It is believed among the people that in no case should even the packaging of consecrated things be thrown away. Of course, it is best to discuss any issues related to the ritual side of religion with your own. If there is no such mentor, you will have to ask the advice of more knowledgeable Christians. As a rule, objects that have fulfilled their purpose are collected and then given to the purifying fire. Ashes, ashes and everything left after burning are recommended to be collected and then buried in the ground. Moreover, the burial place should not be disturbed by either people or animals.

Candle behind images

With cinders from church candles, they act differently. They are burned along with the rest of the waste, or stored behind the images. Most believers return the collected stubs to the shop. In the temple, they are either burned in a special oven, or melted and poured into the cheapest candles. Many cathedrals have special boxes for collecting cinders.

In city churches and cathedrals, such boxes can rarely be seen, the thing is that novices or matushkas most often remove the candles themselves in the evenings after the service, regardless of whether they have burned out or not. Collected candles are recycled, because almost all parishes have not only church shops, but also workshops. The novices also clean the cups on the candlestick from spilled wax, they usually do this with the help of a small spatula and a brush with which they brush off the wax. It is not accepted to collect it.

Maundy Thursday Tradition

However, candles are still customary to burn to the end. There is no rule against lighting a candle more than once. And when it burns out, you can put a new one there. In large ones, for example, many parishioners light a candle in the temple, and then, after the service, they extinguish it and carry it home. This custom has been around for a very long time. On Maundy Thursday, Orthodox Christians gathered for an all-night prayer, during which Thursday was lit. She was endowed with truly mystical properties. On Friday morning, a lit candle was carried home, in every possible way protecting the flame from wind and bad weather. If the candle goes out, trouble will certainly happen, and if you managed to save the fire and light the lamp from it, there is nothing to fear this year.

With this candle, the owner went around the whole house to protect its inhabitants from the machinations of the evil one. So, the stub of the candle was kept all year, until the next Thursday, lighting a fire on the biggest holidays or the most difficult times. On the eve of the new holiday, paper was lit from the flame of the cinder and melted the stove with it, consecrating the whole house.

Funeral candles are lit at every stage of the funeral process. The use of a ritual attribute is accompanied by superstitions, associations with human earthly and afterlife.

In Christianity, a candle is identical to human existence, which takes place in love for God, prayers, good deeds. The light of the sacred attribute is considered as a voluntary sacrifice to the Almighty.

Wax products for funerals in the church are placed as a memory of a person, a manifestation of warm feelings for him, a wish for a speedy resurrection and expectation of a meeting at the Last Judgment.

A funeral candle, which stood at the feet of the deceased, is considered special along with a wedding or Easter candle.

It is believed that fire sanctifies the path of a person, helps to find the way to the Kingdom of God. The lamps were lit during the agony of the dying, put into the hands so that the soul could resist the darkness.

The remains of funeral candles were not thrown away. They were placed in a coffin, used in ritual, magical actions. It was believed that the fire warns the restless walking of the soul of the deceased in the world of the living in the form of a ghost, a restless spirit, did not frighten relatives.

How to properly hold a funeral candle

There are no specialized rules on how to establish, keep a funeral attribute in Orthodoxy. You can use the right or left hand. The main thing is to do this sincerely with prayer, slowly, expressing respect for the deceased.

There are no specialized funeral candles with strictly defined dimensions, weight, color, shape. The Church considers them as a donation. How much money a person can spend is his own business.

During the funeral, those present hold candles in their hands during the funeral service of the deceased, farewell at the cemetery. In Orthodoxy, they are handed out with handkerchiefs to those present. The number of attributes is 12. They are called conductors, the task is to illuminate the path of the deceased person during the service, the funeral service. Relatives walk at the coffin, illuminating the path of the deceased.

There are a number of requirements and customs in Judaism:

1. The funeral church candle is different from the usual ones. It should burn in the house, the room of the deceased for a week.
2. Anyone can light a light at a funeral, preferably one of the children of the deceased.
3. The sacred books indicate that it is desirable for the spirit of the deceased to use ritual accessories based on olive oil. If it is impossible to get them, it is allowed to light a wax, electric lamp.

