During 2023, Parishioner Mark Nalevanko shared with us some key figures in church History.
Read more about that here.
In 2024, Mark will be answering “Why Do Catholics Do That?” Questions!
If you have any specific comments, questions, or requests on topics, reach out to Parishioner Mark Nalevanko (mark.nalevanko@gmail.com).
The Month of Our Lady (May)
The Story Behind this Month Long Devotion to Mary
May is known as the Month of Mary. Perhaps some may think it has to do with the similarities in the names of the month and the Mother of God while others may also see an association with Spring flowers and/or the celebration of Mother’s Day in this month. However, there is more to the story. Read on to learn more.
While Mary has always played an important part within the Church, Marian devotion in the Western Church increased around the 11th century. At this time a custom known as Tricesimum (or “Thirty-Day Devotion to Mary”, also called “Lady Month”) developed locally/regionally and was originally held from August 15-September 14 perhaps to align with the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, which does currently reside on August 15. The intent was to perform a spiritual exercise, such as a recitation of the Rosary, on each day within the 30 day period.
A more widespread practice toward a month-long devotion to Mary in May occurred in the 18th century when Jesuit Fr. Latomia in Rome shifted the focus of a devotional month for Mary to May. It is believed it was initially an attempt to increase the piety of his students and focus attention on the true Faith while turning away from other ancient pagan-rooted cultural practices. For many cultures, May was typically a time associated with the beginning of new life and the full arrival of Spring. Fr. Latomia’s practice spread to other Jesuit educational institutes and parishes, and was supported by the popes.
While there are no required rituals to be performed during the Month of May concerning this month-long devotion to Mary there is often a “May Crowning” event performed where a statue of Mary is crowned with typically a crown of flowers (see picture), which harkens to the Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven, which is celebrated as a feast day on August 22. There are some feast days though within the General Roman Calendar in May which are focused on Mary. The feast day for Our Lady of Fatima is celebrated on May 13. It recalls the series of six, once-a-month Marian apparitions to three shepherd children in Portugal between May 13-Oct 13, 1917 which culminated with the miracle of the dancing sun in the sky witnessed by thousands. May 31 is also the feast day for the Visitation when upon receiving news from the angel Gabriel concerning the conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit, Mary traveled to her cousin Elizabeth and stayed with her for three months. It should also be noted that depending on when the Easter Season falls in a given year, there is often the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church in May as it falls on the Monday after Pentecost. This feast day was recently added by Pope Francis to the General Roman Calendar in 2018.
As we continue within the month of May, next time we will review the origins of one of the most important sacramentals of the Church, which is also deeply associated with Mary, the Rosary.
Catholic Liturgy Around the World – The Rite Stuff
For the majority of Catholics in the West, we are accustomed to following the Latin (aka Roman) Church’s rite of liturgy, but the Latin Church is just one of twenty-four self-governing Churches in full communion with the Pope which make up the Catholic Church. Across these Churches there are six liturgical rites: five reside among Eastern Churches and one resides in the Western Latin Church. Read more for a brief history on these different rites.
(Note: Click on each rite’s header link if desiring to learn more.)
Shortly after the Ascension of Jesus Christ, the Apostles and their disciples began the mission of spreading the Good News to all of the world. Peter journeyed north of Palestine to Antioch (the southernmost part of present-day Turkey) and served as bishop there for a few years before journeying to Rome. Antioch would operate as the center for the establishment of what would become known as the Antiochene Rite. While a Liturgy of St. Peter does exist, this rite is rooted instead in the Liturgy of St. James (first bishop of Jerusalem), originally said in Greek and then translated to Syriac and Arabic. This rite is followed by the Maronite Catholic, Syriac Catholic and Syro-Malankara Catholic Churches. The Eucharist is usually received through intinction where the bread is dipped in wine before being received, a common practice with Eastern Rite traditions. With the exception of the Maronite Church, most Churches of this and the other Eastern rites will confer all three sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist) at the same time too, both for adults and infants. Additionally many Eastern Churches have traditionally permitted married men to be priests but not bishops.
