Other Times of The Year
The candle remains lit at all worship services throughout Easter season (or in some traditions until Ascension Day, when it is extinguished just after the Gospel), during which time it is located in the sanctuary close to the altar. After the Easter season, it is frequently placed near the baptismal font. Before 1955, the option existed of blessing the baptismal font on the Vigil of Pentecost, and this was the only time the Paschal candle would be lit at services after Ascension.
The Paschal candle is also lit during baptisms to signify the Holy Spirit and fire that John the Baptist promised to those who were baptised in Christ. During the baptismal rite in many traditions, a small lit candle will be given to the newly-baptised by a member of the community, with words similar to, "Let your light so shine before others, that they might see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:16)
The Paschal candle is also lit and placed near the casket urn during funeral services such as the Mass of Repose, and Mass of Requiem. This is to signify the hope of the resurrection into which Christians are baptised.
Read more about this topic: Paschal Candle
Famous quotes containing the words times and/or year:
“I think it better that in times like these
A poet’s mouth be silent, for in truth
We have no gift to set a statesman right.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“We know of no scripture which records the pure benignity of the gods on a New England winter night. Their praises have never been sung, only their wrath deprecated. The best scripture, after all, records but a meagre faith. Its saints live reserved and austere. Let a brave, devout man spend the year in the woods of Maine or Labrador, and see if the Hebrew Scriptures speak adequately to his condition and experience.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)