In Islam, candles with fire during the preparation for the funeral are not used in their process. In Buddhism - a lamp, flowers are placed on the bedside table of the deceased, incense is lit as a sign of grief.

What to do with candles

After the funeral and funeral, relatives must collect the remaining wax products. Cinders are placed under the back of the deceased, in the pocket of the jacket. If they are buried in a closed coffin, they leave the attributes on the lid, lower them into the grave with them.

If the candle from the funeral remained intact, was not used for its intended purpose, it is recommended:

1. Periodically light a lamp at home.
2. Use for prayer to remember the deceased.
3. Take it to the temple, put the dead for rest. The church has a separate place with a cross and a special candlestick. Check with the workers, the priest, where you can put a candle.
4. Burn on the ground, leave the cinder there.

Do not use funeral paraphernalia at home. Energy is aimed at accompanying the deceased to the afterlife. It is forbidden to use candles in conspiracies, rituals for good luck, health. Leaving funeral attributes at home - to bring a piece of the dead world, to hold the soul of the deceased.

fire superstitions

Before the invention of the electric lamp, a candle was the only way to light a home. Fire fascinated, giving rise to faith in the irrational. A number of signs and superstitions associated with wax objects have formed.

1. The crackle of the flame is a bad sign that warns of damage directed at a person. If the candles during the funeral crackle and go out when approaching you, there is a high probability of a fatal outcome.
2. Blue flame - the imminent death of one of the household. The color of the light warns of the stay of the spirit of the deceased in the room, at the wake.
3. Do not light more than 2 funeral paraphernalia from the stump - it will lead to poverty and disease. Do not use fire from the stove.
4. It is forbidden to blow out candles. You can extinguish with caps, fingers.
5. If the products go out on their own for no reason - a bad sign. If the candles went out at the funeral, it is believed that they fulfilled their destiny, the soul found peace in the afterlife.
6. Drop the lamp from your hands - for the imminent wedding. If the ritual object fell in the church - to trouble.
7. Do not light a fire for the health of the deceased.
8. If in the temple the flame accidentally spread to the hair, clothes of a person, he was damaged, a strong love spell.
9. Wax candles from the funeral are forbidden to give. They accumulate negative energy.
10. If you see a paraffin product on the ground, do not pick it up. The attribute was used in magical rituals. The one who dropped it used the services of a magician, a witch.

Funeral, wedding, christening, aromatic candle - a symbol of light, hope, faith in any religion. People rewarded them with magical abilities, invented superstitions. The priests insist that the task is to light the way for the living and the dead.

Below you will find signs that people who have buried a loved one need to know - when you can open the mirror after the funeral, do cleaning and repairs, watch TV. There are many restrictions and prohibitions that were invented by our ancestors, for the most part, back in pre-Christian times.

When to open the mirror

A well-known fact - after the death of a person, it is supposed to close all reflective surfaces. These are not only mirrors, but also TVs, computer monitors and other things in which you can see your reflection. This is done so that the reflection of the deceased does not remain in the house, and his ghost is not alive.

About when you can open the mirror after the funeral, it will take a lot. One at a time, you can do it right away after returning from the cemetery and commemoration. According to other beliefs, this is done after three days, or not earlier than the ninth day after death. But these are all modern traditions. In the villages to this day they remove the curtains from the mirrors only on the 41st day when the fate of the soul of the deceased has already been decided.

Signs are based on the path of the deceased. So, after three days after death, the guardian angel takes him away to inspect paradise. For 9 days, he will appear before the Lord and go to inspect hell. On the 40th day, the soul is given the final verdict on where it will stay. Since only the first three days after death the soul is among the living, you can open the mirrors after it leaves it. That is, on the fourth day. It used to be that all 40 days the soul can visit relatives from time to time. Therefore, they did not open the mirrors all this time.

Sometimes the mirrors do not hang at all. For example, when a person died in a hospital, and his body is taken to the cemetery from the morgue, and not from home. It is not right. The soul of a person will still return home and stay near people close to him during his lifetime. Sometimes only those mirrors that are located where the deceased is located are closed. It is also not true, because the soul will wander through all the rooms of the house.

