Conversion candle
The change candle , sometimes also called Sanctus candle , is a candle that is lit in the so-called Tridentine Mass of the Catholic Church for the change and symbolizes the real presence of Christ.
History and symbolism
The appearance of the change candle is closely related to the introduction of the elevation of the celebration host after the change, which spread in the Holy Mass of the Western Church since the 12th century from France. The elevation was intended to allow the faithful who were part of the celebration to participate more and more consciously in the liturgical event; it also promoted the adoration of the Eucharist as the body of Christ. A little later, the subsequent elevation of the chalice also prevailed; In most Eastern liturgies, on the other hand, there is no elevation of the eucharistic figures for the purpose of conversion.
At first, with the often diffuse lighting conditions in the Middle Ages, the candle simply had the practical purpose of illuminating the newly transformed host, which was shown to the people by lifting it up, in order to make it visible everywhere in the church. Sometimes it was also customary to stretch a curtain of dark fabric in front of the altar so that the white host raised in front of it stood out again and could be seen all the better. This also explains why in old depictions the conversion candle either sits on a high pole or simply appears as a long stick with a wax stick wrapped around it (candle rolled into a bundle), because the altar boy or acolyte should have it at the same height as the raised one Host are held to illuminate them.
This original intention is clearly demonstrated by an instruction from the Carthusian Order around 1250, which states: “If mass is read early in the morning and the body of Christ cannot otherwise be seen, the deacon may hold a well-lit candle behind the priest, but this is not a requirement . "
Gradually - also through the improvement of the lighting options - the practical purpose of the changing candle faded more and more into the background and it itself became a liturgical symbol in the measurement process.
Just as the eternal light in the Catholic houses of God symbolizes the permanent, sacramental presence of Christ in the tabernacle, the conversion candle became the same symbol in the liturgical process of the mass. It was intended to indicate to the believers that the mass had progressed to the conversion from which Christ is present on the altar . Accordingly, it was lit immediately before the beginning of the change at the end of the Sanctus - hence the name Sanctus candle - and extinguished as soon as the Holy of Holies was repositioned in the tabernacle.
Furthermore, an additional candle underlined the special importance of the moment, increased its solemnity and drew the believers' attention to the happening at the moment. For similar reasons, two candles were previously lit at court when someone called on God as a witness and swore an oath .
In accordance with the now more liturgical-symbolic character of the candle, the candlestick became shorter and the high poles were no longer used. One went over to placing the candle on a fixed candlestick next to the altar and lighting or extinguishing it at the appropriate time in the liturgical process. In a variant of the rite, the altar boy placed a burning candle on the altar at the end of the sanctus , extinguished it after repositioning the sanctuary and carried the candlestick away.
The conversion candle was initially only widespread regionally. In the Middle Ages the custom became generally accepted, but largely disappeared again and finally - except in monasteries and on special occasions - in modern times, even before the liturgical reform of 1968, it was rather a rarity. The tradition was strongest back then in Rooted in the Dominican order . After the reintroduction of the extraordinary form of the Roman rite, the conversion candle is experiencing a renaissance in traditional liturgy as a conscious return to tried and tested and evocative elements of celebration. The custom is now observed in many Catholic communities and was not least inspired and revived by the writer Martin Mosebach , a pioneer of the new traditional liturgical movement.
literature
- P. Browe: "The Elevation in the Mass" , 1929
- Josef Andreas Jungmann : "Missarum Solemnia" , Volume 2, Herder Verlag Freiburg, 1958
- Hans Niedermeier: "The Sanctuary or Conversion Candle in Church Customs of the Middle Ages" , in: "Bayerisches Jahrbuch für Volkskunde" , 1968, published by the Commission for Bavarian Regional History at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences .
Web links
- Dávid Diósi: "The holy and salutary show - Late medieval elevation piety" , with its own chapter on the candlelight (PDF; 1.7 MB)
- Overview diagram of the University of Münster of old rites (including the candle of change) during the change or elevation
- Website of the University of Münster on the prayer of the Holy Mass, with mention of the conversion candle
- Website of the University of Münster on the history of the Holy Mass, with mention of the conversion or Sanctus candle