Once upon a time candles in churches were used to illuminate the room at night, and lamps were used for religious ceremonies. But over time, candles became a full-fledged religious attribute. After all, both give light, which is a symbol of faith. We light candles for health and peace, light them on major holidays and use them in prayer for many centuries.
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But many Orthodox people have a question about how to properly extinguish a half-burnt candle and whether it can be done at all. There are many opinions, and especially superstitions, regarding church candles. Therefore the editors "So simple!" I decided to find out from the clergy what the right thing to do was.
Church candle
Many people are sure that church candles should never be blown out - they should be extinguished with their fingertips or covered with a special cap. After all, in their opinion, by blowing out a candle, we destroy the divine light. Some doubting parishioners prefer not to extinguish the candle at all and wait until it burns out naturally.
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But the clergy themselves assure that all of the above is nothing more than superstition. Priest Vladimir Shlykov believes that candles can be blown out, and everything else is the imagination of grandmothers. In addition, many parishioners have probably noticed more than once that the church ministers themselves extinguish the candles before they have time to melt. This is done so that they can be removed from the cell.
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Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko answers this question in the affirmative. He says that after prayer the candle can actually be blown out and lit again next time. Priest Anatoly Bobrovsky also confirmed in one of his television programs that it is possible to blow out a candle; he himself has been doing this throughout his life.
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“Of course, it’s easier to put out a candle with your fingers and this makes you feel like a real Orthodox Christian. But the Gospel says nothing at all about candles, nor does it say anything about how exactly it is necessary to extinguish them,” says the priest.
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Therefore, you can safely extinguish church candles in any way convenient for you. The main thing is to keep faith within yourself and wish only the best for your neighbors. And all external manifestations of piety do not matter if your thoughts are dirty.
We also previously talked about whether it is worth hanging small icons in the car.
Tell us in the comments what questions and doubts you have about behavior in church or handling religious attributes, and we will try to answer them in future publications. And also share this useful article with your friends on social networks!
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About such household items as candles, folk signs can tell you a lot. The beliefs were formed at a time when they replaced electricity, which was still unknown to man. Candles have always been an important part of everyday life, religious services, magical rituals and fortune telling.
Superstitions about candle flames
By the burning of the flame of an ordinary candle lit in a house, you can learn a lot about the energy of the home and its inhabitants. So, if candles are burning clearly and calmly in your house, the signs promise a calm life. A candle flame is serene near a person - the absence of damage, evil eyes and other negative programs.
“The game is not worth the candle” was originally a proverb among gamblers, which reflected the high price of candles of that time.
Does the tongue of fire sway from side to side? There is no need to count on peace. This is a belief in travel, adventure, and exciting events. The flame rises in a spiral or describes a circle - a warning. Enemies are making plans and are going to harm you. A weak light means illness.
Crack - bad sign. If candles crack near you, they warn of damage. They go out as soon as you get close - a sign of imminent death, but about such superstitions and the removal of their negativity - a little lower.
Shoots sparks - arrival evil man to the house. Hisses - to disappointment. When a candle smokes, it burns negative energy. A blue flame warns of death in the house. But blue fire also indicates that there is a spirit in the room. One version of superstition combines both options. The spirit of a deceased relative has appeared in the house and will soon take someone with him.
The knowledge described above can be used to diagnose your home and biofield. You can also find out the guest's intentions. Light the candle and follow the flame. You can cleanse your house of negativity by walking around its perimeter with a candle in your hand. Stay where it begins to smoke and the fire becomes restless. Baptismal and wedding candles are watched to predict the future.
How to light and extinguish correctly
From time to time it is worth lighting candles in the house. They bring comfort, reconciliation, and get rid of negativity, quarrels and scandals. Once upon a time, every house had a source of living fire, home. In modern realities, this has become difficult to obtain; candles are sold in almost every store.
