Lights and Candles Why are there lights in the church?
Lights and Candles
Why are there lights in the church?
Our Coptic Church contains nourishment for the whole human being: his spirit, soul, mind, and body…
The physical senses of the human being find their satisfaction in the church, where they are nourished by rites, incense, lights, icons, hymns, and music.
And today we would like to speak about the lights in the church.
Lights and candles
The Orthodox Church is distinguished by its lights. It uses candles in its prayers, during the reading of the Gospel, before the icons of the saints, on the altar, before it in its eastern side, and in the sanctuary in general. And the church remains illuminated continuously. And it has a tall tower called the lighthouse… and Protestantism uses none of this, with all the symbolism it contains.
Therefore, we will discuss in this brief article the lights in the church, the wisdom behind them, and the spiritual meanings they contain.
1- The church itself was given in the Holy Bible the title of lampstand. And this is clear in the Book of Revelation, as the Evangelist John saw the Lord Jesus in the midst of seven golden lampstands. And “the seven lampstands were the seven churches” (Rev. 1:20).
2- And the church we liken to heaven, considering that it is the house of God or His dwelling place like heaven. And this was almost the expression given to the first house of God, as our father Jacob the patriarch said: “How awesome is this place. This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” (Gen. 28:17).
And in likening the church to heaven, the lights should shine in it like the stars in heaven.
3- Or the lights in the church may extend to the angels of heaven, or the angels who were ascending and descending on the ladder that our father Jacob saw in Bethel (the house of God) (Gen. 28:12). And the angels may be symbolized by the light, as they are also called angels of light (2 Cor. 11:14).
4- Or the lights of the church may symbolize the saints, to whom the Lord says: “Let your light so shine before men” (Matt. 5:16). And He likened them in that instance to a lamp placed on a lampstand (Matt. 5:15). And the Gospel also mentioned that “the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matt. 13:43). And Saint John the Baptist—as an example—the Lord Christ said about him to the Jews: “He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light” (John 5:35).
And since the church is filled with angels and saints, then it should be filled with lights.
5- Rather, the church should be filled with lights first and foremost for the dwelling of God in it, and God is light (1 John 1:5). And the Lord Christ said about Himself: “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).
6- And the church is lit with lights after the example of the tabernacle of meeting and the temple, and both were filled with lights. Their lamps never went out. And the Lord commanded that the lamps be lit with pure olive oil, and this matter would be supervised by Aaron and his sons as an eternal statute. And concerning this He said: “And you shall command the children of Israel that they bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continually. In the tabernacle of meeting, outside the veil which is before the Testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening until morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute forever to their generations” (Ex. 27:20, 21).
This is a divine command, issued by God who said “Let there be light,” and there was light on the first day. “And God saw the light, that it was good” (Gen. 1:3, 4).
7- And the lamps that are lit with oil have a spiritual meaning, because the oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit. And it was used in anointing, and the Spirit of the Lord would come upon the anointed, as Samuel anointed David and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him (1 Sam. 16:13), and as the Gospel mentions concerning the holy anointing (1 John 2:20, 27).
And even the candles we light in the church are also from oil. And the lamps in the church were wicks burning with oil for the same symbolism.
8- We notice that God commanded the making of a lampstand in His house, whether the tabernacle of meeting or the temple, and the lamps and the lampstand were of pure gold (Ex. 25:31; 37:17; 2 Chr. 4:20). And all this shows God’s concern for the lights in His house.
9- The lamps were lit continuously according to the Lord’s command. And extinguishing the lamps and neglecting their lighting was considered treachery against the Lord deserving severe punishment. And in this the Scripture says: “For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the Lord our God; they have forsaken Him… They have put out the lamps and have not burned incense… Therefore the wrath of the Lord fell upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He gave them up to trouble and astonishment…” (2 Chr. 29:6, 7).
All this shows us the extent of the Lord’s concern for the lighting of the lights in His house.
10- And lighting the lamps has a deep spiritual meaning, symbolizing constant readiness, continuous vigilance, and the preservation of the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart. And the Lord tells us about this readiness: “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master when he will return from the wedding… Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching” (Luke 12:35–37).
And the Lord gave us the example of the wise virgins whose lamps were burning, while the foolish ones’ lamps went out (Matt. 25:1–12).
The oil in the lamps symbolizes the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart, and its continued burning symbolizes constant vigilance in preserving the heart connected to His work in it.
11- And what is said about individuals is said about the entire church. And people seeing the light in the church suggests to them their duty to preserve the light within themselves, and that their lamps should always be burning. And they remember that the church is of the wise virgins who kept their lamps shining.
12- As for lighting candles during the reading of the Gospel, this is undoubtedly better than reading it without lighting. It reminds us of the Psalm: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119). And also the psalmist says: “The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes from afar” (Ps. 19).
13- And the early church since the era of the apostles was concerned with these lights and the symbolism they carried. And the Book of Acts records for us that in the upper room where Paul was preaching after breaking the bread, “there were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together” (Acts 20:8).
14- And the candles we place before the images of the saints remind us that they were lights in their generations, and that they were like candles, melting so that “their light may so shine before men.”
For better translation support, please contact the center.