Mark the Evangelist, one of Peter’s missionary companions and writer of one of the four Gospels, which is believed to be based on Peter’s recounting of the words and events of Jesus Christ, established the Church in Alexandria, Egypt. Serving as first bishop, he wrote down in Greek what became known as the Liturgy of St Mark. This liturgy was translated to Coptic by St. Cyril of Alexandria in the early 5th century. This liturgy along with one formulated by St Basil in the 4th century primarily make up the Alexandrian Rite still used to this day by the Coptic Catholic Church, Ethiopian Catholic Church, and the more recently established Eritrean Catholic Church, which was separated from the Ethiopian Catholic Church under Pope Francis in 2015. All three Churches offer the Eucharist through intinction. The Coptic Catholic Church uses leavened bread while the other two use unleavened bread.
The Apostles Jude and Bartholomew are believed to have first brought the Christian faith to Armenia (north of present day Iraq and Iran). While during the early centuries the Church in Armenia was under the authority of the bishop of Antioch, language and geographic barriers eventually saw the evolution of a new rite that incorporated parts of other rites with credit given to Gregory the Illuminator. Like the case with the Latin Rite, only one particular Church, namely the Armenian Church, uses this rite. After AD 451, the Armenian Church was separated from Rome over Christological differences concerning the two natures of Jesus Christ until reunification became permanent again in 1740. The rite uses unleavened bread like the Latin tradition, but is the only liturgical tradition where water is not added to the wine. In modern times, most Armenian Catholics are in countries such as Lebanon (see picture of Cathedral in Beirut), the US, Canada, and France as various religious, political, and economic obstacles have compelled many Catholics originally from Armenia to relocate over the last century.
The Apostle Thomas may have been the farthest traveling Apostle of Christ as traditions hold he made his way to areas of Mesopotamia (present day Iraq) and parts of India. From his initial evangelization work sprouted two Churches – the Chaldean and Syro-Malabar Churches. Both Churches also split away from Rome during the 5th century over Christological differences but part of both rejoined in the 16th century. Given distance, the Syro-Malabar Church in India was somewhat forgotten until the age of exploration brought European Catholics in touch with Indian communities that called themselves St. Thomas Christians. After some initial Latinization of liturgical rites, a push occurred to return to the historical rites of the Church. While the Syro-Malabar Church is a thriving Church (second largest Eastern Catholic Church and the source of many religious vocations), the Chaldean Church struggles to survive given the long running Islamic military pressures that exist within Iraq.
Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) Rite
Consisting of 14 particular Churches (mostly named after countries or ethnic groups of Eastern Europe), this Eastern rite is based on the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, who was extremely influential as both a bishop and exceptional homilist around Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire (present-day Istanbul, Turkey), during the early 5th century. The rite is something of a merging of the Alexandrian and Antiochene Rites. Sts. Cyril and Methodius are highly revered within Byzantine traditions for their efforts in bringing the Christian faith to many parts of Eastern Europe. Essentially one Byzantine Church existed until after the Great Schism between the Eastern and Western Church unfolded in 1054. Although disagreements had existed for centuries prior and continue to this day between East and West over topics such as the use of leavened vs. unleavened bread, a modification made to the Creed that the East thought was improperly approved, and the authority of the Pope compared to other Patriarchs in the East, this formal schism led to the formation of the Orthodox Church. However, various groups with specific national/ethnic ties would break from the Orthodox Church and rejoin in full communion with the Catholic Church as they saw a need to strengthen ties with the Catholic Church during the time of the Protestant Reformation.
Latin Rite
With the Great Schism between the Eastern and Western Churches in 1054, the Latin (or Roman) Church continued on with an approach that favored a more uniform operational unit. With the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, Europe was left for centuries without any central government like had existed under the Roman Empire. The Church oftentimes served as one of the few stabilizing cohesive entities for that period in time. Consequently, only one particular Latin rite Church existed. However, this did not mean that other Latin-based rites did not exist. For example the Gallican Rites, including the Ambrosian Rite of Milan, the Braga Rite of Portugal, and the Mozarabic Rite in parts of Spain, were essentially Latin translations beginning around the 5th century of some of the aforementioned Eastern Rites. Additionally there were Catholic Order Rites, which were specific to certain religious orders, such as the Benedictines, Carmelites and Dominicans. One of the decrees to come out of the reform directives of the Council of Trent (1545-1563) was to solidify the Roman Missal and consequently led to its strict application across the entire Latin Church. However, rites that had existed for at least 200 years for some communities, such as the aforementioned, were permitted to continue.
