Why is the Easter candle the biggest?
It is not only the biggest, but the heaviest candle we have. I decided to be the one who carried it in at the Easter Vigil and to hold it upright during the singing of the Exultet which lasted several minutes. My arms were shaking! Later in that service, I had to pick it up again and I ended up spilling the hot wax all over myself. So if anyone thinks priestly work is wimpy, they don’t know the dangers we face every day!
Why so big? Well, everything we do at Mass and everything in the church has some symbolic meaning. The Easter candle represents Christ. Jesus is the “light of the world” (John 8:12). The candle is first lit from the Easter fire at the Easter vigil and carried into a dark church. Since the candle represents Jesus and the salvation He brings to a dark world, we want the candle to be big, important, and beautiful.
It is beautiful! Everyone should take a moment to see the beautiful mosaic work on the candle created by one of our own very talented parishioners. Depicted on the candle are the cross and the dove of the Holy Spirit—the same image as we have on the baldichino (the hanging thing above the altar). This image also has special meaning for our Christ Renews His Parish (CRHP) retreat teams as they have adopted that image as their logo to represent the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Some additional facts about the Easter candle are that it is only displayed and lit during the Easter season and for baptisms and funerals. It is used at baptisms to light the small candle given to the parents of the baptized child. This represents the light of faith Jesus gives us. It is used at funerals to represent the hope of eternal life we have in Christ. Finally, if you think our candle is big, the Cathedral of Salisbury in 1517 was 36 feet high.
-Fr. Greg
