Ceremonial use of lights
Ceremonial lights appear in many religions, symbolizing divine presence.
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The ceremonial use of lights appears in the liturgies of various Christian Churches, as well as in Jewish, Zoroastrian, and Hindu rites and customs. Fire is used as an object of worship in many religions, with Zoroastrians revering fire as the visible expression of Ahura Mazda, and Hindus worshiping it as divine and omniscient. In Judaism, the Tabernacle's Holy of Holies contained a cloud of light (shekinah) and a candlestick with six branches and an eternally burning lamp, while synagogues have their own eternal lamp.
- Religions involved
- Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, ancient Greek and Roman cults
- Key figures mentioned
- Tertullian, Lactantius, Vigilantius, Jerome, Paulinus of Nola, Zeno of Verona, Gregory of Nazianzus, Eusebius
- Key events
- Synod of Elvira (305), Council of Carthage (398)
- Symbolic meaning
- Victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance; divine presence and purity
- Early Christian practice
- No evidence of ceremonial use in first two centuries; established by close of 4th century
Lore & Background
In ancient Greece, the Lampadedromia or torch-race originated in ceremonies connected with relighting the sacred fire. Pausanias mentions a golden lamp made by Callimachus that burned night and day in the sanctuary of Athena Polias on the Acropolis, and a statue of Hermes Agoraios before which lamps were lighted. Among the Romans, lighted candles and lamps formed part of the cult of domestic tutelary deities, and on festivals doors were garlanded and lamps lighted. In the Cult of Isis, lamps were lighted by day. Torches and lamps were also carried in religious processions. The pagan custom of burying lamps with the dead, of Asiatic origin, was meant to provide the dead with light in the next world; these lamps were mostly unlighted.
Reader's Guide
In Christianity, from the very first, fire and light are conceived as symbols of the divine nature and presence. Christ is the true Light, and the Holy Ghost appeared as cloven tongues of fire. There is no evidence of any ceremonial use of lights in Christian worship during its first two centuries. Tertullian and Lactantius criticized the pagan practice of lighting lamps and candles. However, by the close of the 4th century, the ceremonial use of lights had become firmly and universally established in the Church. Jerome defended the practice against Vigilantius, noting that lights were lit in all churches of the East whenever the gospel was read, even in daylight, as a visible sign of gladness. The ritual use likely arose from the conservative habit of retaining lights that had been necessary at nocturnal meetings, later invested with symbolic meaning. Lights were used at the Eucharist, baptisms, funerals, and ordinations.
Did You Know?
- The Hindu festival Diwali symbolizes the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.
- In the Tabernacle, a cloud of light (shekinah) stood in the Holy of Holies, and before it was a candlestick with six branches and an eternally burning lamp.
- The 34th canon of the Synod of Elvira (305) forbade candles to be lighted in cemeteries during the daytime, indicating an established custom.
- Jerome stated that in all churches of the East, lights were lit when the gospel was read, even while the sun was rising, as a sign of gladness.
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