Adelphoi,

Make sure the Paschal Candle is extinguished!

The Forty Days are accomplished. The Lord Jesus Christ has ascended into heaven. He is no longer appearing to His disciples in physical presence. The Church waits prayerfully for the Descent of His Paraclete, Advocate and Comforter, the Holy Spirit.

The Candle burned to signify that He had been raised from the dead, is appearing to His disciples as the resurrected Lord, and that as such He is the Light of the world.

The Candle was extinguished (a) to proclaim his Ascension into heaven, that He is no longer with his disciples in the mode of physical presence, and (b) to signify that He is to be with His people in and by the Spirit, his Paraclete, henceforth (and as such He is not located in any one place and time but is present to all everywhere).

The recent custom of allowing the Candle to burn for the "fifty days" until Pentecost brings confusion to the faithful and it causes over a thousand years of church symbolism to be set aside in favour of a symbolism that is not agreed and which differs from place to place, parish to parish - further, the new custom also strengthens the modern tendency to discount the importance of the Ascension and to dilute the reality of the Resurrection of its physical aspects.

Light the Candle again next year for the 40 days!

Watch and wait for the Descent of the Holy Spirit!

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The Rev'd Dr. Peter Toon M.A., D.Phil. (Oxon.),
Christ Church, Biddulph Moor & St Anne's, Brown Edge; Vice-President and Emissary-at-Large of The Prayer Book Society of America. www.anglicanmarketplace.com