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Morning Father I have a question for you what is the church view on holding a lit candle in church during liturgy as I was in church the other day and a big fuss was made when people lit candles and held them in the hands.
Answer to Question 496 Good morning, traditionally people used to hold candles especially during memorials, but no one ever gave a thought about keeping the church clean. We used to have a custom where everyone who had a mnymosino would give out candles to everyone in church, so if there were 10 mnymosina people would hold ten candles each. Candle wax used to melt on the floor or children would break up the candles and crumble them on the floor. We decided, against public opinion, to stop people giving out candles and if anyone wanted to light a candle during a mnymosino they can light it at the designated place. But even with one candle you would be surprised how many people don't know how to hold it upright so that it doesn't drip on the floor. Candles are messy and difficult to scrape of the floor. Things are even worse in churches that have carpets, because the wax cannot be scraped. In my opinion candles are not needed. We light a big candle for the mnymosina and this is more than enough. I once told my congregation that if they want to hold candles, I have no problem with it, but at the end of the service they should get on their knees and scrape away all the wax that melted on the floor, sweep up and then get the mop and bucket and start mopping the church. We pay for a cleaning lady to keep the church clean, but getting on her knees and scraping the floor is not part of her duties.
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