Aretha Franklin played in the background as Father Kevin J.
Larsen, donning a Williams-Sonoma apron, adjusted the
stovetop temperature in the rectory kitchen at St. Bernadette
Church in Springfield. No, the pastor of St. Bernadette was
not whipping up a gourmet dish. He was making candles.
“I’ve been thinking about doing this for years,” said Father
Larsen as he stirred melting wax last Friday afternoon. “I
decided it was time to do it.”
Although he made candles growing up, giving animal- and
star-shaped wax creations as gifts, Father Larsen’s recent
candle-making project is more ambitious. He wants to make new
candles out of recycled wax and containers to help St.
Bernadette and other Arlington diocesan parishes reduce
waste, save money and help needy students.
Candle costs
Candles are ever-present during Catholic liturgies – from the
altar candles used throughout the year to paschal candles
used during Easter and special occasions such as baptisms and
funerals. Most are not fully consumed.
At a certain point, the candle socket prevents the bottom few
inches of the candle from burning properly. That leaves lots
of unusable stubby candles.
Liturgical candles have been blessed, usually on the feast of
the Presentation of the Lord, also called “Candlemas,” Feb.
2. Since they have been blessed, “technically you’re supposed
to dispose of them in the ground, to bury them,” said Father
Larsen.
Deciding when and where to bury candles can be difficult, so
at a lot of parishes, including St. Bernadette, the candle
stubs accumulate into large quantities.
Several hundred pounds of candles fill plastic tubs in the
St. Bernadette rectory basement.
“People just don’t know what to do with all of them,” Father
Larsen said.
Unlike altar candles, tabernacle vigil lamps – candles in
glass containers that typically are placed within a red or
blue glass shell – can burn all the way down. But once the
wax is used up, parishes are left with the containers.
Ideally they are recycled, but often the glass is just tossed
out, said Father Larsen.
A vigil lamp must be burning wherever the Eucharist is
reserved in a tabernacle, and some parishes also burn the
lamps in front of religious statues.
Replacing the tabernacle vigil candles costs big bucks,
Father Larsen said.
Part of their expense is because liturgical candles must be
composed of at least 51 percent beeswax, which is more
expensive than other kinds of wax.
According to Father Paul F. deLadurantaye, diocesan secretary
for religious education and sacred liturgy, beeswax
represents sacrifice – the human sacrifice of the extra cost
and the bees’ sacrifice of labor.
Father Larsen said that beeswax candles also burn cleaner and
slower.
Parishes can use up to eight cases of nine, two-week-burning
tabernacle vigil candles per year, and at a cost of $170 per
case that’s $1,360 annually.
An enlightened idea
Father Larsen’s vision is to unburden parishes of their old
candle stubs and tabernacle containers and recycle them into
new tabernacle vigil lamps. For a donation of $100 per case
of nine, parishes could receive Father Larsen’s rectory-made
candles and save hundreds of dollars.
After the cost of materials is covered – including new wicks
– the donations would go toward the St. Bernadette tuition
assistance fund. Each year, the school gives out $40-50,000
worth of tuition assistance to needy students.
“It’s a win-win-win situation,” said Father Larsen.
The weak link in the project is getting the word out to
parishes, he said. In order for his vision to catch fire, he
needs empty tabernacle vigil lamp containers, candle stubs
that are at least 51 percent beeswax and parishes that want
to use the recycled candles. A few parishes have donated
candles and a couple of containers, but without more
donations, he said the project will be restricted to just
recycling St. Bernadette candles.
So far, Father Larsen has made about 40 candles. Once he gets
on a roll, he can make up to a case of nine candles in an
hour. If the recycling project takes off, he has ideas to
expand the operation, including hiring high schoolers to pick
up and drop off the candles at churches.
“It’s kind of fun; I enjoy doing it, but I can’t continue
without more donations and interest,” he said.
On the recent afternoon in the rectory kitchen, Father Larsen
measures and cuts new wicks and carefully centers them in the
glass containers. Centering the wick is “most critical to the
process,” he said. “If the wick gets too close to the sides
of the glass it can crack it.”
With wick in place, Father Larsen slowly pours the melted
recycled wax – a warm yellow color from the beeswax – into
the glass jars. As the wax cools, it turns from clear yellow
to creamy white.
Once cooled, the old wax has another chance to play a small
part in the sacred liturgy – to be blessed, lit and to burn
again.
Recycle your candles
To donate tabernacle vigil lamp containers and candle stubs
made from 51 percent beeswax or more and to obtain recycled
candles for your parish, contact Fr. Kevin Larsen at
703/451-8576 or [email protected].