Incense – Odor of Sanctity
Perhaps for most people the first recollection as a child of frankincense would be as one of the gifts the magi brought to the Nativity of Jesus Christ or the smoky (and smelly) stuff used sometimes at Mass. But what exactly is frankincense and why is it something that plays an important part in the sights and smells of Catholicism?
Frankincense has a long history. It comes from the Boswellia genus of trees (see picture 1), which are scrubby desert trees with tiny leaves. In ancient times, these trees were found primarily in southern Arabia (present day Yemen and Oman) and home to some mysteriously known kingdoms such as Sheba, whose queen is mentioned in the Bible as visiting King Solomon. The area is known for some of the hottest weather in the world and is very difficult for outsiders to travel to. Traders would go through a process of scraping patches of the tree’s bark around three times during the course of a couple months to stimulate the excretion of sap. It is the third and final scraping that produces the most aromatic form of the resin, solidifying into amber-gold crystalline lumps (see picture 2). Natives to the area established a booming export business for frankincense going back at least 5,000 years with hundreds of tons of the product being shipped out by sea. As Herodotus, a 5th century BC historian, described it, “the whole country is scented and exhales an odor marvelously sweet.” Beyond its use for burning to emit an aroma, it’s also used in perfumes, essential oils, and natural medicines with some studies suggesting it can prevent the spread of cancer cells.
With a booming supply of incense from the East, the Temple with its Altar of Incense, first as a portable tent structure then a permanent structure in Jerusalem built under Solomon, would offer incense both morning and evening as part of sacrificial offerings (cf. Ex 30:7-8). The Books of Numbers and Leviticus frequently describe sacrificial offerings as being a “pleasing aroma” to the Lord. The Christian faith used incense too in continuing from its Jewish roots, but not in the same manner.
Firstly, incense for Christians took on the meaning of a visual and odorous representation of prayer. John described in Revelations about a vision where the “smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God.” (cf Rev 8:4). Second century Church Father Clement of Alexandria also put it beautifully by saying “the true Altar of Incense is the just soul, and the perfume from it is holy prayer.”
Secondly, as part of liturgical activities incense represents purification. The oldest surviving description of Roman Catholic liturgical practices, the Ordo Romanus, which goes back to the 7th century AD, mentions the requirement of a deacon carrying a censer for incense to precede the bishop as he enters the sanctuary as a purification act before the liturgy begins. It harkens back to the ancient traditions of the lands from which frankincense came where as part of welcoming guests on a visit lit frankincense would be passed around with the smoke fanned onto the guests’ clothes. Until Vatican II, incense was a required component at every High Mass and Benediction, but now optional.
In concluding, perhaps one unexpected place to find incense still is on the Easter candle, where five grains of incense, typically red in color, representing the five wounds of Christ (two nails in the hands,one in the feet, and the spear thrust into the side), are arranged in the shape of a cross.
Water – Plain, Running, Blessed, Sprinkled… What does it all mean?
On several occasions in the Old Testament we read about the use of water and/or blood along with hyssop as part of ritual practices. Why were these specific items and practices utilized? And how did they influence the traditions of the Church down to the present day?
