Lit from the new fire and blessed at the beginning of the Easter Vigil, the Paschal Candle is an ancient symbol of our risen Savior. The fire itself is blessed (consecrated) before the Paschal Candle is lit from it.
The consecration of fire in the Easter night tells Christians that in time Christ has become new; it tells them that with his resurrection the new year of Jubilee…has begun. With the joyful procession which brings the new fire into the church, we pass over the [threshold] into the new era in the world, God’s epoch. (Aemiliana Löhr)
The flame of the Paschal Candle tells us, echoing the words of the Gospel of John (cf. 1:4), that through Jesus is life, and this life is the light of the human race. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (verse 5). This juxtaposition of light and darkness is symbolic of the struggle between good and evil. Jesus Himself is the true light that drives away death, deception, and the devil.
Wisdom! Let us stand! The light of Christ enlightens all people. Blessed be the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit who enlighten and sanctify our souls and bodies at all times, now and always and for ever and ever. (Byzantine Liturgy)
Five grains of incense, encased within five wax nails, are placed on the cross of the candle (at the time I took this picture, the candle had not yet been blessed and adorned with these nails. Take a look at the candle in the sanctuary to see them.) These nails signify the wounds that Jesus received in His hands, feet and side when He was crucified. The priest says of these wounds while putting the nails in place: “By his holy and glorious wounds, may Christ our Lord guard us and keep us.”
These wounds do not vanish. They remain with Jesus who repeatedly shows them to his disciples: “Look at my hands and feet; see that it is I myself” (Luke 24:39)…John, more than any other evangelist, attaches importance to Jesus’ wounds. He alone mentions the piercing of Jesus’ side (John 19:34), and he makes it a major element in the appearance stories of the following week [see John 20:19, 25, 27]. By repeatedly displaying and calling attention to the nail marks in his hands and especially his pierced side, Jesus emphasizes the continuity between his present condition and his condition on the cross…the paschal candle…is primarily a symbol of the crucified Christ, the pouring out of whose blood is his glorification and our sanctification. (Patrick Regan)
The incense itself symbolizes the sweetness to us of Christ's five Precious Wounds.
Accept, holy Father, this evening sacrifice of incense. Your ministers offer it to you within this candle, the handiwork of bees, their gift to the Church. (Missal of 1570)
Speaking of bees, the Paschal Candle itself is made of at least 51% beeswax. It is, as we hear in our great victory hymn sung at the Easter Vigil - the Exsultet - “fed by melting wax, drawn out by mother bees to build a torch so precious.” Here is the prayer of the bee:
Lord, I am not one to despise your gifts. May you be blessed who spread the riches of your sweetness for my zeal…Let my small span of ardent life melt into our great communal task; to lift up to your glory this temple of sweetness, a citadel of incense, a holy candle…molded of your graces and of my hidden work. (Carmen Bernos de Gasztold)
The year the candle was blessed for use is noted, as well as the two Greek letters – Α (Alpha), and Ω (Omega) – the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. All creation finds its beginning and end in Christ; He is the divine Lord over history and the world, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13)
The Paschal Candle, as a major liturgical sign, functions in the same way the signs do that we find in the Gospel narratives, to help you to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name (John 20:31).
David J. Conrad
The consecration of fire in the Easter night tells Christians that in time Christ has become new; it tells them that with his resurrection the new year of Jubilee…has begun. With the joyful procession which brings the new fire into the church, we pass over the [threshold] into the new era in the world, God’s epoch. (Aemiliana Löhr)
The flame of the Paschal Candle tells us, echoing the words of the Gospel of John (cf. 1:4), that through Jesus is life, and this life is the light of the human race. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (verse 5). This juxtaposition of light and darkness is symbolic of the struggle between good and evil. Jesus Himself is the true light that drives away death, deception, and the devil.
Wisdom! Let us stand! The light of Christ enlightens all people. Blessed be the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit who enlighten and sanctify our souls and bodies at all times, now and always and for ever and ever. (Byzantine Liturgy)
Five grains of incense, encased within five wax nails, are placed on the cross of the candle (at the time I took this picture, the candle had not yet been blessed and adorned with these nails. Take a look at the candle in the sanctuary to see them.) These nails signify the wounds that Jesus received in His hands, feet and side when He was crucified. The priest says of these wounds while putting the nails in place: “By his holy and glorious wounds, may Christ our Lord guard us and keep us.”
These wounds do not vanish. They remain with Jesus who repeatedly shows them to his disciples: “Look at my hands and feet; see that it is I myself” (Luke 24:39)…John, more than any other evangelist, attaches importance to Jesus’ wounds. He alone mentions the piercing of Jesus’ side (John 19:34), and he makes it a major element in the appearance stories of the following week [see John 20:19, 25, 27]. By repeatedly displaying and calling attention to the nail marks in his hands and especially his pierced side, Jesus emphasizes the continuity between his present condition and his condition on the cross…the paschal candle…is primarily a symbol of the crucified Christ, the pouring out of whose blood is his glorification and our sanctification. (Patrick Regan)
The incense itself symbolizes the sweetness to us of Christ's five Precious Wounds.
Accept, holy Father, this evening sacrifice of incense. Your ministers offer it to you within this candle, the handiwork of bees, their gift to the Church. (Missal of 1570)
Speaking of bees, the Paschal Candle itself is made of at least 51% beeswax. It is, as we hear in our great victory hymn sung at the Easter Vigil - the Exsultet - “fed by melting wax, drawn out by mother bees to build a torch so precious.” Here is the prayer of the bee:
Lord, I am not one to despise your gifts. May you be blessed who spread the riches of your sweetness for my zeal…Let my small span of ardent life melt into our great communal task; to lift up to your glory this temple of sweetness, a citadel of incense, a holy candle…molded of your graces and of my hidden work. (Carmen Bernos de Gasztold)
The year the candle was blessed for use is noted, as well as the two Greek letters – Α (Alpha), and Ω (Omega) – the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. All creation finds its beginning and end in Christ; He is the divine Lord over history and the world, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13)
The Paschal Candle, as a major liturgical sign, functions in the same way the signs do that we find in the Gospel narratives, to help you to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name (John 20:31).
David J. Conrad
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