The Paschal Candle

Lumière, the suave and vivacious character in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, isn’t the only prominent candle drawing crowds these days. I, the paschal candle, am also attracting large numbers of people. Like Lumière, I too am a talking candle, but I speak the language of sign and symbol.

Lumière’s name comes from the French word meaning light. My name comes from the Hebrew word Pesach, meaning Passover and the Greek word Paschein, meaning to suffer. I make a new appearance each year around the time of Passover and my body is carved with the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and omega. These letters refer to Christ as the beginning and the end and they have their scriptural roots in the Book of Revelation: “I am the Alpha and the Omega,”* says the Lord God, “the one who is and who was and who is to come.”

Like Lumière, I provide light. I get my light from the blessed fire on the night before Easter. I symbolize Christ, the light of the world, who overcame the darkness of sin and death, of gloom and despair.

Like Lumière, a servant to the prince, I too am a servant and I serve the people of God. As the symbol of Jesus, I serve the way Jesus serves, I stay by your side. When you are baptized, I am at your side. When you die, I am at your side. Each time I offer you my light, part of me dies so that you may live in new light. I am an eternal flame of hope burning not only beside you, but within you.