By Fr. Ian Andrew Palko SSPX

At St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary, and in chapels throughout the world, Holy Saturday brings many joys, one of which is to see the Paschal Candle which will grace the sanctuary for the next fifty days. Designs range from ornate and detailed paintings to on-laid wax figurines. Simple but intricate artwork also adorn many. Each very different, they showcase dedication and care given to this unique and beautiful symbol of Our Lord that is the Pascal Candle.

The use of a great candle to symbolize the resurrection of Our Lord dates from the earliest days of the Church. Several Church Fathers reference this practice. In several ancient Roman churches can be found, next to the ambo from which the Gospel and Epistle were sung, a large permanent stand for this candle.

With the advent of modern materials, and a modified rite in 1951 which demands certain artistic elements be present on the candle, it has become common-place that churches purchase a candle already designed, or for artists in a parish to execute a novel design. This brief practical guide is provided to assist parishes, chapels, and artists in this task, and highlight some elements of good tasteful design.

Before launching into designs and techniques, prudence dictates a decision whether this work should be attempted, or if a purchased candle is a better use of resources. While it may seem an easy task to paint on a candle, intricate and careful work is needed to produce a candle worthy of the liturgy. Sloppy or tasteless designs can be a distraction throughout Paschaltide, and invite comments and criticism that can demoralize a well-meaning but very amateur painter, or inflame parish politics. Sometimes outsourcing is the most prudent option.

Making or Buying a Candle

The Church has always employed olive oil or beeswax in illuminating the church. This was both practical and symbolic. Until quite recently, other oils or waxes were not readily available, and the burning of other animal fats produced much smoke. Additionally, because they required the death of the animal, they were a reminder of the bloody sacrifices of the Old Testament, not the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass. Thus the Paschal Candle, being an ancient symbol, must be made of beeswax. In the Pascal Præconium (Exsultet), the deacon speaks of this new fire being “nourished by the melting wax, which the mother bee produced.”

Modern suppliers commonly produce a 51% beeswax product. This is not as symbolically appropriate as pure beeswax, for petroleum-based paraffin wax makes up the other 49%. Paraffin candles burn much faster, are more brittle, and paraffin wax can be quite acidic versus the more neutral pH of beeswax. Brass followers on pure beeswax candles never show the blue-green staining produced by 51% beeswax candles, where the acidic wax can leach copper from the brass—copper compounds are often blue-green. Furthermore, wax is already a difficult medium on which to paint. Paraffin makes the task worse. If buying a candle, this author highly recommends pure white beeswax as being worth the extra cost.

Enterprising folks may find it better to make their own candle. Casting a candle from white cosmetic beeswax is often cheaper than a pre-made blank candle, and can repurpose older candles. A mold for this can be made of stainless steel or aluminum (though if careful with temperatures a thick PVC pipe can be used). The mold size should be chosen to tightly fit the paschal candle stand. If metal, it is ideal to pre-heat the mold to allow time to tap the filled mold to loosen air bubbles. Careful pouring is the only way to avoid air bubbles on the sides of the candle with PVC. A light silicone spray on the mold walls will help the release of the candle. Use square-braided cotton wicks of appropriate size (#4-6 for a 2-3” diameter candle). If attempting this, the beeswax should never exceed 180°F, lest it begin to take on a grayish brown color.

As for sizing, historically Paschal Candles were very large. In medieval England, Salisbury Cathedral had a 36-foot tall candle. This is extreme, but a typical parish candle ought to be 3–4 inches in diameter and 3–4 feet tall. Smaller candles exist, especially for smaller chapels, but the size should ensure the candle stands out as unique. A proportionally large size helps with this.

It is possible in places where only a weekend Mass is offered to reuse a candle for multiple years, even if this is not ideal for symbolic reasons.

Required Elements

The new rite for Holy Saturday promulgated in 1951 mandates four necessary elements on the candle, either pre-placed in artwork traced over by the priest when blessing the candle, or merely carved by the priest during the ceremony.

There must be (1) a cross, (2) the digits of the current year in the four spaces around the cross, (3) an A above and Ω below the cross, (4) 5 places to insert 5 grains of incense. Prior to 1951, this design was a long-standing and widespread custom, but rubrics only required the placement of the grains of incense in the shape of a cross without other ornamentation necessary.

How these four elements are designed is left to artistic license, limited only by good taste and practicality.

Appropriate Designs

As accompanying pictures will show, some designs are extremely ornate, while others are very simple, yet still beautiful. The best designs include very fine details, even if simple. Less is often more. A small design done well is much better than a large design poorly or hastily done. “Negative” or white space is important to balance against color and the design.

On-laid wax can be cast using a mold. Silicone molds of physical objects, or clay sculptures, allow trial and error. Smooth-On brand products are excellent for making these molds. It is best to avoid adding cast devotional items (e.g., religious medals), which tend to make the candle busy and rarely relate to the Resurrection. A simple cross, not a crucifix, should be placed on the candle, because the candle is a symbol of the Resurrected Christ. Flat castings placed in warm water for several minutes to soften can be molded around the candle. Attachment is by soldering iron or small pins through the wax. Attach these before doing any painting, even gesso.

More common than on-laid designs or carving is painting. Here less is certainly more. A simple design with, for example, intricate vines is better than a large clumsy design without fine details.

