Why do we light candles?
An evangelical would tell us right away that it is an act of idolatry condemned by the Bible. But that's how it is? I think we could say a few words about it.
The end of the sentence
We have already said that we do not pray to the saints as the term of our prayer but as a means to reach who corresponds: God.
In that context, it is also good to discover that in order to relate to God we use a human language. But this language is not only made up of words. It also has gestures, texts, singing, music, images ... also special places and times.
So…
We humanly need gestures that express the religious option in our lives. And this is a very biblical subject. It suffices, as an example, to recall how St. Paul accompanied four people who had made the promise not to cut their hair to the rites that freed them from such a vow (Acts 21: 21- 24). Does God need us to leave our long hair to express something? No. But to us to make certain gestures of "courtesy" with the Lord does us good. And the Lord rejoices in our good gestures.
In the same way we proceed with the candles. But in this it is very important to clarify two things.
First, what we said in the beginning referred to the non-negotiable centrality of God in our lives (the opposite is idolatry).
The second is that we should not do rites as an end in itself, which is also idolatry.
With regard to candles, this is not something to stop considering, because curanderos and other practitioners of syncretic religions advise us to light candles (of different colors and sizes) to obtain money, love ... or to do an evil to another. This too is idolatry and it is very wrong to do so.
Specifically, lighting a candle to a saint, to the Virgin or to Jesus is not bad if I do with that a gesture of affection that helps me to express a prayer, not in the words I say but with the gesture I make. And this is not only good ... it also does us good.
Why do lights go on before the icons?
1. Because our faith is light. Christ said: I am the light of the world (Jn 8,12). The light from the lamp reminds us of that light with which Christ illuminates our souls.
2. To remind us of the radiant nature of the saint before whose icon we light the lamp, for the saints are called children of light (Jn 12,36, Lk 16,8).
3. So that it serves as reproach for us by our evil deeds and by our dark desires and thoughts; To call us back to the path of the light of the Gospel and to try harder to fulfill the Lord's commands: Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven 5,16).
4. In order that the lamp be our humble sacrifice to God, who gave himself completely in sacrifice for us, and a small sign of our immense gratitude and our ardent love for Him whom we ask in our prayer that we Grant life, health, salvation and all that only infinite divine love can bestow.
5. To infuse terror to the evil powers that sometimes attack us even during prayer and divert our thoughts from the Creator. The demons love the darkness and tremble before the light, especially the light that belongs to God and those who fulfill his will.
6. So that the light pushes us to surrender our being. Just as the oil and the wick burn in the lamp, obeying our will, our souls must be consumed in the flame of love in all our sufferings, always obeying the Will of God.
7. To teach us that, since the lamp cannot be lit without the action of our hand, neither can our heart, which is our inner lamp, be lit without the holy fire of God's grace, even if it were full of all virtues. All these virtues of ours are, after all, mere fuel and the fire that ignites them comes from God.
8. In order to remind us that, before anything else, the Creator of the world created light and then created everything else, in order: And God said, let it be light: and the light was (Gen 1: 3). So it must also be at the beginning of our spiritual life, so that, before anything else, the light of Christ shines within us. It is this light of the truth of Christ that will achieve, afterwards, that all goods are created, arise and grow in us.
May the light of Christ enlighten us too!