Paschal Candle was not originally a candle at all, but a wax column on which the dates of the movable feasts were inscribed. These were later written on paper and fixed to the Paschal Candle, a custom which in his day survived in the Cluniac churches.
[20] This homily, written by Bishop Jewel, is largely founded on Bullinger’s De origine erroris in Divinorum et sacrorum cultu (1528, 1539).
[21] A copper-plate in Bernard Picart’s Ceremonies and Religious Customs of the Various Nations (Eng. trans., London, 1737), vi. pt. 1, p. 78, illustrating an Anglican Communion service at St Paul’s, shows two lighted candles on the holy table.
[22] In some parts of Scotland it is still customary to place two lighted candles on a table beside a corpse on the day of burial.
LIGNE, CHARLES JOSEPH, Prince de (1735-1814), soldier and writer, came of a princely family of Hainaut, and was born at Brussels in 1735. As an Austrian subject he entered the imperial army at an early age. He distinguished himself by his valour in the Seven Years’ War, notably at Breslau, Leuthen, Hochkirch and Maxen, and after the war rose rapidly to the rank of lieutenant field marshal. He became the intimate friend and counsellor of the emperor Joseph II., and, inheriting his father’s vast estates, lived in the greatest splendour and luxury till the War of the Bavarian Succession brought him again into active service. This war was short and uneventful, and the prince then travelled in England, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and France, devoting himself impartially to the courts, the camps, the salons and the learned assemblies of philosophers and scientists in each country. In 1784 he was again employed in military work, and was promoted to Feldzeugmeister. In 1787 he was with Catherine II. in Russia, accompanied her in her journey to the Crimea, and was made a Russian field marshal by the empress. In 1788 he was present at the siege of Belgrade. Shortly after this he was invited to place himself at the head of the Belgian revolutionary movement, in which one of his sons and many of his relatives were prominent, but declined with great courtesy, saying that “he never revolted in the winter.” Though suspected by Joseph of collusion with the rebels, the two friends were not long estranged, and after the death of the emperor the prince remained in Vienna. His Brabant estates were overrun by the French in 1792-1793, and his eldest son killed in action at La Croix-du-Bois in the Argonne (September 14, 1792). He was given the rank of field marshal (1809) and an honorary command at court, living in spite of the loss of his estates in comparative luxury and devoting himself to literary work. He lived long enough to characterize the proceedings of the congress of Vienna with the famous mot: “Le Congrès danse mais ne marche pas.” He died at Vienna on the 13th of December 1814. His grandson, Eugene Lamoral de Ligne (1804-1880), was a distinguished Belgian statesman.