Part 19

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The literature, although extensive, contains so many descriptions of ludicrous devices, that the student, after reading Benjamin Franklin's _Experiments and Observations on Electricity made at Philadelphia_ (1769), may turn to the _Report_ of the Lightning Rod Conference of December 1881. In the latter work there are abstracts of many valuable papers, especially the reports made to the French Academy, among others by Coulomb, Laplace, Gay-Lussac, Fresnel, Regnault, &c. In 1876 J. Clerk Maxwell read a paper before the British Association in which he brought forward the idea (based on Faraday's experiments) of protecting a building from the effects of lightning by surrounding it with a sort of cage of rods or stout wire. It was not, however, until the Bath meeting of the British Association in 1888 that the subject was fully discussed by the physical and engineering sections. Sir Oliver Lodge showed the futility of single conductors, and advised the interconnexion of all the metal work on a building to a number of conductors buried in the earth. The action of lightning flashes was also demonstrated by him in lectures delivered before the Society of Arts (1888). The Clerk Maxwell system was adopted to a large extent in Germany, and in July 1901 a sub-committee of the Berlin Electro-technical Association was formed, which published rules. In 1900 a paper entitled "The Protection of Public Buildings from Lightning," by Killingworth Hedges, led to the formation, by the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Surveyors' Institution, of the Lightning Research Committee, on which the Royal Society and the Meteorological Society were represented. The _Report_, edited by Sir Oliver Lodge, Sir John Gavey and Killingworth Hedges (Hon. Sec.), was published in April 1905. An illustrated supplement, compiled by K. Hedges and entitled _Modern Lightning Conductors_ (1905), contains particulars of the independent reports of the German committee, the Dutch Academy of Science, and the Royal Joseph university, Budapest. A description is also given of the author's modified Clerk Maxwell system, in which the metal work of the roofs of a building form the upper part, the rain-water pipes taking the place of the usual lightning-rods. See also Sir Oliver Lodge, _Lightning Conductors_ (London, 1902). (K. H.)

LIGHTS, CEREMONIAL USE OF.

Non-Christian religions.

The ceremonial use of lights in the Christian Church, with which this article is mainly concerned, probably has a double origin: in a very natural symbolism, and in the adaptation of certain pagan and Jewish rites and customs of which the symbolic meaning was Christianized. Light is everywhere the symbol of joy and of life-giving power, as darkness is of death and destruction. Fire, the most mysterious and impressive of the elements, the giver of light and of all the good things of life, is a thing sacred and adorable in primitive religions, and fire-worship still has its place in two at least of the great religions of the world. The Parsis adore fire as the visible expression of Ahura-Mazda, the eternal principle of light and righteousness; the Brahmans worship it as divine and omniscient.[1] The Hindu festival of Dewali (Diyawali, from _diya_, light), when temples and houses are illuminated with countless lamps, is held every November to celebrate Lakhshmi, the goddess of prosperity. In the ritual of the Jewish temple fire and light played a conspicuous part. In the Holy of Holies was a "cloud of light" (_shekinah_), symbolical of the presence of Yahweh, and before it stood the candlestick with six branches, on each of which and on the central stem was a lamp eternally burning; while in the forecourt was an altar on which the sacred fire was never allowed to go out. Similarly the Jewish synagogues have each their eternal lamp; while in the religion of Islam lighted lamps mark things and places specially holy; thus the Ka'ba at Mecca is illuminated by thousands of lamps hanging from the gold and silver rods that connect the columns of the surrounding colonnade.

Greece and Rome.

