The Teaching Corner

    The largest candle in a Christian sanctuary, the one that typically sits by the baptismal font, is called the Pascal Candle.  “Pascal” is a churchy word that is an adjective for “that which pertains to Easter.”  (It sounds better than calling it “Eastery” or “Easterish.”)  The light of the Pascal Candle is a symbolic visual reminder of Jesus’ resurrection.  When the Pascal Candle is lit, it lets us know that, while we always keep the good news of the Resurrection in the forefront of our thoughts in church, what we are doing at this time is particularly strongly connected with the promise of Jesus’ resurrection.  

    The two major celebrations that are so strongly connected with Jesus’ resurrection that we light the Pascal Candle for them are the celebration of Easter and the celebration of Baptism (hence the candle’s place near the baptismal font).  As Paul writes in Romans 6, “All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.  Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”  Our baptism into Christ is a baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection, a time of dying to sin and rising to a new life in Christ.  In other words, it is the perfect time to emphasize the hope we have in Christ’s resurrection.  (This is the reason why at baptisms we light a baptismal candle from the Pascal Candle to symbolize the connection between Jesus’ resurrection and the new life in Christ the newly baptized person is beginning.)  Therefore, the Pascal Candle is lit in worship during the entire season of Easter, on the celebration of the Baptism of our Lord, and every time there is a baptism or a funeral.

     I find the dual use of the Pascal Candle at baptisms and funerals particularly special.  If you were baptized in a church with a Pascal Candle, you began your life in Christ by the light of this flame.  When you die, you will be commended to our Redeemer at your funeral by the light of that same flame.  The hope of new life we have because of Christ’s resurrection is wonderfully symbolized by this Pascal Candle.  That light of Christ welcomes us into our lives as Children of God and offers us the promise of new life when our time on this earth is done.  It is the promise of Resurrection in visual form.