Prayer Aids If I were to travel to an Asian culture having no knowledge of their customs, I might interpret the bows made to heads of families, or the custom of walking backwards out of their presence so as never to turn my back to them, as worship. Indeed, in some other culture these same gestures might well be reserved for worship. But in some cultures, they are gestures reserved to show respect to elders. There is no implication that this is worship, that sons and daughters are worshiping grandparents or elders. My point is that the meaning of cultural customs comes only from the hearts of those to whom the customs belong. It cannot be imposed from without. The true meaning of age-old Catholic customs regarding prayer comes only from the hearts of Catholics. Its meaning cannot be imposed by other Christians or other religions. What then is the meaning of using candles, flowers, incense and processions in Catholic prayer? CANDLES Candles are a very intimate part of Catholic culture, even something we can poke a little good-natured humor at. A recent joke tells about how many members of different Churches it would take to change a lightbulb. The punch line for Catholics was that they would not bother—they always use candles. It is true that the Catholic Church—both Roman and Orthodox—has used candles for 2000 years now. Candlelight was very deeply embedded in the culture long before electric lights. But there is spiritual meaning to the use of candles also. The most striking for Catholics is the candle associated with the Easter Vigil, and with our Baptism. Light is a powerful symbol of Christs victory over death. The paschal candle, lit at the Easter Vigil and placed prominently, reminds us of that. Each year at the Easter Vigil, the faithful are given candles lit from the paschal candle, symbol of the risen Christ, as they renew their baptismal promises. At Baptism, the newly baptized are given candles, lit from the paschal candle, and the exhortation to keep the light of faith burning bright in their hearts. Besides symbolizing the light of faith, candles speak to Catholics of self-sacrifice. The flame that consumes the candle is like the flame of the Spirit encouraging a self- consuming love for others. A votive candle left burning in Church is a symbol of prayer saying that I would like to be there praying but must be elsewhere. Burning beside or before the representation of a saint, the candle says: Please join your light of faith with mine in prayer for this intention. FLOWERS Flowers are used constantly in Catholic devotions. They are a living species and testify to our belief in the life of the Resurrection. They are also symbols of affection, which simply say, I love you or Thank you to Christ, his mother or a saint. INCENSE Like the incense in the scene from Revelation (cf. 5:8), our use of incense signifies prayer. It also signifies respect. We use it to bless the altar, a symbol of Christ, to bless the Book of the Gospels from which we hear the Word of God. We use it to bless the gifts we offer, which will become the Eucharist. The gifts are sacred because they represent our work. We use incense to bless the faithful because Christ dwells in them by Baptism. Incensing is done to acknowledge sacredness or to bless. PROCESSIONS Processions are an intimate part of Catholic culture. They go back to our Jewish roots. The procession is a miniature form of a pilgrimage. Pilgrimages were undertaken by Jewish people for many reasons—to recall the Exodus, to maintain contact with the temple. So too Catholics came to develop many processions for special occasions. We are basically a pilgrim people on a journey to a fuller dimension of the Kingdom: Beloved, I urge you as aliens and sojourners to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against the soul (1 Pt 2:11, see also Heb 11:13-16). Every procession reminds us of that. Sometimes we carry the saints images with us as we ask them to be present to us as we travel. Every procession is a physical testimony to our belief in this journey
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 12:53:01 +0000
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