Why Every Catholic Home Needs a Blessing Candle

Growing up with a Catholic Italian mom and grandparents, we had many traditions that were sacred in our home. One was blessing our home with holy water and the palm from Palm Sunday. My grandpa would go around the entire house, spritzing every corner with holy water as he proclaimed the space for God, asked for protection upon the home and each of us, and invited the Holy Spirit to dwell within.

The other was the use of blessing candles to celebrate special occasions and to light in times of need.  

Blessing candles are 100% beeswax, pure, and blessed by a priest or deacon in advance of use. My family kept our blessing candles in a special drawer in our dining room, and they were brought out for every birthday and celebration. My mom would also light them during her special prayer times and would carry them into our room whenever we were sick. We would light the candle and pray for God’s healing.  Our home always had a set of blessing candles for those important moments when we needed to pray for God’s protection, healing, and grace.

BLESSING OF CANDLES 

This is a Catholic prayer to bless your candles:

May God be with you. Let us pray, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, bless these candles at our lowly request. Endow them, Lord, by the power of the holy cross, with a blessing from on high, you who gave them to mankind in order to dispel darkness and bring in your DIVINE LOVE AND LIGHT. AMEN.