The Paschal Candle Still Shines Forth
The Current Staff

As we enter more deeply into the Easter Season, we continue to enjoy the presence of the Paschal Candle. The Paschal Candle – expressing the Paschal Feast, the Paschal Mystery, the Paschal Lamb – brings Christ, the Light of the World (Lumen Christi) into the darkened church at the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night. It is lit from the new fire blessed by the celebrant outside the main doors of the church. Those who have attended an Easter Vigil Mass have seen how from the Paschal Candle are lit the small candles held by the congregants, and eventually also the altar candles and the sanctuary lamp at the tabernacle. The “Exsultet” is annually sung before the Paschal Candle, this year by Fr. Edward Mazuski.

The Greek word Pascha translates the Hebrew word for “Passover.” The Passover of Exodus is in turn transformed in Christ’s own “passing over” from death to life (John 13:1) in His Resurrection: Easter. The word Pascha is in fact preferred by many Eastern Christians to “Easter” in referring to Christ’s Resurrection. In many Eastern European countries, a special round traditional sweet bread called “paska” is baked at Eastertime, having two lengths of rolled dough forming a cross on top. A loaf is typically included in the large Easter basket blessed by parish priests on Holy Saturday, a basket which contains samplings of the variety of special foods to be served at the family’s Easter Sunday dinner. Brother Sixtus Roslevich, who grew up within such a Polish and Slovak tradition, recalls the breads baked by his mother and grandmothers, which tasted like the special sweet Portuguese bread he has encountered here at Portsmouth.

Brother Sixtus fabricated this year’s candle, which a keen eye may have realized remained substantially enough intact from last year to be retrofitted for service for this year. The candle incorporates the school’s Coat of Arms, designed by Dom Wilfred Bayne. Aside from its primary significance throughout the Easter season, the Paschal Candle is used very little throughout the rest of the year, save for baptisms, the School’s Confirmation Mass, and for funerals. Sixtus notes that, “By virtue of the fact that its composition is 51% pure beeswax and by its sheer size, commercially available blank candles may run several hundreds of dollars, and pre-decorated ones even more.” Our practice, as that of many monasteries, convents and parishes, to design and decorate our own candle from year to year. Referring to a 1956 Holy Week Manual for Priests which states that the candle "need not be renewed each year," Brother Sixtus notes: "That certainly saves money.” The five wax nails with grains of incense must be replaced annually, being inserted into the candle at the Easter Vigil during the solemn ceremony in which the candle is blessed, the priest inscribes, or traces, a cross and the Greek letters alpha and omega (the ‘beginning’ and the ‘end’). Within the four corners of the cross he does the same with the four numerals of the current year, 2021.

The Paschal Candle remains present in the sanctuary throughout the Easter season, illuminated for Mass and for the Divine Office, positioned on its stand. Sixtus comments, “The most magnificent Paschal Candle stand I have ever seen dates from ca. 1170. It is a permanent fixture in the Basilica of St. Paul-Outside-the-Walls, directly across the street from the seminary I attended, the Beda Pontifical College in Rome. The candle inserted in the holder is usually dwarfed by the size and magnificence of the carved marble candle stand itself, measuring over 16 feet high.” Our own candle stand is more modest, made of wood to match the church interior, and easily moved by one person. Following Second Vespers of Pentecost Sunday on May 23, the candle and its stand will be moved to a special storage area within the sacristy.