Paschal candle

Easter celebration

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  In Easter: Liturgical observances

  …of lights focused on the Paschal candle; the service of lessons called the prophecies; the administration of the sacraments of baptism and confirmation to adult converts; and the Easter mass. The use of the Paschal candle, to denote the appearance of light out of darkness through the Resurrection, was first…

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  In church year: Easter

  …for the blessing of the Paschal candle (the Exultet)—symbol of the driving away of the powers of darkness and death by the Passover of the Lord. There followed a series of lessons from the Old Testament and a homily. Then, toward midnight, while the faithful were engaged in prayers, candidates…

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  In ceremonial object: Lighting devices

  The Easter (Paschal) candle, made of beeswax around a wood core, had a candleholder appropriate to its size. At Westminster, England, during the 14th century, a candela rotunda (“round candle”) was the centre of a “festival of lights” during the feast of the purification of the Virgin…

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