The Greeks and Romans, too, had their sacred fire and their ceremonial lights. In Greece the _Lampadedromia_ or _Lampadephoria_ (torch-race) had its origin in ceremonies connected with the relighting of the sacred fire. Pausanias (i. 26, § 6) mentions the golden lamp made by Callimachus which burned night and day in the sanctuary of Athena Polias on the Acropolis, and (vii. 22, §§ 2 and 3) tells of a statue of Hermes Agoraios, in the market-place of Pharae in Achaea, before which lamps were lighted. Among the Romans lighted candles and lamps formed part of the cult of the domestic tutelary deities; on all festivals doors were garlanded and lamps lighted (Juvenal, _Sat._ xii. 92; Tertullian, _Apol._ xxxv.). In the cult of Isis lamps were lighted by day. In the ordinary temples were candelabra, e.g. that in the temple of Apollo Palatinus at Rome, originally taken by Alexander from Thebes, which was in the form of a tree from the branches of which lights hung like fruit. In comparing pagan with Christian usage it is important to remember that the lamps in the pagan temples were not symbolical, but votive offerings to the gods. Torches and lamps were also carried in religious processions.

Funeral lamps.

The pagan custom of burying lamps with the dead conveyed no such symbolical meaning as was implied in the late Christian custom of placing lights on and about the tombs of martyrs and saints. Its object was to provide the dead with the means of obtaining light in the next world, a wholly material conception; and the lamps were for the most part unlighted. It was of Asiatic origin, traces of it having been observed in Phoenicia and in the Punic colonies, but not in Egypt or Greece. In Europe it was confined to the countries under the domination of Rome.[2]

Christian symbolism of light.

In Christianity, from the very first, fire and light are conceived as symbols, if not as visible manifestations, of the divine nature and the divine presence. Christ is "the true Light" (John i. 9), and at his transfiguration "the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering" (Luke ix. 29); when the Holy Ghost descended upon the apostles, "there appeared unto them cloven tongues of fire, and it sat upon each of them" (Acts ii. 3); at the conversion of St Paul "there shined round him a great light from heaven" (Acts ix. 3); while the glorified Christ is represented as standing "in the midst of seven candlesticks ... his head and hairs white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes as a flame of fire" (Rev. i. 14, 15). Christians are "children of Light" at perpetual war with "the powers of darkness."

The early Church.

Tertullian and Lactantius.

2nd and 3rd centuries.

All this might very early, without the incentive of Jewish and pagan example, have affected the symbolic ritual of the primitive Church. There is, however, no evidence of any ceremonial use of lights in Christian worship during the first two centuries. It is recorded, indeed (Acts xx. 7, 8), that on the occasion of St Paul's preaching at Alexandria in Troas "there were many lights in the upper chamber"; but this was at night, and the most that can be hazarded is that a specially large number were lighted as a festive illumination, as in modern Church festivals (Martigny, _Dict. des antiqu. Chrét._). As to a purely ceremonial use, such early evidence as exists is all the other way. A single sentence of Tertullian (_Apol._ xxxv.) sufficiently illuminates Christian practice during the 2nd century. "On days of rejoicing," he says, "we do not shade our door-posts with laurels nor encroach upon the day-light with lamps" (_die laeto non laureis postes obumbramus nec lucernis diem infringimus_). Lactantius, writing early in the 4th century, is even more sarcastic in his references to the heathen practice. "They kindle lights," he says, "as though to one who is in darkness. Can he be thought sane who offers the light of lamps and candles to the Author and Giver of all light?" (_Div. Inst. vi. de vero cultu_, cap. 2, in Migne, _Patr. lat._ vi. 637).[3] This is primarily an attack on votive lights, and does not necessarily exclude their ceremonial use in other ways. There is, indeed, evidence that they were so used before Lactantius wrote. The 34th canon of the synod of Elvira (305), which was contemporary with him, forbade candles to be lighted in cemeteries during the day-time, which points to an established custom as well as to an objection to it; and in the Roman catacombs lamps have been found of the 2nd and 3rd centuries which seem to have been ceremonial or symbolical.[4] Again, according to the _Acta_ of St Cyprian (d. 258), his body was borne to the grave _praelucentibus cereis_, and Prudentius, in his hymn on the martyrdom of St Lawrence (_Peristeph._ ii. 71, in Migne, _Patr. lat._ lx. 300), says that in the time of St Laurentius, i.e. the middle of the 3rd century, candles stood in the churches of Rome on golden candelabra. The gift, mentioned by Anastasius (_in Sylv._), made by Constantine to the Vatican basilica, of a _pharum_ of gold, garnished with 500 dolphins each holding a lamp, to burn before St Peter's tomb, points also to a custom well established before Christianity became the state religion.

