Candlelight Mass

Each month on the second Sunday at 5pm, we offer a special candlelight Mass where the sanctuary is lit primarily by a multitude of candles surrounding the altar. The music is different from the other masses with a beautifully contemplative and prayerful mood to draw us into the wonder of the Eucharistic Mystery that unfolds before us on the altar. Incense is burned throughout the Mass to engage another of our senses. This engagement of our senses tunes us to enter the contemplation of the things of Heaven and our relation to them, in the very place where Heaven comes down to touch the Earth.

The candles used at each Mass, composed of beeswax and formed to a cotton wick, are symbolic of sacrifice: given by creatures of the earth (bees and plants), cultivated and transformed by the work of humans, and then burned in offering to God. By the melting down of the body of wax, light is given to the world around it, just as Christ, the Light of the World, gave his body on the cross for the salvation of the world. There are six altar candles surrounding the altar, with a crucifix in the center. This is a parallel to the Menorah of the Temple kept by the ancient Israelites, which had seven candles. Christ takes the place of that center seventh candle.

The music sung at the candlelight Mass unites us with the universal church throughout history and prepares our hearts to receive our Lord in the quiet stillness of the Blessed Sacrament. At this Mass, we sing the Ordinary of the Mass (the sung prayers that don’t change each week) in Latin, the official language of the Roman Church, and a single language that can unite us in a common tongue with people from all over the world. If you are traveling to pilgrimage sites or events of the Church throughout the world where people may speak a variety of languages, we can find a common home in singing these prayers of the Mass or hymns to Mary in Latin.

Here at home, it spiritually connects us to the universal church as we celebrate the same exact Mass with the same prayers as other Catholics across the globe, and further, it unites us with our ancestors and the many saints who have gone before us in this common language of prayer they also experienced. The special contemplative style of music at this Mass gives us a respite from the busy and noisy environment that often surrounds us throughout the rest of the week at work and home. For an hour at that Mass, we can step away from all that and enter our Lord’s house to relax our minds and hearts, and through encounter and communion with His peaceful presence, we prepare our souls for returning to the world and being a witness of His love to those around us.

I invite you to join us next week at this special monthly candlelight Mass at 5:00pm, to experience the wonder of our transcendent God.