The stub of a church candle almost always remains after rituals with a candle, and not all people know what to do with the stubs of church candles. In fact, the hand is not always raised to throw away this attribute, and the church also does not welcome the throwing of such materials. Today we will talk about what is done with the stubs of church candles at home and in church. Read the following article on the pages of the magazine, and you will receive valuable advice and find out where to put the stubs from church candles.
Left or right?
Placing and passing the candle with your left hand or your right is also absolutely not important. I myself am left-handed and often, when I was not yet a priest, I passed candles with my left hand. There are no canonical prohibitions against this. Every sacrifice is pleasing to God.
Is it possible to use a lighter? You can light a candle from any other candle, from a lamp - it doesn’t play any role. Of course, if during prayer you start taking a lighter and matches out of your pocket and striking them, this will disturb people and they will start turning to you. But the very fact of what the candle will be lit from does not play any role. The main principle here is not to interfere with others.
Where can I pour it?
It is better to store the shrine next to the icons. The vessel with holy water is kept in a dark place, next to household icons. With respect, water retains its healing properties for a long time.
But if stored incorrectly, water can lose freshness and spoil (we described the reasons for this here). In this case, it would be correct to pour out last year’s water. However, there are certain places where liquid can be disposed of and where it should not be poured. Acceptable locations include:
- An untrodden place. It is allowed to use any piece of land where no person walks or where stray animals do not run.
- Open water. The best solution is to pour old holy water into a river or stream with a current.
- Dry well or drainage system at the temple. Draining is carried out with the permission of the priest.
It is considered unacceptable for consecrated moisture to come into contact with sewage - a sewer drain or a cesspool. Pouring liquid into a sink or toilet is considered extreme disrespect for something sacred.
When pouring water, you need to say words of gratitude for the time it was in the house.
For many centuries, holy water has given hope to praying people, strengthened faith and given strength. The healing properties are accepted and approved by the Church. A respectful attitude towards agiasma gives it great power, and it, in turn, helps in family and everyday situations.
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Why are candles lit?
Even in the Old Testament Church, a seven-branched candlestick with lamps burned in the temple, which illuminated the altar. After the Resurrection of Christ, when the Church was persecuted, services were performed in the catacombs, usually at night. The first Christians, in order to somehow illuminate the place of their prayer, used candles and flat lamps. Since then, candles have entered church life and become an integral attribute of worship.
The candle, like all other elements of worship, also has a symbolic meaning. First of all, this is our sacrifice to God. This is the first meaning of the candle. Secondly, just as the flame of a candle burns, our hearts burn during communication with God. The third meaning is that like wax, which becomes soft and pliable when it melts, a person’s heart must become soft and pliable to the action of God’s grace, it must not remain callous.
Time and place
As a rule, candles are lit before the liturgy or vespers. Why is that? During worship, people concentrate on prayer, and if someone walks around the temple from one candlestick to another, of course, this will be distracting. If it so happens that you came during the liturgy and would like to light a candle, this is also not a problem. It is enough to buy it at a candle stand and simply ask those in front to transfer it to the desired candlestick, saying which icon you want to put it with. You need to light candles as quietly and tactfully as possible. I myself, as a priest, know this very well. When you serve the liturgy, and during the reading of the Gospel or another important part of the service, a person comes in and begins to walk around the church, shuffle his feet, rustle a package, open a bag, of course, this distracts both the priest and the parishioners from prayer.
It is advisable to come before the service, calmly take the candles and light them, or do this after the service - but, of course, not at important moments.
If you entered the temple during a burial, you should not light candles for health, but not because of superstitions. The relatives of the deceased are crying, they are sad, and then you come in and begin to walk indifferently from one candlestick to another. You will disturb the atmosphere that is present at the funeral. It is worth waiting twenty minutes and entering after the coffin with the deceased is taken out of the temple.
Church candles
Only church candles are used to cleanse and protect the home and property. Many monasteries have candle production. In such places they work with prayer on their lips and the name of God in their heads. The element of fire promotes cleansing from anger, hatred, and spiritual contradictions. The stub from a church candle should never be thrown away. It is also not recommended to store them at home. They have already completed their mission. The question arises, what to do with the stubs of church candles? These items are returned to the temple. Near the church candlesticks there are always special boxes for cinders, where everything that remains from the luminaries is stored.
