The lighting of the Paschal Candle is one of the most beautiful moments of the Easter Vigil, the most significant liturgy of the Catholic year. The ceremony begins in darkness, symbolising the world before Christ’s Resurrection. Outside the church, a fire is lit in a brazier, and from it the Paschal Candle is lit, representing Jesus as the Light of the World. The priest then carries the candle into the darkened church, proclaiming “The Light of Christ” three times. Parishioners light their own candles from its flame, gradually filling the church with light.
At St Paul’s, however, there was one small problem with this beautiful ritual: the wax!
We found it was easier in theory than in practice. At first we used white plastic cups to hold the candles, which were lit from the Paschal Candle. As the candles were lit and the candle light spread through the church, the effect was wonderful – but the dripping wax was not!
Each year, Tony Bianca and Rosana tried to come up with a better way to protect both the carpet and the people. By 2017, they had devised Idea No. 2. They melted the bottom of each candle so it fitted neatly into the tapered hole in the cup, then sealed it with pre-melted wax. The whole operation took place on their mum’s kitchen table, using a small burner pot. It worked, but it was quite an effort!
In 2018 came Idea No. 3: larger candles that fitted into the cups without needing to have the hole plugged with wax. By then, however, the original cups were becoming rather worn, so Idea No. 4 followed. For the next couple of years, the parish used small glass jars with candles already inside them. This solved the wax problem, although the jars had a tendency to get very hot!
There was also another factor to consider. By having the congregation remain in their seats while the priest, acolytes and altar servers went outside to light the Paschal Fire, the ceremony became much easier to manage. The flame could then be brought into the porch, where the Paschal Candle was lit in full view of the congregation, who were facing the doors.
By 2021, the candle experiments had run their course. Thankfully, Fr Tim agreed to a much simpler solution: a number of votive candles were placed on the windowsills and lit during the singing of the Exsultet. This proved very effective and created an equally powerful image, without the distraction of everyone moving around the church. Jasmin took on the task of creating the candle arrangements, and her beautiful displays have continued to add a warm glow to the Easter Vigil ever since.
