Votive candle

300px|thumb|A votive candle rack at [[Grace Episcopal Cathedral (Topeka, Kansas)|Grace Episcopal Cathedral, an Anglican Christian cathedral in Topeka]]

A votive candle or prayer candle is a small candle, typically white or beeswax yellow, intended to be burnt as a votive offering in an act of Christian prayer, especially within the Anglican, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic Christian denominations, among others. In Christianity, votive candles are commonplace in many churches, as well as home altars, and symbolize the "prayers the worshipper is offering for him or herself, or for other people."

Candles used may vary from long, taper-type candles to tealight candles. Tealight candles are either placed in holders or just on a platform in front of the statue. Long candles may be placed in a special holder.

Lutheranism

Lutheran churches may use votive candles which may be lit at home, as a part of personal or family devotions, or at the church. They are usually lit on the altar rails, or in front of the altar cross. They are also often lit during the liturgy of Good Friday.

thumb|Votive candle holder stands before an icon of Christ in a [[Church of Sweden parish church in Skellefteå, Sweden.]]

Within the Nordic Lutheran churches of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, all High Church Lutheran denominations, the use of votive candles is commonplace and most, if not all, churches and chapels will have a votive candle holder (Swedish: Ljusbärare). These are somewhat similar to the Eastern Orthodox type, usually a round metal frame with several sockets surrounding a central, larger candle on which to light the votive candles. As in Eastern Orthodox Churches, Nordic Lutheran votive candles are also long and thin.

Anglicanism

Some Anglican churches, especially those that worship in the High Church or Anglo-Catholic tradition, have votive candles for purposes of praying for the dead as well as asking for saintly intercession.

Methodism

In the United Methodist Church, those churches which worship in the High Church tradition make use of votive candles. During the liturgical celebration of Allhallowtide, especially on All Saints' Day (All Hallows' Day), votive candles are lit and a prayer is said for each person of the congregation who has died that year.

Reformed

In the Reformed tradition (inclusive of the Continental Reformed, Presbyterian, Congregationalist denominations), votive candles are lit during Totensonntag, a holy day that commemorates the faithful departed.

History

During all the Middle Ages the burning of lamps, or sometimes candles, before relics, shrines, statues, and other objects of devotion was a form of piety which greatly appealed to the alms of the faithful. Almost every collection of early English wills bears witness to it, and even in the smaller churches the number of such lights founded by private beneficence was often surprisingly great. It not infrequently happened that every guild and association maintained a special light of its own, and, besides these, there were such objects of devotion as the "Jesus light", the "Hok-light" (which seems to have to do with a popular festival kept on the second Monday or Tuesday after Easter Sunday), the "Rood light", the "egg light" (probably maintained by contributions of eggs), the "bachelor's light", the "maiden's light", the "Soul's light", etc. Many of these bequests will be found conveniently illustrated and classified in Leland Duncan and Arthur Hussey's Testamenta Cantiana, London 1906.

Secular adaptations

In the 2010s, votive candles have been sold with celebrities or political figures fashioned to look like saints. Some secular subjects of votive candles include Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Jonathan Van Ness. In 2019, Vox wrote that "by replacing a saint with a celebrity that is outright silly (like Steve Buscemi or Harambe the gorilla), you are dismissing the function of the prayer candle altogether." Bill Donohue of the Catholic League said he did not find the candles offensive. "By definition, a celebrity doesn't need a PR presence, so the likely motivating force is narcissism," he says. "By ripping off Catholic iconography, these celebs pay a backhanded compliment to the Catholic Church in their quest for notoriety."

Gallery

File:Otivecandle.jpg|Votive candles on a Christian home altar surrounding a crucifix in crystal

File:Madonna of the Child with votive candle rack and kneeler (United Methodist Church of the Saviour).jpg|Madonna and Child with a votive candle rack and prie-dieu in a Methodist church

File:Portuguese votive candles.JPG|Portuguese votive candles in the shape of afflicted body parts

File:Votive candles 01.jpg|Hand-poured blue votive candles

File:Votive candles 02.jpg|Hand-poured green votive candles

File:Totenfest at St. Luke's UCC.jpg|Votive candles lit for the faithful departed at a Congregationalist church for Totensonntag

File:Kind en Kaars.jpg|A child lighting a votive candle at the Catholic Christian Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels

File:Votive candles.jpg|Votive candles at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis

File:Automatic votive candles.jpg|Automatic votive candles

File:Santa Muerte Votives.jpg|Votive candles for Santa Muerte, a Saint in Folk Catholicism

File:Mariazell Kerzengrotte 1.jpg|View inside the candle grotto of Mariazell Basilica

File:Mariazell Kerzengrotte 2.jpg|Votive candles in the candle grotto of Mariazell Basilica

File:Votive candles at the Huron University College Chapel in London, Ontario.jpg|Votive Candles in an Anglican seminary

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