Candles need to be lit correctly. So, you cannot light more than two others from one candle. This brings poverty into the home. The same rule exists for splinters or matches. Set it on fire from a stove fire - to poverty. Don't burn at all? So it will rain.
You can light incense from a candle or, for example, a piece of paper with wishes or a list of what you want to get rid of. But you can’t smoke from its flame. This portends trouble.
There are many superstitions about extinguishing candles. It is believed that they cannot be blown out. One of the superstitions explains the ban by the resentment of the fire element for being expelled with the help of the air element. Another connects it with the sign of spitting in the fire. Extinguish candles with your fingers or special caps. This is especially true for candles near which prayers or conspiracies were read.
It is customary to blow out only those on the birthday cake. This brings good luck to the birthday person, according to birthday signs. If he makes a wish at the same time, it will come true.
Accidentally extinguishing a candle means unexpected guests. True, it is not a fact that they will be pleasant.
Goes out - a bad sign
In general, if a candle goes out on its own, it is unfortunate, even death. Even if it burned near a seemingly healthy and strong person. But this sometimes means the completion, the death of a certain business, project, relationship.
During the wedding, the newlyweds are given a candle in their hands. If one of them goes out in the hands of the bride or groom, the person will die soon. According to other beliefs, the marriage will soon fall apart, there will be betrayal of one of the partners.
If a candle placed for health goes out, this also foreshadows the death of the person for whom it was placed. You cannot put out such a candle. Therefore, it is necessary to look after the candles placed for health until they burn out. They can be removed by church servants. Healthy candles that have not burned out completely can be taken by black magicians for their business.
When it comes to a candle lit for the deceased, the sign changes its meaning to positive. By extinguishing the candle, the soul of the deceased gives a sign that it has found peace in the afterlife.
Extinguished baptismal The candle promises the child a life full of difficulties. There is another opinion on this issue. According to him, the baptism of the child was necessary - it removed the mortal threat hanging over him from the baby.
A dream in which a candle goes out most often has the same meaning as a sign. But other events from the dream also influence here. By interpreting them, you can get the full meaning of the dream.
What to expect if a candle falls, breaks, or candlestick bursts
Dropping a candle from your hands or, for example, a table means an imminent wedding. If a candle falls in a church, it promises trouble for the person who dropped it in the near future. If it falls out of the candlestick, expect problems.
If you fell on your own, bad news. Sometimes it predicts an unexpected unpleasant event. A couple lives where the candle spontaneously fell; the family is on the verge of divorce.
A broken candle, like broken dishes, should not be used. But you can make a new product from it by melting wax or paraffin and pouring it into a mold. If this is a special candle, for example, wedding, its damage indicates damage. Moreover, we mean a really serious negative, and not an everyday evil eye.
The candlestick bursts - to loss loved one. But this sign is true only when this could not happen for adequate reasons such as overheating. She can promise a quarrel, separation and even the death of a friend or relative. To neutralize the meaning, the fragments of the candlestick should be thrown away on the street without touching them with your hands.
Beliefs about church candles
If you believe one of the superstitions, a candle placed for the health of a dead person will not burn. But it's not worth checking. Anyone who lights a candle for the health of the deceased will not live long.
The remains of wedding candles are stored in the red corner, near the icons. Whose candle is smaller will die earlier. They are lit during difficult childbirth, serious illness of spouses or their children, serious quarrels, problems with conception. Antique wedding sign- the one of the spouses who holds the candle higher will be the head of the family.
In the old days there was a ritual. If a girl lights a candle in the church before everyone else on Intercession, she will soon get married. Epiphany and Easter candles have the ability to help women in labor, drive away illnesses and reconcile people. And the Thursday ones drive out witches and destroy their spells. Black magicians use inverted church candles to appeal to the forces of darkness.
Contemplating the fire of church candles helps to calm down and clear your thoughts. You can view it both in the temple and at home. You don't need a lot of time for this - ten minutes is enough.
