Beeswax Candles (Teachings of the Orthodox Church) Christianity. Orthodoxy. Catholicism. Sense of life. Articles for Christians.
You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery;'                but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.                If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna.                If your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna.                'It was also said, 'Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,'                but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery.                'Again you have heard that it was said to them of old time, 'You shall not make false vows, but shall perform to the Lord your vows,'                but I tell you, don't swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God;                nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.                Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can't make one hair white or black.                But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes' and your 'No' be 'No.' Whatever is more than these is of the evil one.                'You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.'*                But I tell you, don't resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.                If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also.                Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.                Give to him who asks you, and don't turn away him who desires to borrow from you.                'You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor,* and hate your enemy.*'                But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you,                that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven.               
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Beeswax Candles (Teachings of the Orthodox Church)
   

QUESTION:

Is there anything in the canons that say that candles used in churches must be white and 100% beeswax? Or is that just a preference? There are now various colored candles on the market made with recycled wax. Could these be used in churches?

ANSWER:

Traditionally tapered candles were made of pure beeswax or, in many cases, 51% beeswax seems to be more readily available. Also, lights in glass holders traditionally employ oil rather than wax candles, although today many parishes use candles in glass holders rather than oil. It seems that in most cases what is used is whatever is most readily available.

Many of the non-beeswax candles made today are not made of wax at all, using instead a kind of petrolium product. These are especially pernicious in that they often give off an oily odor and the always create a horrid amount of soot on walls. I am not familiar with recycled wax candles, although many of the places that do produce pure beeswax candles buy back candle stubs from their clients.

One of the monasteries that make especially nice candles -- we use them in our parish -- is Saint John Monastery in Hiram, OH. The candles are 100 pure beeswax and are very reasonable in cost.

COMMENT:

From another reader

I was reading the Q&A page on the OCA website and thought you might be interested in a little beeswax information. Beeswax is naturally colored in a range of pale yellows to deep tan, depending on the nectar that the bees were gathering at the time. White clover produces the palest honey and beeswax, clover a golden yellow, and canola (rapeseed) a darker product. It takes 4 pounds of hive honey to produce a pound of honey. White beeswax is made that way by bleaching it. I recyle the candle wax for my parish and use 50/50 old/new wax. I buy the new wax locally in 25# blocks from the beekeeper when I buy my honey.

ANSWER:

Thank you for your most informative e-mail concerning beeswax.

It was really interesting, especially since just about the only thing I had ever heard about beeswax -- which was obviously not accurate -- is that the darker the color, the longer it had been boiled. Obviously this is not the case. I will see what we can do about adding this information to the Q&A section.






Published in January 2011.









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