Candles & Lighting
Altar Candlesticks
Altar candlesticks to stand on or beside the altar, giving light and dignity to every celebration of the Mass.
About this collection
About Altar Candlesticks
Candlesticks stand on the altar or its gradines on either side of the crucifix, and they set the tone of the whole sanctuary. This collection offers brass altar candlesticks, most polished and lacquered, in Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque and simpler chapel designs, with some combining brass and marble. You will find small pairs for a chapel or side altar, sets of six for a high altar, tall paschal candlesticks and funeral candlesticks.
Matching and sizing
Many candlesticks belong to a series with a matching altar crucifix, sanctuary lamp, censer stand and processional cross, so you can furnish a sanctuary in one style. Check the candle socket size against the candles you buy, and consider the height of the altar cross: traditionally the cross stands above the candles. Most listings give heights, socket sizes and base dimensions.
Listed prices currently run from about $195 to $4,800, and many are sold as pairs or sets. Call or request a quote for help matching a series. Freight is billed separately. See also paschal candlesticks and candle followers.
Altar Candlesticks
In the Sacred Liturgy
Lighted candles are required at every celebration of Mass. They are a sign of reverence and of festive joy, and they point to Christ, the Light of the world, whose sacrifice is made present on the altar.
At least two candles are lit for every Mass. Four or six may be used, especially at Sunday Mass and on holy days of obligation, and seven when the diocesan bishop celebrates. The candlesticks may stand on the altar or around it, placed so that they do not block the faithful's view of what takes place at the altar or of what is set upon it. An altar cross stands on or near the altar as well, and candlesticks are often made as a matching set with it.
Altar candlesticks are traditionally made of brass or bronze, sometimes gilded, with a socket or a pricket (a spike) to hold the candle. Liturgical candles themselves are traditionally made of beeswax.
I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness
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