Preliminary preparation of the premises
To carry out the ritual according to all the rules, preparation for it is necessary. The first and most important thing you should do is general cleaning. First you need to ensure the physical cleanliness of the room, and only then improve the energy.
- wash the floor (you can add a little regular salt to the water);
- wipe the dust;
- to throw out the trash;
- clean the plumbing, especially the toilet;
- Pay special attention to mirrors and wash them thoroughly.
Why do mirrors stand apart on this list? The fact is that they tend to collect all the negative energy. There was a quarrel - the mirror was energized. An envious person came to visit - the mirror again absorbed his bad message.
If time allows and if there is a desire, it is better to organize a complete cleaning of the apartment. Clean windows, window sills, and kitchen appliances. And so on, the housewives will understand me.
What day is suitable for cleaning the apartment?
The ritual is associated with getting rid of negative energy. And if we want to get rid of something, then it is preferable to do it on the waning moon.
You will need a calendar of lunar days - it is not difficult to find on the Internet. I recommend performing the ritual from the 19th to the 29th lunar day. The most suitable of them are:
But I immediately want to warn those who choose the 29th lunar day. Check which day comes after it. If it's 30, then you have nothing to fear.
But if the first lunar day comes immediately after the 29th, then under no circumstances should your ritual cover the time of transition from one day to another.
The fact is that the first lunar day is the beginning of the month, laying the foundation. And under no circumstances should you carry out cleaning at this time. Therefore, plan to end the ritual at least 3 hours before the onset of the 1st lunar day.
When choosing a suitable day, you should also take into account that you will have to stay at home alone for several hours.
Use in religious ceremonies
Candles began to be used in religious rituals. In almost all known religions this is a mandatory attribute. After all, a candle is a symbol of spiritual faith that can disperse the darkness of ignorance. They began to be depicted in iconography as a mandatory attribute of some saints. On the icon of Saint Brigid, wax drops flowing onto her hand are depicted as a reminder of the wounds of Christ. In images of Saint Genevieve, the candle is extinguished by a demon, and an angel lights it again, thereby personifying the allegorical struggle of good against evil. The burning end of a candle in the hands of the deceased demonstrates the loss of vital energy and health.
Use Cases
Over time, the candle acquired symbolic meaning. For a writer or poet creating his great work in the light of a lonely candle, it has become a symbol of inspiration.
Festive lights burning on the birthday cake represent the continuation of life's journey. The lights on the holiday tree are lit with the hope of happiness and many bright events in the coming year. The stub of a candle has become synonymous with poverty.
Your own candle
An idea for people who love hand-made.
We can make candles from old candles. We can put it in the original packaging. For example, a tea jar or a beautiful cup and use it as decoration or give it to someone. You need to melt the candle over low heat, remove the burnt candle wick and pour it into the chosen form. Place a new wick and let the candle set, preferably overnight.
Shoe repair
Wax combined with canola oil will help remove light scratches on shoes or furniture. To create the mixture, heat the rest of the candle until you have liquid wax, then add a teaspoon of oil. Mix everything well and let cool. A soft cloth is dipped into the resulting liquid and leather shoes or furniture are polished until the scratch disappears completely. When the mixture begins to set, we heat it over low heat.
Start
So, you are ready and morally determined to carry out an energy cleaning of the apartment. The mood is calm and even. Phones are turned off so no one can disturb you.
Open all windows and doors. If it’s winter and cold outside, then it will be enough to open each window a little. But I still recommend opening one window wider. It is recommended to open the entrance door to the apartment slightly during the ritual. If it's not possible, then don't do it.
If you forget to open the windows and doors, then negative energy will circle around the apartment, but will not be able to get out.
Not far from the entrance to the apartment (for example, on a stool) you should have:
- one church candle with an “umbrella” made from a paper circle;
- two spare candles and spare paper circles;
- matches or lighter;
- pouch.
Light the candle and immediately put the matches or lighter in your pocket. It may happen that the candle goes out due to a sharp blow of wind or for another reason. This way you can light it again.
