Candles, Light and the Mass

Why do we use candles at the altar? One basic explanation is an appeal to fittingness. Imagine a fancy dinner, a wedding feast. It’s natural to solemnize the occasion with candles on the tables. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the greatest of nuptial feasts, so it makes sense we burn candles.

There’s also a prosaic explanation. The priest needs to see the text in the missal. In the days before electric light, stone church buildings without large, clear windows to admit natural light remained dim even on the brightest days. There’s also a more subtle explanation for the candles, which is that they are symbolic of Christ and His sacrificial nature.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a liturgy of light because light is a symbol of great poetic power with which our Lord identifies explicitly. It’s helpful to our devotion to be cognizant of these symbols and think of our Lord under his divine title, Light of the World. I want to make an even more incisive point, though. Not only is the Mass a celebration of light as a poetic metaphor, but the Mass is actually the sacrifice of light. Light is a rare resource, particularly before electric light bulbs. Offering our Heavenly Father the gift of light is a precious oblation.

Thus, the burning of incense at Solemn Mass: “Incense is a piece of crystalized sunshine that we immolate and consume in fire at the altar. It is a sacrifice of light that visibly rises to our Father. St. Anselm teaches about candles that the wax is the flesh of Our Lord, the wick his soul, and the flame his divinity. As the candles burn, the wax is consumed. The candle visibly diminishes as it is sacrificed. The candles, like other elements at the heart of the Mass, are a gift of the Light to the Father.

Note that the candles are meant to be seven in total, a number for the divine perfection of the Light. To this day, when a bishop celebrates the Mass, the seventh is placed on the altar and lit. At a Mass celebrated by a priest, however, there are only six candles. Where is the seventh? It’s still there. It is transfigured into the altar crucifix. The crucifix, the perfect sacrifice, is luminous with glory. The Light is redemptive, re-making the world by the power of divine glory, revealing the luminous heart of God. The Mass, as sacrifice, is our celebration of the Light, for it is in his Passion and Resurrection that he shines brightest. Even more, the Mass stirs embers within our individual souls. Grace is a consuming fire. United to Christ in his sacrifice, we, too, will shine.