Jerome and Vigilantius.

Whatever previous custom may have been--and for the earliest ages it is difficult to determine absolutely owing to the fact that the Christians held their services at night--by the close of the 4th century the ceremonial use of lights had become firmly and universally established in the Church. This is clear, to pass by much other evidence, from the controversy of St Jerome with Vigilantius.

Vigilantius, a presbyter of Barcelona, still occupied the position of Tertullian and Lactantius in this matter. "We see," he wrote, "a rite peculiar to the pagans introduced into the churches on pretext of religion, and, while the sun is still shining, a mass of wax tapers lighted.... A great honour to the blessed martyrs, whom they think to illustrate with contemptible little candles (_de vilissimis cereolis_)!" Jerome, the most influential theologian of the day, took up the cudgels against Vigilantius (he "ought to be called Dormitantius"), who, in spite of his fatherly admonition, had dared again "to open his foul mouth and send forth a filthy stink against the relics of the holy martyrs" (_Hier. Ep._ cix. al. 53--_ad Ripuarium Presbyt._, in Migne, _Patr. lat._ p. 906). If candles are lit before their tombs, are these the ensigns of idolatry? In his treatise _contra Vigilantium_ (_Patr. lat._ t. xxiii.) he answers the question with much common sense. There can be no harm if ignorant and simple people, or religious women, light candles in honour of the martyrs. "We are not born, but reborn, Christians," and that which when done for idols was detestable is acceptable when done for the martyrs. As in the case of the woman with the precious box of ointment, it is not the gift that merits reward, but the faith that inspires it. As for lights in the churches, he adds that "in all the churches of the East, whenever the gospel is to be read, lights are lit, though the sun be rising (_jam sole rutilante_), not in order to disperse the darkness, but as a visible sign of gladness (_ad signum laetitiae demonstrandum_)." Taken in connexion with a statement which almost immediately precedes this--"Cereos autem non clara luce accendimus, sicut frustra calumniaris: sed ut noctis tenebras hoc solatio temperemus" (§ 7)--this seems to point to the fact that the ritual use of lights in the church services, so far as already established, arose from the same conservative habit as determined the development of liturgical vestments, i.e. the lights which had been necessary at the nocturnal meetings were retained, after the hours of service had been altered, and invested with a symbolical meaning.

Practice in the 4th century.

Eastern Church.

Already they were used at most of the conspicuous functions of the Church. Paulinus, bishop of Nola (d. 431), describes the altar at the eucharist as "crowned with crowded lights,"[5] and even mentions the "eternal lamp."[6] For their use at baptisms we have, among much other evidence, that of Zeno of Verona for the West,[7] and that of Gregory of Nazianzus for the East.[8] Their use at funerals is illustrated by Eusebius's description of the burial of Constantine,[9] and Jerome's account of that of St Paula.[10] At ordinations they were used, as is shown by the 6th canon of the council of Carthage (398), which decrees that the acolyte is to hand to the newly ordained deacon _ceroferarium cum cereo_. As to the blessing of candles, according to the _Liber pontificalis_ Pope Zosimus in 417 ordered these to be blessed,[11] and the Gallican and Mozarabic rituals also provided for this ceremony.[12] The Feast of the Purification of the Virgin, known as Candlemas (q.v.), because on this day the candles for the whole year are blessed, was established--according to some authorities--by Pope Gelasius I. about 492. As to the question of "altar lights," however, it must be borne in mind that these were not placed upon the altar, or on a retable behind it, until the 12th century. These were originally the candles carried by the deacons, according to the _Ordo Romanus_ (i. 8; ii. 5; iii. 7) seven in number, which were set down either on the steps of the altar, or, later, behind it. In the Eastern Church, to this day, there are no lights on the high altar; the lighted candles stand on a small altar beside it, and at various parts of the service are carried by the lectors or acolytes before the officiating priest or deacon. The "crowd of lights" described by Paulinus as crowning the altar were either grouped round it or suspended in front of it; they are represented by the sanctuary lamps of the Latin Church and by the crown of lights suspended in front of the altar in the Greek.

