Lighting Votives: Prayers United

Last Thursday, I stopped into the Perpetual Adoration chapel at St. Joseph's Church in Lancaster after work, to spend a little time with Jesus.  For those who do not know, Adoration is when the Body of Christ in the Eucharist is exposed on the altar for people to come and worship.  The Host is placed in a monstrance, which usually looks like a gold sun mounted on a stand with a small glass case in the center of the "sun", where the Blessed Sacrament is placed to be viewed and adored.  Most Churches will have Adoration during special seasons or feasts in the Church for a few hours one or two nights.  In the case of St. Joseph's, the chapel has 24-hour Adoration, 365 days a year with adorers there every hour of the day, unless there are extenuating circumstances that they cannot have the Blessed Sacrament exposed (bad weather, power outages, etc.).

I sat in one of the pews to pray and sit quietly with Jesus.  After a little while, I went and lit a votive candle at the statue of St. Joseph, asking for some intercessory prayers for a special intention.  I then went over to the statue of the Blessed Mother to light another votive candle.  I took a small, wooden wick and lit it from another candle and then lit my own candle next to it.  It was here that I had a little revelation and began to reflect on what I was doing.

I marveled at the symbolism and unity of lighting a candle from another votive which was lit by another person.  In a way, I was uniting my prayers with the prayers that were represented by the already burning flame, even though those prayers are known only to that person and God.  After praying for Mary's intercession for another intention, I went back to my pew and looked at the various candles burning in the niches around the statues; all those little flames flickered and shined as reminders of the needs and prayers of the people who lit them.

It also reminded me of another time I experienced the power and unity of lighting votive candles.  I took a one-day pilgrimage to Mt. Saint Mary's College to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes.  It was a cool and slightly overcast day, but there were still many people walking the paths up to and around the Shrine.  In the Grotto, where a statue of Our Lady stands in a niche near the top of the rock, there is another niche at the base of the rock where there are metal stands holding a couple hundred small and large votive candles.  I walked into the niche to light a candle and found that I had to really search to find an unlit candle.  Luckily, I was able to find one to light, and after I did so, I took a slip of paper and wrote down my prayer intentions to place in a box there.  As I started writing, I realized just how warm the niche was from the all the flames, and it was like the warmth was the hope emanating from all those prayer intentions.

Remember the unity we share in prayer with all our brothers and sisters in Christ!

Laus Deo!