Christianity, like all religions, uses symbols to signify lofty and profound realities. One of the celebrations richest in such symbols is the Easter Vigil: it is the most important celebration of the liturgical year and takes place on the night of Holy Saturday. It consists of four fundamental parts: the liturgy of light, the liturgy of the Word, the baptismal liturgy, and the Eucharistic liturgy. Here we would like to focus on the liturgy of light, which includes the presence of fire and the Easter candle.

What is the meaning of fire?

The vigil begins with the brazier burning outside the church. Fire signifies that, in the darkness of night, light triumphs over darkness, warmth over cold, and life over death. The prayer accompanying its blessing is highly meaningful: «O Father, who through your Son have communicated to us the living flame of your glory, bless this new fire, grant that the Easter celebrations may kindle in us the desire for heaven, and guide us, renewed in spirit, to the feast of eternal splendor».

While the faithful gather around him, the celebrant lights the Easter candle from the new fire.

What is the meaning of the Easter Candle?

Through his resurrection, Christ tears man away from the darkness of evil and death. The Easter candle is the sign of the risen Christ, the true light of the world that enlightens every person; it is the light of life that prevents us from walking in darkness.

This light is:
• hope and faith in Christ;
• the fulfillment of the promise of a life illuminated by God's radiance, which guides and leads people toward salvation;
• the sign of new life in Christ, who, by rescuing sinners from darkness, brings them with the saints into the kingdom of light.

The Son of God, through his passion and resurrection, gives humanity new hope by keeping the promise made: the definitive defeat of evil and death and the triumph of God's light over darkness.
By lighting the Easter candle each year, its meaning is renewed and people's hearts are rekindled with hope. The entire rejoicing community gathers around the Easter candle, the risen Christ, victorious over sin and death.
Its light disperses the darkness of the church and guides the assembly as it enters in procession, just as the children of Israel were guided at night by the pillar of fire; so Christians, in turn, follow the risen Christ.
The candles used for the renewal of baptismal promises during the Easter Vigil are lit from the candle's flame, as are, throughout the liturgical year, the candles given after the administration of the sacrament of baptism, as a sign of Christ's light, which must always burn in the hearts of the faithful.
Precisely because it is a sign of the radiant light of the risen Christ, during the Easter Vigil the Easter candle is incensed with three swings of the thurible, just as incense is offered to the Blessed Sacrament, the relic of the Holy Cross and images of the Lord exposed for public veneration, the offerings for the sacrifice of the Mass, the altar cross, the Book of the Gospels, the priest, and the people

Must the Easter candle be decorated with specific symbols?

Yes, although the Easter candle changes each year and leaves room for the imagination of the faithful artists who devote themselves to creating it, it must always bear certain distinctive signs:
• The first and last letters of the Greek alphabet: alpha and omega. They signify that Jesus Christ is the beginning and the end of all things.
• The year: at the center of the candle is a cross bearing the current year; this indicates that the risen Christ is master and Lord of time, history, and all eternity.
• Five grains of incense and a cross: during the lighting rite, the celebrant takes five grains of incense and inserts them at the four ends and the center of the cross drawn on it, symbolizing Christ's five glorious wounds: those of his hands, feet, and side.
• The image of the Lamb: an image of the risen Christ victorious over death, it indicates perfect life in Christ, the goal and path for every disciple.

What is the most suitable material for the Easter candle?

In 1988, the Congregation for Divine Worship, in the letter Paschalis sollemnitatis, emphasized that: «In keeping with the truth of the sign, the Easter candle should be made of wax, new each year, unique, and of considerable size, never artificial, so that it may recall that Christ is the light of the world».
The Easter Proclamation frequently refers to the liturgy of light and to the Easter candle in its true material, beeswax, not plastic:

On this night of grace
accept, Holy Father, the sacrifice of praise,
which the Church offers to you through the hands of her ministers,
in the solemn liturgy of the candle,
fruit of the labor of bees,
symbol of the new light.

The Easter candle must be made with beeswax, a natural material that has been used for centuries for all the candles that illuminate liturgical celebrations.
Beeswax is a noble and highly versatile material. When a candle is lit, it gives off a sweet honey aroma which, together with its warm light, encourages prayer and recollection. It is therefore important that parish communities carefully prepare their candle each year, without resorting to fake plastic candles with a candle inside. In celebrations, everything must be genuine: the faithful, the singing, the prayers, the furnishings, the flowers…

What is the designated place for the Easter candle?

The place prescribed by the liturgy for positioning the Easter candle is clearly explained in the Roman Missal: «The Easter candle, placed near the ambo or close to the altar, should remain lit at least during all the most solemn liturgical celebrations of the Easter season, both at Mass and at Lauds and Vespers, until Pentecost Sunday. After this, the candle is kept with due honor in the baptistery, so that the candles of the newly baptized may be lit from its flame during the celebration of Baptism. During funeral rites, the Easter candle should be placed beside the coffin, indicating that death is the Christian's true Passover. The Easter candle should not be lit outside the Easter season nor kept in the sanctuary» (cf. Roman Missal, Pentecost Sunday, final rubric; Rite of Baptism for Children, Christian Initiation, General Norms, 25).
The candle is placed near the ambo or the altar because these are two paschal places: the ambo is the liturgical space symbolizing the empty tomb, the stone from which the risen Master speaks and teaches his Church (cf. Sacrosanctum concilium, 7); the altar is also a sign of Christ, the rock from which flow the rivers of grace that quench thirst, sanctify, and save, the throne of the slain Lamb, the table of the sacrifice and divine banquet of the Lamb, the living memorial of Calvary and of Christ dead, buried, and risen.

On the evening of Pentecost, therefore, the Easter season ends with Second Vespers, and the candle is placed near the baptistery, where the faithful enter into the death and resurrection of Christ.
Baptism is the Christian's Passover, as is death; for this reason, during funeral rites, the candle is placed beside the coffin. This Passover, already real, will be manifested and made definitive with the resurrection of the bodies, and the candle points precisely to this wonderful reality that awaits us. Whenever we see the Easter candle burning, we remember that Christ is risen, that his light illuminates all our darkness, that his life gives life to all our deaths, that his victory makes every supposed defeat of ours precious, that he is here, present in the smooth or rough fabric of our lives, and holds our hand as we walk toward the building of his Kingdom.