Some Slavic signs claim that the one who first looks into the mirror opened after the funeral will soon die. To prevent this, the cat is brought to the mirror first. She is not afraid of this sign.

Can I watch TV

For obvious reasons, there are no old signs about this, but as mentioned above, TVs are supposed to be closed, like mirrors. You can open them simultaneously with mirrors. That is, either after the funeral, or after the third, ninth or fortieth day.

The church does not prohibit watching TV, but recommends to refrain from entertainment at least nine days. You can watch news, educational programs, but it is better to postpone watching movies and talk shows. You can not turn on the TV in the house where the deceased lies. Wait until the funeral is over. If the deceased was not a person close to you, the restriction does not apply to you.

These rules also apply to listening to music. The exception is church hymns. If you have such a desire, you can listen to classical music. By the way, the funeral orchestra is a Soviet innovation. In the old days, they were accompanied by prayers and religious chants.

Do you keep photos of the dead?

The answer is yes. Photos are memories of a dear person, a memory for his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. By destroying photographs of the deceased, you allow his descendants to never know about him.

But still the image of the deceased is associated with world of the dead. Psychics can tell from a photo whether a person is alive or not. Therefore, it is not worth looking at photographs of the deceased too often. You can also not overdo it with their number on the walls, shelves and tables. Do not hang near portraits of living people, separate living and dead energies. The best place for storage is a photo album.

Much more negative are the photographs taken during the funeral. It's best not to do them. But, if there are already photos, it is better to destroy them. It doesn't matter what is depicted there - a coffin, a cemetery, a funeral process, they are a strong source of necrotic energy.

When to clean the apartment

While there is a dead person in the house, cleaning and taking out the trash is not allowed. Otherwise, another person in this house may die. According to legend, the cleaner will sweep or wash him out of the dwelling.

You need to clean up immediately after the removal of the coffin. For the deceased, they sweep and wash the floors at a time when the mourners on their last journey have already left for the cemetery. This is done to immediately sweep away death, illness, grief from the house.

Moreover, such light cleaning cannot be done by blood relatives of the deceased. It is better for them to contact the emanations of death less, so that the deceased does not take his loved ones with him. Do not clean up after the dead and pregnant women. Usually one of the family friends is asked to sweep and mop the floor. Only he must remain in the apartment after the removal of the coffin. After that, the person joins the mourners at the wake, he is not present at the cemetery.

Some things are especially strongly saturated with the energy of death. So, the stools or table on which the coffin stood are taken out into the street for several days and left there with their legs up. This is done in order to get rid of this energy. The apartment has a balcony.

Be sure to take everything from the house that is connected with the mournful ceremony. These are the remnants of fabric for upholstery of the coffin, chips from it, as well as other ritual paraphernalia, except for a portrait with a black ribbon, a glass of water and a piece of bread. All flowers brought by the mourners are supposed to be left on the grave - they are intended for the deceased.

They also do not leave in the house the tool that was used to take measurements for the coffin, it brings death to another tenant during the year. Nothing is taken from the coffin. The ropes with which they tied the hands of the deceased, the pennies that lay in front of their eyes - all this should remain in the coffin. Candles are taken to the cemetery, as well as the grain in which they stood. It is also impossible to store the icon that stood in front of the coffin. She is allowed down the river or taken to the church.

When is it possible to clean up after the funeral, if the question is general cleaning or tidying up the room of the deceased? At any time, but after the commemoration or the removal of the coffin. If at the same time you open the mirrors, they should also be washed. If you decide to keep them closed for 3, 9, or 40 days, save that for later.

Is it possible to make repairs

Repair after the funeral can be done, but only as it passes 40 days after death. The soul of the deceased visits from time to time to see how loved ones live. She would like to see the familiar environment, changes can anger the spirit.

After 40 days, at least, it will be necessary to replace the bed on which the deceased slept, as well as the bed (sofa, floor or staircase covering, armchair, etc.) that has become a deathbed. The bed of a dead person must not be used by his bloodline. It can be given away or sold. Putting a new bed is optional, use the freed space as you see fit.