Development of the use.

To trace the gradual elaboration of the symbolism and use of ceremonial lights in the Church, until its full development and systematization in the middle ages, would be impossible here. It must suffice to note a few stages in the process. The burning of lights before the tombs of martyrs led naturally to their being burned also before relics and lastly before images and pictures. This latter practice, hotly denounced as idolatry during the iconoclastic controversy (see ICONOCLASM), was finally established as orthodox by the second general council of Nicaea (787), which restored the worship of images. A later development, however, by which certain lights themselves came to be regarded as objects of worship and to have other lights burned before _them_, was condemned as idolatrous by the synod of Noyon in 1344.[13] The passion for symbolism extracted ever new meanings out of the candles and their use. Early in the 6th century Ennodius, bishop of Pavia, pointed out the three-fold elements of a wax-candle (_Opusc._ ix. and x.), each of which would make it an offering acceptable to God; the rush-wick is the product of pure water, the wax is the offspring of virgin bees,[14] the flame is sent from heaven.[15] Clearly, wax was a symbol of the Blessed Virgin and the holy humanity of Christ. The later middle ages developed the idea. Durandus, in his _Rationale_, interprets the wax as the body of Christ, the wick as his soul, the flame as his divine nature; and the consuming candle as symbolizing his passion and death.

In the Roman Catholic Church.

Dedication of a church.

At Mass and choir services.

Sanctuary lamps.

Symbol of the Real Presence.

In the completed ritual system of the medieval Church, as still preserved in the Roman Catholic communion, the use of ceremonial lights falls under three heads. (1) They may be symbolical of the light of God's presence, of Christ as "Light of Light," or of "the children of Light" in conflict with the powers of darkness; they may even be no more than expressions of joy on the occasion of great festivals. (2) They may be votive, i.e. offered as an act of worship (_latria_) to God. (3) They are, in virtue of their benediction by the Church, _sacramentalia_, i.e. efficacious for the good of men's souls and bodies, and for the confusion of the powers of darkness.[16] With one or more of these implications, they are employed in all the public functions of the Church. At the consecration of a church twelve lights are placed round the walls at the twelve spots where these are anointed by the bishop with holy oil, and on every anniversary these are relighted; at the dedication of an altar tapers are lighted and censed at each place where the table is anointed (_Pontificale Rom._ p. ii. _De eccl. dedicat. seu consecrat._). At every liturgical service, and especially at Mass and at choir services, there must be at least two lighted tapers on the altar,[17] as symbols of the presence of God and tributes of adoration. For the Mass the rule is that there are six lights at High Mass, four at a _missa cantata_, and two at private masses. At a Pontifical High Mass (i.e. when the bishop celebrates) the lights are seven, because seven golden candlesticks surround the risen Saviour, the chief bishop of the Church (see Rev. i. 12). At most pontifical functions, moreover, the bishop--as the representative of Christ--is preceded by an acolyte with a burning candle (_bugia_) on a candlestick. The _Ceremoniale Episcoporum_ (i. 12) further orders that a burning lamp is to hang at all times before each altar, three in front of the high altar, and five before the reserved Sacrament, as symbols of the eternal Presence. In practice, however, it is usual to have only one lamp lighted before the tabernacle in which the Host is reserved. The special symbol of the real presence of Christ is the _Sanctus_ candle, which is lighted at the moment of consecration and kept burning until the communion. The same symbolism is intended by the lighted tapers which must accompany the Host whenever it is carried in procession, or to the sick and dying.

