Bulletin Q&A Article; Published 1-7-24:
Why are there 6 candles at a TLM high Mass? Is there something significant about that number?
Fr. Hurley loaned me a booklet, Candles in the Roman Rite, that gives a little history of the use of candles in the Church. In the early years, candles were used purely for practical reasons, to provide light, especially in the catacombs. It wasn’t until about the 5th century that the use of candles began to take on a ceremonial aspect in the Western Church.
The requirement for candles in the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) is as follows: seven at a pontifical high Mass celebrated by the bishop; six at a solemn high Mass; four at a high Mass, but six are allowed; four at a low Mass celebrated by a bishop; and two for a low Mass celebrated by a priest.
High Mass and low Mass terminology is used for the TLM, but is no longer applicable to the Novus Ordo, the current Ordinary Form of Mass that we typically celebrate here in English. Regardless, the requirements for candles are similar. For the Novus Ordo, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal states: “On or next to the altar are to be placed candlesticks with lighted candles: at least two in any celebration, or even four or six, especially for a Sunday Mass or a Holyday of Obligation, or if the Diocesan Bishop celebrates, then seven candlesticks with lighted candles” (GIRM 117). This seems, in essence, to carryover from the TLM, with the number of candles reflecting the solemnity of the celebration.
One additional detail is that the candles are to be arranged in a straight line. If the seventh candle is used for a celebration with the bishop, this candle is placed in the center and the altar crucifix may be moved forward to accommodate it.
So getting back to the original question: why six, or even seven, candles at Masses of greatest solemnity? Unfortunately, the booklet from Fr. Hurley didn’t address this issue, and so I searched the internet. The only opinion that I found is that the arrangement of the candles represents the Jewish menorah. Unfortunately, I could not find any firm reference supporting this claim. But it is an interesting concept to consider and explore.
Menorah literally means lampstand in Hebrew, so it can take many different forms and shapes. The one that Jews use to celebrate Hanukah, for example, has four candles on either side of a central candle. The central candle is used to light the other eight on consecutive days. Hanukah is the remembrance of when Judas Maccabeus and his army reclaimed the Temple in the second century BC. They had only enough oil to keep the Temple lamp burning for one day, but it miraculously lasted for eight days.
But the menorah that is possibly associated with our altar candles is the one that was used in the Temple. It had three oil lamps on either side, instead of four. It is described in Exodus 25:31-40 and Exodus 37:17-24. But why seven lamps on the Temple menorah? The answer, which I found the most reasonable, is that seven is the holy number of completion representing the seven days of the week. The lamps on the branches of the menorah represent the six days of creation, and the center lamp represents the Sabbath. Seven lamps in a straight line has a similarity to seven candles in a straight line on the altar, or even six candles with Jesus, the Light of the world, on a cross in the center.
If we look at the Book of Revelation we hear about lampstands: “Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, wearing an ankle-length robe, with a gold sash around his chest” (Rev 1:12-13). Scott Hahn describes the Mass as “Heaven on earth.” He writes in his book, The Lamb’s Supper: “We will see the sense amid the strangeness in the Book of Revelation, we will see the glory hidden in the mundane in next Sunday’s Mass.” The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy from Vatican II states: “In the earthly liturgy we take part in a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, a minister of the holies and of the true tabernacle” (SC 8). The heavenly liturgy will have lampstands. It is not unreasonable that our earthly liturgies should have a similar design.