The place of death will exude necrotic energy for several more years. Therefore, it is supposed to replace everything that came into contact with the dying, be it the floor covering where he fell, or furniture and bed linen. As a rule, such things are thrown away or burned. In the villages, they act a little differently - they take them to the chicken coop for three, so that the rooster "sings all the negativity."

Deceased's personal belongings, as a rule, distribute to the poor or sell. This doesn't just apply to clothes. Favorite cup or plate, ashtray, anti-stress toy - you should not keep it all. Although many leave in memory of the deceased.

What else not to do after the funeral

In the house where the person died, you can not do laundry. This prohibition is valid while the coffin is in the house. That is, after the funeral, you can start putting your clothes in order.

Can I swim after the funeral? Beliefs recommend doing this at the same time when you decide to remove the fabric from reflective surfaces. That is, immediately after the commemoration, in three, nine or forty days. In the old days, they washed only on the 41st day after death.

Among the things not to do after the funeral are noisy holidays. It is undesirable to arrange celebrations within 40 days. Birthday party better to reschedule or cancel altogether. But you can celebrate it modestly, in the family circle, without loud music and noise.

The nine-day, and preferably forty-day ban also applies to the wedding, but here everything depends on the emotional state of the relatives of the deceased. In addition, a wedding is a pre-arranged event associated with high costs. If you are getting married earlier than forty days have passed since the death of a relative, during the celebration you need to mention this and pay tribute to the memory of the deceased. Weddings are allowed at any time.

Many believe that among the things not to do after the funeral of a loved one are trips and travel. This is not true. They will help to distract, but during the trip it is worth giving up various entertainment activities. Do not forget to remember the deceased and pray for his soul during the holidays.

In addition, the relatives of the deceased cannot sew and have their hair cut for forty days. If there is a need to repair clothes, you will have to do this. But tailoring, which is not urgent, should be postponed. The same goes for haircuts. Bangs interfere with daily activities? Get rid of her. But if it's about changing your image, do it in forty days.

The same amount of time for the family of the deceased you can't drink alcohol. Perhaps the ban is due to the fact that grief is an accomplice of alcoholism. But funeral signs also forbid drinking at the wake. The reason is that alcoholism is a sin. For forty days, relatives can pray for a sinful person. If at this time they sin, it will only complicate his afterlife.

After the funeral, they go only to the wake, and from there - home. You can’t go to visit, otherwise death will come to that house. You can visit or go on business only on the day following the funeral and commemoration. The commemoration is also the ninth and fortieth day, and after them this prohibition also applies. You can also not go to celebrations that take place in public places - birthdays, weddings.

They don't go from wake to wake. If two deceased are commemorated on the same day, choose the one who is closer to you. But you can also say goodbye to several dead people, support relatives, and express grief. During the funeral, do not visit the graves of relatives and friends. This time you came to only one deceased, and visiting others will be regarded as disrespectful.

Church opinion

There are many beliefs that are supposed to be observed after the funeral. This will help protect against necrotic energy, diseases and other troubles. In addition, some signs are aimed at improving the afterlife of the deceased and his cleansing from sins.

During the preparation of the body, burial and in a certain period after the funeral, according to the Orthodox Church, there are a number of rules that should be followed. Here are some of them:

