Candlemas Candle Blessing - Pure Beeswax or Not?
Jan 17, 2024 8:49:04 GMT -5
wenceslav and Didymus like this
Post by Pacelli on Jan 17, 2024 8:49:04 GMT -5
With Candlemas coming soon, February 2nd, and this being the only day every year that a priest may use this very powerful blessing on candles, the question has arisen as to whether Catholics may bring candles that are not of pure beeswax to be blessed with this specific blessing. There seems to be confusion on this point so I researched this to get to the bottom of it.
There are two blessings of candles, one that is for the Candlemas blessing only, which is a very long and powerful blessing, and then a simple blessing that can be said by a priest over candles any day of the year including Candlemas, that can be made up of other percentages of wax or perhaps candlemaking substances altogether, but this blessing is separate from the unique and liturgical Candlemas blessing.
It seems clear to me that the candles presented for Candlemas blessing must be made of pure beeswax, not a mixture of some other percentage. The laws regulating this do not specifically address this, and only deal with the candles used in the Church for the liturgy, not specifically the Candlemas blessing, which have different percentages depending on which candles are being used. What we do have is the tradition and the explanations of Catholic authors on what must be used, and that is pure wax only, not a percentage. We also have as a proof from the blessing itself which specifically states that it is wax of bees being blessed, not other substances. Lastly, as the beeswax is a symbol of the flesh of Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, it also seems unbecoming to use lesser substances other than pure beeswax.
If anyone has any proofs to challenge my understanding of this, feel free to post them. In the meantime, I would urge anyone bringing candles for the Candlemas blessing on February 2nd to bring pure beeswax candles.
I will be posting my proofs below in subsequent posts.
There are two blessings of candles, one that is for the Candlemas blessing only, which is a very long and powerful blessing, and then a simple blessing that can be said by a priest over candles any day of the year including Candlemas, that can be made up of other percentages of wax or perhaps candlemaking substances altogether, but this blessing is separate from the unique and liturgical Candlemas blessing.
It seems clear to me that the candles presented for Candlemas blessing must be made of pure beeswax, not a mixture of some other percentage. The laws regulating this do not specifically address this, and only deal with the candles used in the Church for the liturgy, not specifically the Candlemas blessing, which have different percentages depending on which candles are being used. What we do have is the tradition and the explanations of Catholic authors on what must be used, and that is pure wax only, not a percentage. We also have as a proof from the blessing itself which specifically states that it is wax of bees being blessed, not other substances. Lastly, as the beeswax is a symbol of the flesh of Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, it also seems unbecoming to use lesser substances other than pure beeswax.
If anyone has any proofs to challenge my understanding of this, feel free to post them. In the meantime, I would urge anyone bringing candles for the Candlemas blessing on February 2nd to bring pure beeswax candles.
I will be posting my proofs below in subsequent posts.