Every year it is Jewish custom to light a special candle that burns for 24 hours, called a Yahrzeit candle. For Death AnniversariesĪ Yahrzeit, which is Yiddish for “a year’s time,” is the anniversary of the death of a loved one. Because the lights continually burned as a silent vigil, they became known as vigil lights. The lights burned as a sign of solidarity with Christians still on earth. The Catholic practice of lighting candles has its origins in burning lights at the tombs of martyrs in the catacombs.
Lighting a candle is a way of extending one’s prayer and showing solidarity with the person the prayer is for. The candles appear before statues of saints or at shrines. The sight of burning votive candles is common in most Catholic churches. Later, the flickering light of a funeral candle was symbolic of human life. Lamps were an aid to the dead to find their way through the darkness. The belief was that torches and lights at a funeral could guide the departed soul to its eternal abode. The spirit has not fully realized death has occurred and may return to bring family members into the afterlife. Additionally, these narratives revealed that the use of fire confuses the spirit of the deceased.
Early narratives of death include claims that candles were emblems of joy, Heaven, and life, and ban all dark spirits.
They also would carry torches in funeral processions.Īncient cultures lit fires around the body to ward off evil spirits from taking possession of the corpse. Long after Christians denounced night-time burial as a pagan practice, they would place funeral candles around the body. Burials occurred at night so torches were essential. The word “funeral” itself indicates a torch-lit profession, derived from the Latin funeralis, from funis, a torch. It provides comfort to the bereaved and respect to the dead. Used throughout history by ancient civilizations, pagans, and Judeo-Christians, fire is an enduring tradition. The presence of fire at funerals is as old a custom as funerals themselves.