1. The funeral is best done on the third day after the death of a person.
2. You can not bury the dead on Sunday and New Year.
3. Immediately after death, all the mirrors in the house must be curtained, and the clock must be stopped. In this state, they must be 40 days.
4. Not for a minute should you leave the deceased in the room alone.
5. It is forbidden to take the deceased out of the house before noon and after sunset.
6. Pregnant women and children are not advised to participate in the ceremony.
7. From the moment of death until the burial, the relatives of the deceased must continuously read the Psalter.
8. You can wash the body of the deceased only during daylight hours.
9. Pregnant women and those who are menstruating may not bathe the deceased.
10. Funeral clothes should be elegant and light, shroud - white. If an unmarried girl dies, she is dressed in a wedding dress.
11. In the house where the person died, a candle or lamp should be lit until the end of the funeral. It is better to use a glass of wheat as a candlestick.
12. You can not wash, sweep and sweep dust if there is a dead person in the house.
13. The coffin is usually placed in the middle of the room in front of domestic icons, with the head towards the icons.
14. It is not recommended to keep animals in the same room as the coffin.
15. In the presence of the deceased, they greet not with a voice, but with a nod of the head.
16. The eyes and mouth of the deceased must be closed. For this purpose, the lower jaw is tied with a handkerchief, and coins are placed on the eyes.
17. A chaplet, a long paper or fabric strip with prayers and images of saints, is placed on the forehead of the deceased.
18. Be sure to wear a pectoral cross on the deceased.
19. Together with the body, all his personal belongings are placed in the coffin: prostheses, glasses, watches, etc.
20. The hands of the deceased should be folded on the chest with a cross, the right hand should be placed on top of the left.
21. The feet and hands of the deceased must be bound. Before burial, the strings are removed and placed in the coffin.
22. Cotton pads should be placed under the head, shoulders and legs of the deceased in the coffin.
23. The heads of dead women should be covered with a scarf. All women attending the funeral must wear a headdress.
24. It is forbidden to put fresh flowers in the coffin, only artificial or dried ones are allowed.
25. The coffin with the dead is taken out of the house feet first and accompanied by church hymns.
26. When taking the coffin out of the house, it is necessary to say: “The deceased is one of the houses out” and close the people in the house or apartment for a few minutes.
27. After the removal of the coffin, all floors must be washed.
28. Blood relatives cannot carry the coffin and lid.
29. From the beginning of the ritual until the moment of burial, the left hand of the deceased should have a cross, and an icon on his chest, laid face to body. For women, the image of the Mother of God is placed on the chest, for men - the image of Christ the Savior.
30. You can go around the coffin with the deceased only at the head, bowing to him at the same time.
31. During the funeral, 4 lighted candles should stand around the coffin: at the head, at the feet and on the hands.
32. The funeral procession must go in strict sequence: a cross, an icon of Christ the Savior, a priest with a candle and a censer, a coffin with the deceased, relatives, other participants with flowers and wreaths.
33. Everyone who meets the funeral procession must cross himself. Men are additionally required to remove their headgear.
34. Saying goodbye to the deceased, it is necessary to kiss the halo on his forehead and the icon on his chest. If the coffin is closed, they are applied to the cross on the lid.
35. All those participating in the funeral procession must throw a handful of earth into the grave.
36. On the day of burial, one should not visit the graves of other relatives or acquaintances.
37. It is not recommended to look at the coffin with the deceased from the windows of a house or apartment.
38. The chairs on which the coffin stood should be placed upside down during the day.
39. At the commemoration, only vodka is served from alcohol. You need to drink it without clinking glasses.
40. During the commemoration, a glass of vodka is poured for the deceased and covered with a slice of bread. After the commemoration, a glass of bread costs another 40 days.
41. Kutya must be present on the memorial table. This is where the memorial service begins.
42. Before entering your home after a funeral, you must clean your shoes and hold your hands over the flame of a candle.
43. After the funeral, guests cannot be visited during the day.
44. The next morning after the burial, relatives and friends should take breakfast to the grave.
45. Within a week from the date of death, nothing should be taken out of the house of the deceased. Things of the deceased can be distributed no earlier than 40 days after burial.
46. 6 weeks after the funeral in the house where the deceased lived, there should be a glass of water and a plate of food on the windowsill.
47. On the graves of young men and women near the head, it is recommended to plant viburnum.
48. One can only speak well of a dead person.
49. You can’t cry and kill yourself for the dead.
50. It is advisable to order immediately after the death of a person in the church or monastery Sorokoust - commemoration at the Divine Liturgy for 40 days.

Number of entries: 87

Hello! Recently, when I put candles in the church, black drops begin to run down them. Moreover, I tried to buy different ones, for different prices, but black drops still drip. I noticed that this began to happen since the time when I began to get sick. With what it can be connected? Thanks for the answer!

