“ I am the Light of the
World: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the
light of life”( John 8/12)
When
a liturgy is performed, oil lamps burn in front of the icons. candles are lit,
and most churches, even modest ones will
have at least one glowing chandelier.
The
profusion of light symbolizes the light of Christ, the light of the saints, the
light of faith, and a reminder that Christians themselves must light the world
with their faith, to remind the faithful to pray, to shine light into the
darkness of evil, to remind us that earthly will should be burned and
sacrificed for Grace, to symbolize the love of God. The list is even longer.
One exhausted web site writer simply ended the list with etc. Their meaning, like many Orthodox symbols, can
be drawn out to a breathtaking degree, but the visual effect is simple:
beautiful.
Candylia (Κανδύλια) or Vigil Lamps Kandylia come in two varieties, either hanging
or free standing. They are each filled with oil with a
floating wick which, once lit, can stay lit pretty much until the oil runs out
or the wick is entirely used up. This slow burning method explains why roadside
shrines in amazingly inaccessible and deserted places seem to be lit up at
night as if by magic. The truth is that often they were burning all day too but
you just did not see the flame. - Eventually, of course, the wick does have to
be trimmed and oil added…
A hanging vigil lamp
And they are anywhere there
is an icon – churches, homes, and roadside shrines. They either hang in front
of icons or stand before them. Olive oil of the best quality is the preferred
fuel. In country churches, on the feast day of the church, parishioners bring
oil as an offering, so that the lamps will never run out. In many churches there
is one lamp placed in front of the crucifix in the sanctuary that is supposed
to stay lit; it is called the sleepless vigil.
Hanging
lamps consist of a wall mounted bracket with three chains attached to a holder
that holds the heat tempered glass bowl containing the oil. They are usually
elaborate, with either silver or gold plate and highly decorated even in the
plainest chapel. The three chains are
said to symbolize the Trinity. Often either four balls or twelve are hung from
the chain to represent the evangelists or the twelve disciples respectively. Crosses
may be pendant, enamel may be inlaid and on elaborate iconostases, the lamps might
hang from the mouths of carved eagles.
Standing vigil lamps are also used before
icons on proskynitaria ( prayer stations), within the church, in homes, as well
as in roadside shrines.
Using
electric lamps to honour an icon is a not
considered correct, partly because of tradition, but mostly because the care
and lighting of the lamps is supposed to be a daily sacrifice willingly made by
the faithful. Flicking a light switch is just too easy.
I did see the exception
that proved the rule once near Eghion.. It
was at the 14th century monastery of the Blessed Leondios built before
the newer Taxiarchon Monastery below. The upper monastery, now deserted, is
carved into a sandstone cliff, some parts of it already melting into the abyss
–and well over one kilometer straight up from Taxiarchon. A hard trek on a good
day and a dirt road not passable in bad weather made lighting the small shrine
marking its church problematic for the few elderly monks still at
Taxiarchon. So they placed a bare 40 watt
bulb in the shrine front of the icon and very long
extension cord coiling down the hill ..
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