Hold the umbrella candle by the lower tip in your right hand. Remember not to let any dripping wax get on your hands or the floor. The negativity collected during the ritual is concentrated in it.
Start treating the room from the front door. First, the outside of the door. Cross the door itself, the locks, and the peephole. Then the inside of the door. Each object must be baptized three times. At the same time, you can say: “All the negative energy, everything bad, all the evil eye - go away!”
Next, you slowly walk strictly clockwise, thus walking around the entire apartment. I recommend thinking in advance about which route you will need to take. Because during the ritual it is not surprising to confuse the direction.
Painting on fabric
Another interesting use for leftover candles is to create decorations on clothes, covers or tablecloths. This is a very old Indonesian method of decorating fabrics that we can do at home. The wax must be completely dry, then we draw patterns on the material. Then we immerse the fabric in the dye.
Patterns made from wax will not stain and will create original designs. To remove any remaining wax, cover it with paper towels and gently heat it with a warm iron. If necessary, we change towels until the wax is completely removed.
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What to do with candle stubs after a funeral?
When and where to take candle stubs from a funeral?
Is there any rule about this?
Our life is filled with rituals and the closest attention is directed to those associated with the transition of the soul from the body to the heavenly world. We light candles according to the Christian tradition, as a symbol of divine creative combustion, asking for forgiveness or farewell to the earthly segment of the divine path. And just as everything that belonged to the deceased causes us a feeling of grief, as soon as we leave the house, so burnt candles should be taken to the temple and put in a cinder box, and if they were lit on the street when burying a body, they should be left on the grave so that when visiting her, let them burn to the ground. They, like any item from the cemetery, cannot be brought home.d/bv
Creaky furniture
The remainder of a burnt candle can be used to “lubricate” doors or drawers. To do this, you must remove the door from its hinges, clean it, and then thoroughly rub the hinges on each side.
After reinstalling the door, you need to close it and open it to get the wax into each spot. Likewise, with drawers, if they aren't running very smoothly, rub the runners with some candle residue and everything should go back to normal.
Candles to go
Story
The church shop was crowded with people. They took mostly candles. The young woman asked for ten pieces of wax.
- Excuse me, are you going to install it or do you want to take it with you? – asked the shop worker.
- May I know why?
- Yes, my daughter is sick, my grandmother will treat her. Cast the wax.
- What are you talking about! This is witchcraft.
- What kind of witchcraft? This is how they have always been treated. My grandmother is a believer, she goes to church, and the priest blessed her to treat her.
- But this cannot be. Priests never bless such grandmothers and do not even allow them to take communion, as if they were sorcerers.
- Yes, I myself saw how the priest blessed her.
– And what did he give his blessing for, did you hear? There are such cunning grandmothers: they treat people with spells, cast wax, and before that they come up to the priest and say: “Bless!” But the priest doesn’t know why they are asking, and blesses. They then tell everyone that, they say, they took a blessing from the church for treatment. So don’t take the sin on your soul, but bring your child to communion, God willing, and he will get better. Yes, and you yourself need to confess and receive communion, because our children are our sins embodied, they suffer for us, the poor.
- So, won’t you give me some candles?
“Forgive me generously, but I can’t take on such a sin.” Come on, next one.
“And I’d like three candles of any kind, just wrap them up, please,” asks the woman who was standing next to her.
– Do you want to take it with you? And for what?
- Yes, clean the apartment.
- And how do you “clean” it?
- Yes, as usual - I light and consecrate all the corners, all the evil spirits are burned out.
- Do you know that this is the same fortune-telling?
– If this is fortune telling, then what is happening here in the church? After all, candles are burning everywhere.
– A candle has one purpose - to shine, and they are lit here to shine, and not to “hallow.” The candle is the essence of our prayer; we light a candle, pray and leave, and the candle burns, and the flame from it reaches to the sky, like our prayer. This is the spiritual meaning of a church candle. What is the spiritual meaning when you wander around your apartment with a candle? This is divination. To consecrate an apartment, a priest is called and the rooms are sprinkled with holy water, not the corners, but the walls. So forgive me, I can’t give you candles for such purposes.