Natalia

You have a good e-mail, Natalia, "note - 666"! If you live with such an address, not only black drops will flow from the candles, you will probably have to cry black tears! Change your life, change everything, become a man of the church, study the faith, regularly go to confession, take communion, observe all the fasts and rules, and without relaxation! And as for the black drops on the candles, then you will become a more churchly person, you will understand what nonsense it is to pay any attention to this! Yes, and change your address - this is simply indecent for a Christian.

hegumen Nikon (Golovko)

Hello! I pray to Saint Matrona, but by chance I bought candles for Saint Xenia's home prayer, after finishing the packaging I already saw that there were no candles to Saint Matrona. Nothing to worry about, or should it be avoided? And tell me, please, can one candle be used twice? Pray today, and tomorrow with the same candle? And where to put the rest of the candles? Thanks for your reply in advance!

Julia

Candles are in no way tied to specific saints. And in general, we do not “pray with candles”, candles are only a symbol of our prayer, the burning of our heart before God. You can light one candle several times. A candle can be mounted on a candlestick and burn until it burns out completely, then a new candle can be installed on top of it.

Deacon Ilya Kokin

Good afternoon. Sorry for this question. When I bought candles from Jerusalem, I was told that you can light a lamp and any other candles from them. With a prayer to the Cross, bypass housing. And "any other" candles - can they be household or multi-colored souvenir ones? God bless you.

margarita

Margarita, I believe that only church candles are meant, which are placed in the church. Household candles are lit from an ordinary match or lighter.

Hieromonk Viktorin (Aseev)

Hello, please tell me, is it possible to burn church candles? I have nightmares every night, and I decided to walk around my room with a candle and a prayer ...

Kseniya

Ksenia, you don’t have to walk around with candles, it’s better to bless the apartment, and then sprinkle everything with holy water every evening, this will help. And, of course, confess more often, because the root of all troubles lies in us ourselves - these are our sins.

hegumen Nikon (Golovko)

Why, when I put a candle for health, did it go out?

Julia

Julia, it means that the candle was of poor quality.

Hieromonk Viktorin (Aseev)

Hello I apologize for not too clever questions, and thanks in advance for the answer. Please tell me, is it allowed to write in a note on health the name of a person about whom you don’t know for sure whether he was baptized? If it is unacceptable, then what to do if this happened? The second question is a bit incorrect, and besides, most likely, you have already been asked in different variations, but still I would like to clarify. I, to my shame, do not go to church very often, but lately (for several months now), when I light candles in the church (and not in the same one, but in different ones), wax droplets flow from them all the time black. Since this is connected, as many priests have already answered, with the quality of the candles, once I tried to go to another church, but exactly the same thing happened there. I understand that this is connected with the quality of candles and the technology of their production, and that one should not get carried away with superstitions, but I am very worried, because this is not an isolated case, but happens every time.

Anastasia

Anastasia, personally, I never look at what droplets drip from candles, because I'm not interested, and I know that this is pure superstition. And I advise you - throw these thoughts out of your head. They put a candle - and that's it, and don't pay attention. The main thing is prayer and our life before God. There is a sin - you need to repent of it, and do no more. We must live in peace with God and keep His commandments. The Church prays only for Orthodox baptized people. It is advisable to clarify, if there is any doubt, whether he was baptized.

Hieromonk Viktorin (Aseev)

Tell me, after the commemoration, kutya remained for 40 days, the next day in the morning I will go to the grave. Is it possible to bring to the grave with you kutya and millet, which lay in a plate where there was a candle? And what to do with candle ends?

Maria

Maria, I don’t understand why to carry kutya to the grave, especially since 40 days have already passed. You need to eat kutya and millet yourself at home, take the cinders from candles to the church.

Hieromonk Viktorin (Aseev)

Is it possible for a Muslim to burn church candles at home?

adib

Adib, church candles are designed specifically for worship and prayer. They are a consecrated object, so they cannot be used for any other purpose.

Priest Vladimir Shlykov

Hello, please tell me if a candle can light up in the church for the deceased, we still don’t know for sure whether he is alive or not, but we turned to the clairvoyant, he told us that this person is not alive. Tell me, please, just a month ago we wanted to light a candle for repose, but it did not light up and constantly fell, but today it caught fire.