As symbols of light and joy a candle is held on each side of the deacon when reading the Gospel at Mass; and the same symbolism underlies the multiplication of lights on festivals, their number varying with the importance of the occasion. As to the number of these latter no rule is laid down. They differ from liturgical lights in that, whereas these must be tapers of pure beeswax or lamps fed with pure olive oil (except by special dispensation under certain circumstances), those used merely to add splendour to the celebration may be of any material; the only exception being, that in the decoration of the altar gas-lights are forbidden.

Tenebrae.

In general the ceremonial use of lights in the Roman Catholic Church is conceived as a dramatic representation in fire of the life of Christ and of the whole scheme of salvation. On Easter Eve the new fire, symbol of the light of the newly risen Christ, is produced, and from this are kindled all the lights used throughout the Christian year until, in the gathering darkness (_tenebrae_) of the Passion, they are gradually extinguished. This quenching of the light of the world is symbolized at the service of _Tenebrae_ in Holy Week by the placing on a stand before the altar of thirteen lighted tapers arranged pyramidally, the rest of the church being in darkness. The penitential psalms are sung, and at the end of each a candle is extinguished. When only the central one is left it is taken down and carried behind the altar, thus symbolizing the betrayal and the death and burial of Christ. This ceremony can be traced to the 8th century at Rome.

The Paschal Candle.

On Easter Eve new fire is made[18] with a flint and steel, and blessed; from this three candles are lighted, the _lumen Christi_, and from these again the Paschal Candle.[19] This is the symbol of the risen and victorious Christ, and burns at every solemn service until Ascension Day, when it is extinguished and removed after the reading of the Gospel at High Mass. This, of course, symbolizes the Ascension; but meanwhile the other lamps in the church have received their light from the Paschal Candle, and so symbolize throughout the year the continued presence of the light of Christ.

Baptism.

Ordination, etc.

Funeral lights.

At the consecration of the baptismal water the burning Paschal Candle is dipped into the font "so that the power of the Holy Ghost may descend into it and make it an effective instrument of regeneration." This is the symbol of baptism as rebirth as children of Light. Lighted tapers are also placed in the hands of the newly-baptized, or of their god-parents, with the admonition "to preserve their baptism inviolate, so that they may go to meet the Lord when he comes to the wedding." Thus, too, as "children of Light," candidates for ordination and novices about to take the vows carry lights when they come before the bishop; and the same idea underlies the custom of carrying lights at weddings, at the first communion, and by priests going to their first mass, though none of these are liturgically prescribed. Finally, lights are placed round the bodies of the dead and carried beside them to the grave, partly as symbols that they still live in the light of Christ, partly to frighten away the powers of darkness.

Excommunication.

Conversely, the extinction of lights is part of the ceremony of excommunication (_Pontificale Rom._ pars iii.). Regino, abbot of Prum, describes the ceremony as it was carried out in his day, when its terrors were yet unabated (_De eccles. disciplina_, ii. 409). "Twelve priests should stand about the bishop, holding in their hands lighted torches, which at the conclusion of the anathema or excommunication they should cast down and trample under foot." When the excommunication is removed, the symbol of reconciliation is the handing to the penitent of a burning taper.

Protestant Churches.

As a result of the Reformation the use of ceremonial lights was either greatly modified, or totally abolished in the Protestant Churches. In the Reformed (Calvinistic) Churches altar lights were, with the rest, done away with entirely as popish and superstitious. In the Lutheran Churches they were retained, and in Evangelical Germany have even survived most of the other medieval rites and ceremonies (e.g. the use of vestments) which were not abolished at the Reformation itself.

Church of England.

The "Lincoln Judgment."