- And for me, dear, only one, but a wax one. “I don’t cast a spell, I heal the ear,” said another, old woman, groaning. “There’s a shooting in my ear, so I need to wrap the wax in paper, set it on fire, and it will pull out the pus.”
- Grandmother! So you need wax, not a candle. After all, a candle is consecrated by prayer, it is sinful to use it like that. Go to the market and buy some wax.
“So it’s a long way to go to the market, dear, but the church is nearby.”
- Well, okay, come tomorrow, I’ll ask the storekeeper - she should have candles that haven’t been blessed yet, I’ll put one aside for you, just wait until tomorrow. Next!
- And I also need wax. I’m not here for casting and not for cleaning the apartment, I already understand what’s what – I’m being treated by a believing doctor. We light candles there during meditation.
- Oh my God! What other meditation with a church candle? This is meditation in Eastern religions, but in Orthodoxy there is not even such a term. Such doctors cannot be Orthodox.
– No, she’s even very Orthodox! There are icons hanging all around her in her office. And she reads “Our Father” before diagnosing the aura!
- Woman! Step aside for now, now the priest will return from services, he will talk to you. You yourself do not know what trap you are walking into of your own free will. What kind of day is this today? Come on, who's next? Do you also need candles with you?
- Not really. So I want to bet for health and peace.
Are “other people’s” candles in the church a sin or not a sin?
The candle is a sacrifice. When you come to a temple and light a candle that you bought somewhere at the market, can we seriously say that you are making a sacrifice to God? The candles in the temple are blessed. Any priest, when he buys candles from the diocesan administration, blesses them. A candle bought at the market or in a store, of course, is not blessed, and, of course, there is no need to talk about the sacrifice.
If you bought a candle in a monastery or another church, and came with it to your church, in fact, the sacrifice has already been made. In the same way, if you bought a candle in your own temple, but earlier. There's nothing wrong with that. Diocesan candles have the seal of the diocese, so it is easy to figure out whether they were purchased in the church or on the market.
Here you need to figure out for what purpose you are lighting a candle: saving money, looking for a cheaper candle, or making a sacrifice to God. It is a sin if, saving on God, on the temple, a person buys unconsecrated candles from somewhere unknown and comes to the temple with these candles. The question then arises: to whom did you sacrifice?
People often say: “I lit a candle and crossed myself. What else do you need from me? It seems as if they are paying some kind of tribute to God. The man did not pray, did not communicate with God. He performed some kind of ritual - crossed himself, bowed, kissed the icon - and considers his duty fulfilled. Of course, God does not need such a prayer. This is not a prayer, but a “deception.”
A lot of people perceive a candle as a “pass” to the temple: they think that they must light it. It is not right. A candle is one of the components of your prayer, your communication with God.
If you come to church, be sure to pray. If you don’t have money for a candle, they will give it to you for free. For example, our church in Zaitsevo is very poor. We have a war here. If a person comes to church without money, he will be given a candle for free. If you just prayed but didn’t light a candle, there’s no problem here either. There is no need to elevate the lighting of candles to the rank of some kind of obligatory ritual. This is your sacrifice, your gift to God. The candle is very inexpensive - an amount accessible to almost anyone. But if you are looking for how to save a ruble or two on a candle, there is no sacrifice to God here.
Wedding candles
Based on the name of wedding candles, you can understand that their main purpose is the church sacrament of Wedding. As a rule, there are always two of them in a set. They are made of paraffin or wax and have considerable volume and length. Usually simple in appearance, without much decoration, but can be decorated with swirls and shiny coating. During the sacrament they are lit, and the newlyweds stand with them throughout the entire service. During this time, the candles are filled with grace and miraculous properties. Therefore, after a church ceremony they are not thrown away, but are kept at home near icons and other Orthodox paraphernalia. They can simply stand at home in memory of this important day, reminiscent of the birth of a family, but they are also allowed to be lit under certain circumstances:
- on wedding anniversaries, to thank God for the union of two hearts and the family happiness He has sent down;
- during difficult life situations, especially if they relate to joint family life;
- on a particularly joyful and solemn occasion, for example, at the birth of a child;
- during prayer for the healing of one of the spouses or children;
- for major Orthodox holidays (standard for the twelve and great ones - the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Baptism of the Lord, the Ascension of the Lord, etc.).
