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Altar Lights

The American Church Dictionary and Cyclopedia

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Dictionaries
American Church Dictionary
• Lights On the Altar
• Altar Lights
Encyclopedias
McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia
• Altar-Lights

Two candles in candlesticks placed on the retable of the Altar and lighted at the celebration of the Holy Eucharist; frequently called Eucharistic Lights. They are used to symbolize our Lord as the Light of the world in His two Natures, Human and Divine. The symbolical use of lighted tapers in Divine Service is of primitive antiquity and their use is being generally restored in both the English and American branches of the Church. This is evidenced by the table in the Tourist's Church Guide for 1898, in which it appears that in 1882 there were 581 churches in which the Altar Lights were used, while in 1898 the number had increased to 4,334. (See LIGHTS ON THE ALTAR).