In Exodus 12 we learn about the first Passover where the Israelites in Egypt were instructed to spread blood using hyssop around their doorways as a sign for the Lord to “pass over” their houses. As a result of following these specific instructions, the first born of these households were spared from death. Later on Leviticus 14 describes Moses using hyssop to sprinkle water and blood on a house as part of a purification ritual for leprosy. Numbers 19 also speaks of using hyssop to sprinkle water to clean a person after touching a corpse. And similarly, Psalm 51 mentions the use of hyssop as part of an act that physically cleanses the body while also symbolically cleansing the soul of sins. From the above examples, it seemed clear that both water and blood offered a means for cleansing or purification as part of many rituals of Judaism. Additionally, the ancient world’s use of hyssop seemed to resemble how we would use a brush today. For those not fully aware, hyssop is a woody herb, part of the mint or sage family, that typically grows to around 2 ft tall with slender leaves and blue flowers (see pic). In the ancient world around Egypt and the Middle East, it served as a simple, readily available tool for absorbing liquids and then spreading it around. The Church initially incorporated hyssop in ways similarly described in the Old Testament for the sprinkling of water, but within the modern Church it has been mostly supplanted with a device called an aspergillum (see pic), which consists of a small metal ball with holes and a sponge inside at the end of a handle. Most have probably seen it used when there is a sprinkling of blessed water over a congregation.
As noted with some of the above examples, the use of water as part of Jewish purification rituals were plentiful and also extended to everyday activities such as preparing for a meal, praying or even entering a home. The Temple in Jerusalem apparently featured an elaborate storage and distribution system for water. One gets a brief mention of it in 2 Kings 25 when the Babylonians dismantled it all to take away the precious metals involved in its construction. Jewish ritual washings influenced early Church’s traditions so much that in the 2nd century Tertullian had to specifically point out in his writings to fellow Christians that it wasn’t necessary to wash hands before praying as was Jewish custom. On the other hand, the practice of ritual washing before making a sacrifice is still performed by the priest as part of every Mass shortly after the reception of the gifts of bread and wine. With the construction of the first public Church buildings around the fourth century, it was typical to feature a public washing fountain in the courtyard so people coming to Mass could wash their hands and feets, following again some of the ritual washing practices of Judaism. Over time these washing fountains would cease to exist. However, continuing to the present today, water is still offered in the form of a holy water font or stoup located at the entrance of a Church. This font contains blessed water which can remit venial sins as part of preparation for the reception of the Eucharist at Mass.
Of course in the sacrament of Baptism we see one of the most apparent uses of water by the Church. Following John the Baptist’s practice of using the moving water of a river, the early Church put a preference on the use of “running water” outside as part of the sacrament when it was possible as symbolism for the washing away of sins. However, baptisms went indoors fairly early on. The combination of written and archaeological evidence suggests that some of the earliest Church gathering spaces were over or near Roman bathhouses. In the 2nd century, Justin Martyr mentions while living in Rome about Christians meeting above a bath house, which may well have been the beginnings of what is today known as the basilica Santa Pudenziana in Rome, the oldest known place of Christian worship in Rome. With the migration indoors, baptisms either by full immersion, a pouring over of water or even simply a sprinkling were permitted to accommodate different circumstances. In the process, the symbolism of water with the sacrament shifted more towards a rebirth of life.
Water is such a necessary part of life and it’s only natural to see its incorporation into many of the practices of the Church. As will become a common theme as more topics get discussed in this series, much of what we see done within the Church has its roots from older Jewish customs and traditions.
The Sign of the Cross – The Backstory
Having recently posted about the origin of the Stations of the Cross one may wonder how did the Sign of the Cross also take root and become a primary symbol of the Christian faith. For most who are unaware, it is a rather unexpected story.
As we know from the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ, crucifixions were an incredibly harsh form of capital punishment employed within the Roman Empire. Various shaped crosses and methods of attaching individuals to them either through nailing or tying with ropes, or a combination of both, were employed. It was a form of punishment reserved only for the worst criminals and non-Roman citizens. Within this environment, the use of a cross or crucifix as a symbol was primarily done as a form of mockery as evident by the oldest known representation of the crucifixion of Jesus coming from around 220 AD where Roman soldiers drew graffiti mocking someone who believed in Jesus as the Son of God by showing a figure with a donkey head on a cross. Thus the earliest artwork of the Church did not overtly utilize the cross, instead in a more hidden form as part of another symbol, such as a trident or an anchor. The anchor in particular was used as a symbol already to represent a safe arrival at port after an often dangerous and uncertain journey. The symbol would be adapted to signify Christian hope of reaching the heavenly port, the Kingdom of God, often with the words Pax tecum or “Peace be with you” (see picture 1).
