Читать книгу A Manual for Acolytes - Dennis G. Michno - Страница 12

The traditional manner for lighting the candles is as follows:

1 Always be vested before lighting the candles. They should be lighted ten minutes before the service.

2 Make sure the taper in the candle lighter is long enough.

3 Bend the taper slightly in case the wick of a candle is down.

4 Light the taper in the sacristy, before you go to the altar. (During the Fifty Days of Easter, the taper should be lighted from the Paschal Candle. If this candle is not already burning, it is always lighted first.)

5 Reverence the altar at the center. Then proceed to light the candles on the altar before any others.a. If there are two candles on the altar, the one on your right as you face the altar is lighted first. Bow again at the center and light the one on the left.b. If there are six or more candles on the altar, start with the one on your right nearest the center and continue with the others, going to your right. Go back to the center, bow, start with the one on your left nearest the center, then light the others, going to your left.c. Other candles in the church should be lighted accordingly. (In some places the tradition is observed that at the main Eucharist on Sundays or feast days, all the candles on chapel or side altars are lighted.)

6 After you have finished lighting all of the candles, pull the lever on the pole to extinguish the taper and then immediately push it up again so that part of the taper is visible. This is done so that the wax on the taper does not melt inside and clog the tube.

7 Reverence the altar at the center and return to the sacristy.

8 On certain occasions, such as the Great Vigil of Easter or when the Order of Worship of the Evening is used, the candles are not lighted before the service but during it. Check with the celebrant before lighting candles on special days.

9 If two people are assigned to light the candles, the procedure basically is the same. However, after reverencing the altar together, they light the candles nearest the center first (each taking a different side) and work outward. This should be done in a dignified and quiet way.

10 In some places a wreath of fresh greens with four candles may hang in the chancel or some other place during the weeks of Advent. The candles are lighted as the weeks progress: one on the first Sunday, two on the second Sunday, and so on until all four candles burn on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. It is traditional to light those candles first.