Sometimes it happens that a person’s clothes or hair catches fire from a candle flame in a temple. This shows the influence on him dark forces. It is quite likely that this is the case damage, love spell or strong evil eye.
Signs to find, give and others
In America they believe that you can find a drowned person in a pond with the help of a candle. To do this, you also need a loaf of bread - you need to insert a candle into it and then let it float on water. A piece of bread with a candle will stop where the drowned man lies.
During Samhain celebrations, or Halloween, there should be burning candles on the windowsills. They drive away trouble and evil spirits from the house. On New Year It is recommended to place green candles on the festive table. They attract good events. Lighting pyramid candles for Christmas will bring good luck for the whole year.
Wax candles are not the best gift. Wax perfectly absorbs information and is used in witchcraft. Therefore, it is not customary to give candles made from it. Paraffin does not have this property and decorative candles made from it can be given and accepted as gifts.
What to do if you find a candle? Do not lift or touch it with your hands. It could have been used in a ritual, the details of which you know nothing about. It’s also not worth stepping over such a candle. Especially if she's lying on walking at the crossroads.
In general, a lot of beliefs are associated with a candle. This is a mystical object, constantly used not only in everyday life, but in witchcraft and religious services. Candles can not only predict the future and remove negative energy, but also help the black sorcerer bring his enemy to the grave.
How do you light a candle and handle it while it burns? Ever wondered? Many people do not have the slightest idea how to make the most of the purchased candle. It turns out that all you need to do is follow just five simple tips.
1. Trim the wick
First of all, do not forget to trim the wick, as on the right candleDon't be lazy, do this every time you are going to light a new candle.
How to do it?
Trim the wick so that the length of its visible part is no more than 6 millimeters. To do this, you can use regular scissors, nail clippers, or a special trimmer to trim the candle wick. It doesn't matter what exactly you choose.
By the way, it is most convenient to light with long matches.
Why do you need to do this?
Firstly, the candle flame will be much brighter and more beautiful. If you don't trim the wick, the flame will likely take on a weird mushroom shape, which will make it look dimmer and fuzzier.
The difference is immediately visible Secondly, an overly long wick is the main cause of those disgusting soot stains that are clearly visible on glass candlesticks. Shortening the wick will help keep the flame under control and prevent these spots from appearing.
Don't want your candlestick to look like this? Trim the wick! 2. Allow the wax to completely melt
Once you have lit the candle, do not extinguish it until the top layer of wax has completely melted. This may take several hours. If you are not willing to wait that long, it is better not to light the candle at all.
Why is this necessary?
If you don't let the wax melt completely, it will create a hole or a crater. The wick will drop lower and lower, as if a tunnel is forming in the center of the candle. This is what it looks like.
Eventually the hole will be so deep that you will hardly be able to light the candle again. It will be too difficult to reach the wick. More importantly, all this unmelted wax on the walls of the candlestick represents several hours of enjoying the pleasant aroma and light from the candle flame, which you paid for, but will no longer be able to use.
Yes, this requires patience. But if every time you light a candle, you allow the wax to completely melt, then the surface of the candle will remain smooth and the walls of the candle holder will remain clean. And they will be like this all the time until the candle is actually used up.
And appreciate the difference again 3. Buy candles with multiple wicks
It is quite difficult to find time for the candle to melt as described in the previous paragraph.
What to do?
Buy a candle with two or three wicks. The more flames, the more heat and the faster the candle will melt.
Pay attention to one fact. Very wide single-wick candles should be avoided. The heat from one wick is clearly not enough to completely melt the entire candle.
4. Protect the candle flame from air currents
Try your best to ensure that the burning candle is far enough away from fans, open windows, or areas where large numbers of people pass frequently.
Air currents can affect the candle flame, causing even more unsightly dark marks to appear on the walls of the glass candle holder.
On the left side of the candle the wall is dirty due to flame fluctuations 5. Don't blow out the candle
To put out a candle, cover it with some kind of lid, but do not blow it out (unless, of course, it is a candle from your birthday cake). This way you can avoid unpleasant odors.
