THE LIGHT OF CHRIST SURROUNDS US! – part 2 (a.k.a. “Candles, Candles, Candles!”)
–from the desk of David Orzechowski, Director of Liturgy and Music
“The light of Christ surrounds us! The love of Christ enfolds us!
The power of Christ protects us! The presence of Christ watches over us!”
Have you noticed that in addition to the new Paschal Candle the consecration candles around our church have also been lit for this season? Literally, “the light of Christ surrounds us.” Perhaps you have wondered why they burn now and not at other times of the year. These consecration candles mark the spots where the Bishop anointed the walls of our church with Sacred Chrism on the day of its dedication. The candles are then lit every year on the anniversary of that occasion. However, their use is not limited to that day only. A parish is free to light the consecration candles any time it is deemed appropriate. For the last couple of years we have decided to have them burn constantly during the two “high festive seasons” of the church year, Christmas and the fifty days of Easter. Don’t you just love the added feeling of festivity they contribute to the overall worship environment? They are like icing on the cake! The whole building communicates “joy!” Over time, using the candles in this way will hopefully come to be noticed by all as a definite signal that something “special” is taking place.
This leads to some comments I would like to offer about liturgical environment in general:
So often, when communities want to mark a season as being special, they feel they must add something to the liturgical environment. The usual thinking is that this “something” should be unique, innovative and one-of-a kind. Additionally, communities often fall into the trap of thinking that this special item needs to be huge and dramatic in order to be effective. Some liturgists even prefer or feel a need to have environment that confronts people; “in-your-face” environment, so to speak. Sometimes this is called for and it works. However, more often than not, such an approach doesn’t work as well as people thought it would. The end result can be a sanctuary that is simply inappropriately “busy” in appearance and lacking visual “discipline” or focus. What was supposed to “add” to the liturgy actually ends up being a gimmick, a cliché, inappropriate for a place of worship. It upstages or detracts from the primary liturgical symbols of altar, ambo, Presider’s chair, and in the case of Easter, the Paschal candle. Usually, some of the most effective and appropriate seasonal “additions” are those that enhance or capitalize on what is already in place, architecturally. Using the consecration candles to communicate “heightened festivity” is a prime example of this approach.
A good thing to always keep in mind when creating liturgical environment is that we never “decorate” a church the same way we do our homes. Churches are already “decorated” when they are built. This means that, being places of worship, they already have in place all of the symbols that are needed within the course of celebrating liturgy. Creating liturgical environment is not so much about “decorating” as it is enhancing and shaping what is already present. It is not so much about communicating information as it is about stimulating the imagination of those who come to worship. I’ll delve more into this aspect of “information vs. imagination” next week.