It is important to note that the burning time of a candle may vary depending on the material it is made of. For wax candles, the burning time is much longer than for paraffin candles. This is due to the fact that paraffin, when burned for a long time, releases a substance that is harmful for humans to inhale. Therefore, if you still use paraffin candles, it is advisable to ventilate the room after lighting them.
Another type of church candles is Sretensky, which can also be used for home prayers. They received their name in honor of the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. After the Divine Liturgy, the rite of blessing candles occurs, which distinguishes them from other types that are blessed on any other day. Anyone can buy candles and put them on the communal candle table and then take them home. Candles filled with grace are used for home prayers only on special occasions:
- if necessary, make an important life decision (we can talk about choosing a life partner, employment, acquiring any property, choosing a profession);
- when the person praying is in illness, infirmity, when he is overcome by sadness, sadness;
- with obvious influence of demonic forces on a person.
There is a belief that the more soul you put into prayer with the Sretensky candle in your hands, the sooner it will be fulfilled. The main thing is that your thoughts are pure and there is no goal to harm anyone. Like any other candle, the remaining cinders should never be thrown away, but must be taken to the temple so that they can be melted down.
What to do with leftover church candles
Candle behind the images
The cinders from church candles are handled differently. They are burned along with other waste, or stored behind the images. Most believers return the collected cinders to the shop. In the temple they are either burned in a special oven, or melted and poured into the cheapest candles. Many cathedrals have special boxes for collecting cinders.
You can rarely see such boxes in city churches and cathedrals; the thing is that novices or mothers most often put away the candles themselves in the evenings after the service, regardless of whether they burned out or not. The collected candles are recycled, because almost all parishes have not only church shops, but also workshops. The novices also clean the glasses on the candlestick from spilled wax; they usually do this with the help of a small spatula and a brush, which they use to brush off the wax. It is not customary to collect it.
Maundy Thursday tradition
However, it is still customary to burn candles to the end. There is no rule against lighting a candle more than once. And when it burns out, you can put a new one there. On major church holidays, for example, many parishioners light a candle in church, and then, after the service, extinguish it and take it home. This custom arose a very long time ago. On Maundy Thursday, Orthodox Christians gathered for all-night prayer, during which the Thursday candle was lit. She was endowed with truly mystical properties. On Friday morning, the lit candle was carried home, in every possible way protecting the flame from wind and bad weather. If the candle goes out, trouble will certainly happen, but if you managed to keep the fire and light the lamp from it, there is nothing to fear this year.
With this candle, the owner walked around the entire house to protect its inhabitants from the machinations of the evil one. So, the candle stub was kept all year, until next Thursday, lighting the fire on the biggest holidays or the most difficult times. On the eve of a new holiday, paper was lit from the flame of a cinder and the stove was lit with it, consecrating the entire house.
If you were reprimanded
Temple employees often make a remark if you “resin” the bottom of a candle so that it sticks better, but not for superstitious reasons: they will then have to clean the candlestick of wax. This problem is especially relevant in large churches, where there are new expensive candlesticks, for which significant funds were paid. When the grandmother stands and fills this candlestick with wax, the candle maker understands that she will need to wipe off this wax after the service. What if five people, ten, thirty do this? This is extra work for the temple worker, and it’s really a pity for the candlestick. Modern candlesticks are convenient, they have deep recesses, so you can do without sticking candles to them.
However, all comments in the temple about candles should be to the point and made in a gentle manner. The problem of our churches, which should not be kept silent, is the “particularly pious” parishioners and employees who, with anger, begin to make comments to people for the most insignificant reasons: how they put the candles, how they turned, what they came in with. It would do well for every abbot to pay attention to this and communicate on this topic with the workers of his temple. Everything can be done with love, because the Lord is Love. If the remark is made reproachfully, the person will come in once, twice, and the third time he will not come to the temple, because he knows that they will immediately begin to reproach him and lecture him. Is it pleasant for an adult to have his grandmother standing next to him and grumbling at him for half the service?
