Ascension and the Paschal Candle

[docmattc]

Reports are reaching me of Paschal Candles being extinguished after the Gospel as Mass this evening.

Can anyone lay their hands on the rubric that abolished this practice?
I can find plenty of references that say it is lit Easter to Pentecost inclusive, but nothing official that specified the ascension extinguishing is no longer to be done. My guess is that the change either came with Novus Ordo, or prior to that in the Holy Week reforms.

[John Ainslie]

See Paschale Solemnitas, the instruction of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments dated 16 January 1988, para 99:

The paschal candle has its proper place either by the ambo or by the altar and should be lit at least in all the more solemn liturgical celebrations of the season until Pentecost Sunday, whether at Mass, or at Morning or Evening Prayer. After the Easter season the candle should be kept with honour in the baptistery, so that in the celebration of Baptism the candles of the baptised may be lit from it. In the celebration of Funerals the paschal candle should be placed near the coffin to indicate that the death of a Christian is his own passover. The paschal candle should not otherwise be lit nor placed in the sanctuary outside the Easter season.

Now the change from the previous practice of extinguishing the Paschal candle finally immediately after the Gospel on Ascension Day dates back into the 1960s, but I cannot find a document to support this. The above excerpt's footnote refers to the Roman Missal, which since the 1970 edition has the above sentence 'After the Easter season...' printed at the end of the Pentecost Mass during the day.

The above document can be viewed on http://www.adoremus.org/PaschaleSolemnitatis.html. Its directives about how to celebrate the Triduum should be studied by all who do so - note for next year!

Pedantic note for Latinists: the correct title of this document is Paschale Solemnitas, but the Vatican sometimes spells 'solemnitas' as 'sollemnitas'. However, 'Paschale Solemnitatis' is certainly incorrect.

[Nick Baty]

After the Easter season the candle should be kept with honour in the baptistery...[it] should not otherwise be...placed in the sanctuary outside the Easter season.

That's an intertesting one for legalistic minds, given that most (many?) of our baptismal fonts are within the sanctuary.

[docmattc]

See Paschale Solemnitas, the instruction of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments dated 16 January 1988, para 99:

Now the change from the previous practice of extinguishing the Paschal candle finally immediately after the Gospel on Ascension Day dates back into the 1960s, but I cannot find a document to support this.

Thanks John. That about summarises where I was at too. Mgr Peter Elliot's book states that the candle is not extinguished post-Gospel, but doesn't reference anything either.

Paschale Solemnitas is a very useful document, it should be required reading for anyone involved in the Triduum.

[Southern Comfort]

It is a useful document. However, it is worth keeping in mind that, so Pierre Jounel tells us, it was issued in reaction to the Italian clergy who made little differentiation between the Easter Vigil and a Saturday evening anticipated Mass of Sunday, getting through the whole rite in 45 minutes. (My God!) It was not aimed at other countries. [Hence the emphasis on accentuating the symbolism. How many of us have a true Easter "bonfire", for example?] A classic example of Rome finding something distasteful on its own doorstep and issuing a global document to stem the abuse. The words sledgehammer and nut come to mind, for some reason.

[presbyter]

It is a useful document. However, it is worth keeping in mind that, so Pierre Jounel tells us, it was issued in reaction to the Italian clergy.....

Another rumour is that it was issued in reaction to the St Thos More Centre's publication - of which i still have two copies.

[docmattc]

Italian clergy who made little differentiation between the Easter Vigil and a Saturday evening anticipated Mass of Sunday

That's not exclusive to Italian clergy- I've heard the phrase "Its only a Saturday Night Mass" from an English one! It might be a sledgehammer to crack a nut, but there are some very hard nut cases around. (none of whom, of course would ever read this document, and if they did would invoke "Pastoral reasons" to ignore it)