For larger designs, it is best that the cross be placed below the center of the candle, this way, as the candle burns, it does not consume the design. For simpler candles, the cross and necessary elements can be centered, or be placed just below center.

A classic design will involve added Paschal elements (e.g., a chalice and host, Agnus Dei, instruments of the passion, Christ in His Resurrection) above or below the cross. Keep other unrelated elements off the candle. Decorate with flowers, vines, or other common symbols of life and growth, as befits Paschaltide.

For expert artists, carving into the candle is possible, but there is a great risk here, because once carved, there is no going back. Practice on an old candle is a must, but the same might be prudent for anyone wishing to practice for a new year, even if only painting.

Practical Notes for Painting

For those who will attempt to paint their own church’s candle, or improve their techniques, here follow some practical notes.

Firstly, wax (solidified oil) and water are not friends. Certain techniques can help higher-quality water-based acrylics stick to a candle, but low-quality paints, such as the inexpensive “tempera” paints found in grade school art classes are always a poor choice. Avoid these. Brands aside, the viscosity (thickness) of the paint is one of the key factors to a successful and beautiful design on wax. Thick paint makes details impossible and produces results that can be mistaken for grade-school work. Thick paint can be thinned but often becomes too transparent and so is a poor medium. Very opaque, but low-viscosity acrylics are ideal. Liquitex Soft-Bodied and Golden Fluid Acrylics are two brands that this author has used with success. Others exist. The extra cost of investing in high-quality paints will give a return in the quality of the finished product and in time spent. For those wishing a more traditional medium like egg tempera, a layer of chalk- and rabbit-skin-glue-based gesso will allow these paints to stick, but any unpainted area will show the gesso layer.

Secondly, while it is not absolutely necessary to prime the candle to receive a design, it can be helpful to apply a coat of a clear acrylic gesso to give the surface some “tooth.” This makes painting fine details on the candle a bit easier, helps to keep sharper edges and can help prevent the paint from peeling off. It also allows the use of a thin permanent marker for edging if one is not as skilled with very fine brushes. The same thin marker can later be used for tiny lettering if one’s fine brush skills are lacking.

Thirdly, proper brushes are essential. Fine detail will require brushes as small as 20/0. Manufacturers differ, but with a 4/0 brush being about 0.4mm, if one wants detail finer than a gel pen, he must use a very small brush. A range of sizes is needed. Natural versus synthetic brushes is a hotly debated topic.

A good design will start as a sketch on paper which is then wrapped around the candle to be painted to see how a design will look. This allows changes before executing. Smaller-diameter candles present a particular challenge, but even large candles do not leave a large area to be painted. Transferring the design can be done by small pin pricks through the paper, leaving a fine pattern on the candle to be followed, but that paint will fill in.

If one plans to add gold or silver tones to a candle, the best way to accomplish this is using real metal powders in gum arabic (often termed “shell gold”). Metallic acrylic paints rarely produce a realistic reflectivity. Imitation or real metal leaf can be applied, but this is quite a skill to master, and requires special surface preparation and water-gilding techniques. Skin oils easily destroy metal leaf appearances, and if using varnish to protect, metal can make the varnish pool unevenly, marring its appearance. Thus shell gold is generally recommended for the amateur.

Once all is finished, a light coat of clear spray lacquer lightly applied will protect the design from damage in handling, and permit spilled wax to be pulled off easily without damage.

Incense Grains

The former ritual at the Easter Vigil saw the deacon insert grains of incense into the Paschal Candle during the Exsultet chant, before singing about these grains. The 1962 ritual has the priest insert these at the fire.

Three types of grains exist.

The most common type, found in modern candles when purchased, are hardened wax in an octahedral shape with a small pin. Incense is supposedly cast into the wax, though this author has found this is rarely the case.

A second type consists of rounded metal nails with a hollow cap on the top into which incense can be placed.

A third type is the Italian practice of using incense cast into a tear-drop shapes with a pin or nail coming out the pointed end. Typically these are painted gold or covered in gold leaf. The incense is heated until soft, then molded around the nail, then gilt or painted.

These can be “homemade” using resin-based incense (the inexpensive common variety found in sacristies is fine). A small amount placed on a ceramic plate in the microwave for about 30 seconds can be gathered and molded around a small nail. It can be heated further in 15-30 second intervals (without the nail) to help with pliability, but this is hard on uncalloused fingers. Rubber gloves are recommended.

Where nails are thicker than a cork-board tack, or fairly long, holes should be pre-drilled in the candle to prevent cracking it when inserting the grains.

Disposing of Candles

In many places it is customary to place the candle in the baptistry during the year. In other places the candles are removed permanently on Ascension Thursday after the main Mass at which the candle is ceremoniously extinguished. Ideally, the candle once removed would be melted down for reuse, and not be relegated to a storage shelf. The Popes used to make “Agnus Dei” discs by mixing the old holy oils and the wax from the Paschal Candle, then casting it into thin discs, which they blessed and gave out as gifts. Where melting down old candles is impractical, some places, in imitation of the Pope, make a gift of older candles to smaller chapels for reuse (changing the year) or to larger benefactors for their devotion and personal use.

With a small amount of effort, good taste, and practice, producing a noble and beautiful candle is possible in many places, and can produce that happy anticipation of Holy Saturday for many who will admire the design, and thereby lift their minds and hearts up to God.