Ludmila

Lyudmila, all this mess with candles must be thrown out of your head, it has absolutely nothing to do with either the fate of a person or faith in general. You no longer need to turn to "clairvoyants", but you need to go to the temple and repent of what you have already done and done in life. It is necessary to study faith, at least its very foundations, and you will understand that those who communicate with all sorts of sorcerers will not be able to communicate with God - they become antagonists for God. As for the question of how to pray for a person, while it is not known for sure that he has died, then in such cases it is still customary to pray "for health."

hegumen Nikon (Golovko)

Hello! Tell me, please, is it possible to pray not out loud, but to yourself? Pray not in front of icons? Is it necessary to wear a headscarf when praying at home? And is it always necessary to light a candle before prayer? I sometimes pray in a room where there are no icons, silently reading a prayer book so as not to wake up my loved ones or in order not to attract attention to myself. Is it appropriate?

Natalia

Hello Natalia. The apostle, instructing us in doing the commandments of Christ, commanded us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and this cannot be done if only oral prayer is considered prayer. The rules contained in the prayer book are a model of prayer, but prayer is not limited to words. Much more important is the spirit of prayer. The most convenient way to acquire or achieve the spirit of prayer is when we pray aloud, in front of the icon of the Savior and with a lighted lamp. But this does not mean that this is the only way to pray. The patristic teaching on prayer is expounded by St. Ignatius Brianchaninov in the first part of the Ascetic Experiences. Read these chapters and use them to organize your prayer practice in the best possible way.

Priest Alexander Beloslyudov

Yesterday I was in the church at the funeral, and the candle that I was holding burned out very quickly, wept, and the wax flowed black. What would that mean?

Kseniya

Ksenia, the fire on the candle gets on the wax, and it turns black from soot, that's all.

Hieromonk Viktorin (Aseev)

Hello, today I put a candle in the temple, and when I lit it, everyone standing on the candlestick deviated to one side. I felt so bad and I just came for help. Maybe the LORD doesn’t need me anymore, is he tired of it? The priest says that I am depressed all the time, but he does not know what is happening in my life. And who else can I turn to, who can cry, who will give me more strength to carry this, or am I doing something wrong?

Elena

Hello, Elena! Do not think that candles are some kind of sign, they are not. We can never get bored of God, because we are His creation, He suffered on the Cross for us. He takes care of each of us. “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” says the Lord (Matthew 11:28). According to St. John of the Ladder, “Despondency is a relaxation of the soul and exhaustion of the mind, a slanderer of God - as if He is merciless and inhumane.” Despondency must be fought, first of all, with the help of confession and repentance. An effective remedy against despondency is prayer and reading the Word of God, especially the New Testament. Comfort yourself more often by reading the Gospel and trust in the mercy of God. Help you Lord!

Priest Vladimir Shlykov

How to extinguish a candle in a church?

Maria

Maria, there is no definite rule on this matter. It doesn't matter and it doesn't affect anything. Just blowing on a candle is somehow indecent, so more often we use a fan with which we blow out the candles, or we cover the candle with a special cap, and it goes out.

Hieromonk Viktorin (Aseev)

How to put a candle correctly: first for peace, and then for health, or vice versa?

Elena

Elena, it doesn't matter. As you like. The main thing is to pray for your relatives and loved ones for health and repose.

Hieromonk Viktorin (Aseev)

Hello! What will be the consequences if you put candles about the health of all relatives near the icon, where they put candles for the repose, out of ignorance ?!

Basil

Vasily, the main thing is not to put candles, but to live a church life. You need to go to confession and communion regularly. Now, if you do not do this, then there will be bad consequences in eternal life. And from the fact that you put the candle in the wrong place out of ignorance, nothing will happen.

Hieromonk Viktorin (Aseev)

Hello, father! I have observed many times when in the temple on the days of special remembrance of the dead - parental Saturdays - parishioners put candles on the food brought on the eve. Is it necessary to do this, or is it not necessary?

Alexei

Alexei, they usually put candles only on Easter, when it is consecrated, and in kutya during the funeral service or memorial service. On all other days, including parental Saturdays, this is not necessary. Products are brought on the eve, and candles must be placed on a candlestick.

Hieromonk Viktorin (Aseev)