Now you are ready. Use candles like the professionals do, save money and effort, and fully enjoy the candles you purchase.
For the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, I compiled a booklet in the form of a question and answer about the church candle. After that, they suddenly began to ask questions on this topic, therefore, answering them, I put the text from the booklet:
“The custom of placing a candle in front of an icon is very ancient. Everyone knows that this should definitely be done, but not everyone knows the reasons why this ritual is performed. One of the first Divine commands to Moses from the Lord was to arrange a lamp with seven lamps. And after of this, services were often held by candlelight, but the meaning of this is much deeper than simply illuminating the place where the services were held.
The action of lighting a candle contains many meanings. The light from it is the Divine light that our Lord Jesus Christ brought into the world. The life of people in sin and ignorance is the darkness that the Savior dispels. Likewise, a candle with its radiance drives away the darkness around. Pure wax, from which candles are made, is a symbol of pure, honest intentions to obey God and serve Him.
Speaking about how to place candles correctly, it is worth starting with the fact that this should be done not mechanically, but with awareness and with a feeling of love in the heart for the one to whom the candle is placed. When you purchase a candle in a temple, it becomes your voluntary offering, your donation and a symbol of faith and love. Candles are lit for health and peace. “For the repose” are usually placed in the church on a special memorial table - eve, in order to honor the good memory of a person who has passed on to another world.
Candles “for health” are lit for various reasons: in gratitude for something, to help with a difficult decision, before a serious trip, and so on. The question often arises: which icons and which saints should we light candles for? Of course, the main thing is your spiritual mood with which you light the candle. With good thoughts and love in your heart, you can light a candle for a person in front of an icon of the Savior or the Virgin Mary. If you don’t just want to light a candle for a person, but express special wishes, then there is a tradition of doing this in front of icons of certain saints. So, for example, you can light a candle for a sick person and pray in front of the “Healer” icon of the Mother of God. If a person has an alcohol or drug addiction, then a candle can be placed on the icon of the “Inexhaustible Chalice”, the holy martyr Boniface, and St. John of Kronstadt. Knowing what miraculous properties are endowed with certain holy images, you will know which icons to light candles in order to protect, preserve and help your loved ones in difficult times and difficult life decisions. They often light candles for their patron saints. If you have personalized icons in your home, you can light a candle and pray to your Guardian Angel.
On the feast of the Presentation (Meeting) of the Lord in Orthodox Church candles are blessed as a symbol of the burning flame of faith, lit from a meeting with God.
Answers to frequently asked questions:
When should you light candles in a church?
- Those who come to the temple must light candles before the service begins. It is not good to disturb the prayerful mood in the temple by passing candles during the service or pushing towards the candlestick, distracting those praying. During the rest of the service, you can light candles if you don’t bother anyone.
How to place a candle correctly?
- The candle is lit from another burning candle, then the bottom is heated on the flame of another candle and placed in the socket of the candlestick. The candle should stand straight. You should not use matches or lighters in the temple if you can light from other candles. You should not light a candle from a lamp (if it is possible to light from another candle), so as not to drip wax into the oil or accidentally extinguish the lamp.
Who should light candles and how many?
- There are no mandatory rules on where and how many candles to put. Their purchase is a voluntary sacrifice to God; you decide how much you can donate. From the Gospel story we know that the Lord valued the insignificant but last savings of the poor widow as the most significant donation than the large offerings of rich people who brought their surpluses to God as a gift (see Gospel of Mark, chapter 12, verses 41-44 ).
First of all, it is good to light a candle for the “holiday” (the central analogue - a stand for an icon) or a revered temple icon, then - for the relics of a saint (if they are in the temple), and only then - for health (for any icon) or for repose (on the eve - a square or rectangular table with a Crucifix).
Is it possible to put a candle on a candlestick if there is nowhere to put it?
- That's how it should be done. Those who put two candles in one cell or remove someone else's candle to put their own do it wrong. Your candle will be lit by the temple servants as soon as there is room for it, and the Lord will appreciate your sacrifice and patience.
Is it possible to hold a burning candle in your hand and stand with it?
- It is customary to stand with lit candles at funeral services and at some other services. A burning candle must be handled with care: make sure that the wax does not drip onto the floor (use a piece of paper for this), and that your clothes do not accidentally ignite. The rest of the time, it is more correct to place the candle on a candlestick that is specially designed for this purpose.
Who should I light a candle for remission of sins to? What to read about remission of sins?
- Sins are forgiven only during the Sacrament of Confession after a sincere, detailed confession of all of them in the presence of a priest and the reading of a prayer of absolution. A candle is a symbol; in itself it does not free one from sins and does not connect one with God.
Is it possible to light a candle for someone who is not baptized or of a different faith?
- It is possible and necessary to pray for the unbaptized and people of other faiths with your personal prayer and light candles for them. You can ask the priest to pray for them. Only during the main service - the liturgy - are exclusively Orthodox Christians remembered.
In front of the icon of which saint do they usually pray and light candles for the sick before surgery?
- You can light candles and pray, for example, in front of the icon of the Savior or Mother of God, the holy great martyr and healer Panteleimon, the holy unmercenary doctors Cosmas and Damian, St. Luke of Crimea (Voino-Yasenetsky). And also properly prepare yourself and call the sick person to Confession and Communion, order a prayer service for the sick person.
Is it possible to light a candle for your own health?
- Of course, you can light candles and pray for your health. A candle is a symbol prayer appeal to God. And most prayers are written in the first person.
Is it possible to put candles bought in another temple or at a bazaar/shop?
- The meaning of purchasing and lighting a candle, as was said earlier, is precisely to make a sacrifice to God, therefore it is customary to purchase candles in the temple where they come to pray - this is a small sacrifice to this particular temple.
Why do they remove candles that are only half burned, because we pay money for them...
- Due to the large number of people who want to light candles, they are sometimes removed not completely burned out. Also, the temple servants extinguish the stubs of the candles, because If you let the candle burn out completely, it will melt and clog the cell. There is no need to be embarrassed by this, or by the fact that the not completely burnt candle was extinguished after the end of the service - the sacrifice has already been accepted by God, and your half-burnt candle will be lit later, the cinder will be melted down and candles will be made, which are placed on the Throne (the central table in the altar, on where the Bloodless Sacrifice is performed) and in front of the iconostasis.
When is incense used and can it be used at home?
- Incense is used in the Church during censing during most services. You can also use incense during home prayer; for this you purchase a home censer.
How to put out a candle correctly?
- You can extinguish it either by blowing it out, or with your fingers, or, for example, with a special tool for extinguishing candles.
Materials used from the site:
How to easily light a candle in a deep glass? And why can't you blow out the candle? 6 secrets on how to handle your favorite candles to enjoy every second!
1. If you are lighting a paraffin or vegetable wax candle, let it burn longer the first time, at least an hour: this will allow the wax to melt evenly and avoid forming a hole near the wick. – very tender, they begin to melt immediately and evenly.
2. Before lighting a candle, be sure to trim the wick: this way you will avoid an unpleasant smell in the first moments. It is the decayed wick that distorts the smell of your favorite candle and creates soot.
3. If the candle crackles, the wick does not burn, but smokes and chars, the candle must be extinguished and the wick trimmed. You can do this with a special wick trimmer. By the way, you can buy this one
5. If you light, be sure to open the window: inhaling saturated ones is dangerous to health.
6. Sometimes it is difficult to light a candle in a deep glass: if the candle is not new, it can be difficult to reach the wick. In this case, special matches for candles (they are much longer than usual) and a candle lighter with a long nozzle will come to the rescue.