Things changed under the reign of Emperor Constantine the Great in the early AD 300s. In addition to legalizing Christianity, crucifixions became outlawed within the Roman Empire. Prior to becoming Emperor and while preparing for battle to win over control of the empire from a competitor, Constantine saw a vision in the sky of a cross with the words “in this sign you will conquer.” The event prompted Constantine to utilize a symbol called the Chi Rho as a military standard, which is an X with the letter P superimposed (see picture 2), the first two letters for Christ in Greek. Additionally, as mentioned in the previous article concerning the Stations of the Cross, Constantine’s mother, Helena, traveled to Jerusalem and uncovered the True Cross. Legend has it that three crosses were found in the believed site of Jesus’ crucifixion and not knowing which one was the True Cross, she had a procession involving a dead boy pass under the shadow of each. Once the dead boy came under the shadow of the True Cross, he awoke and rose up!
As the Cross became more commonly utilized as a Christian symbol and part of artwork attempts were made to focus on ornamenting it with fine gems and jewels, but the Church ultimately preferred to utilize a more realistic form of representing the Crucifixion with either a tranquil or agonizing depiction of Christ attached to a cross. At the time of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries, some sects aimed to remove crucifixes thinking it represented either something concerning the hierarchy of the Church and/or a form of idol worship.
As for the signing of the cross as a ritual practice, the first mentionings of this practice in the form of a seal made on the forehead goes back to the early third century AD. Tertullian in N. Africa is even quoted as saying “We Christians wear out our foreheads with the sign of the cross.” The Apostolic Tradition, an early Church document from the same time period which described various practices of the Church, also mentions the blessing as part of baptismal and prayer rituals. The added symbolism associated with a signing involving forehead, lower chest/stomach and each shoulder while invoking the Trinity includes a portrayal of Christ’s descending from Heaven (forehead) to earth (chest/stomach) with power and dominion over all (shoulders).
In the modern age, we may take for granted the symbol of the Cross and the signing of the cross but in the first centuries of the Church while the cross took on an understanding as being a symbol of mockery and the Faith was essentially outlawed with various times of stiff persecutions, early Christians had to employ more hidden ways to convey the Faith as part of their symbolic language.
Stations of the Cross – An Origin Story
As a common fixture in Catholic Churches, the Stations of the Cross depict Jesus’ Passion on Good Friday on the hill of Calvary and offer a significant way for Catholics to reflect more intently on the events associated with that day. But how and when did this form of sacred art come to be? As we get ready to embark on the Lenten season, where the Stations of the Cross take on a more prominent role than any other time of the year, let’s again take a stroll through history.
As noted in the Gospel of John chapter 19, Jesus was buried in an unused tomb within a garden at the behest of Joseph of Arimathea. This site unfortunately became lost to history somewhat within the first couple centuries after Jesus’ resurrection due to wars and the persecutions experienced by both Christians and Jews. Jerusalem was left in ruins after AD 70. The Roman Emperor Hadrian ordered the construction of a new city called Aelia Capitolina over the ruins around AD 130 in an attempt to literally bury any memory of Jewish and early Christian religion at the site. This new city was dedicated to pagan gods and inhabited mostly by Roman military and immigrants from the West with Jews and Christians essentially shut out from the area.
Things changed under the reign of Emperor Constantine the Great in the early AD 300s. His affinity to the Christian faith, likely in response to the belief that the Christian God helped him to win a pivotal battle that led to his control of the Roman Empire, led to the establishment of public Christian worship activities around the empire and in particular Jerusalem. His mother, Helena, who had become a Christian too, traveled to the area of Jerusalem around AD 325 in search of Christian relics. Essentially the first Christian archaeologist (and in her 70s too), she located both the True Cross and the burial tomb, which had been covered up by a pagan shrine. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built around the tomb and remains to this day.
The finding and construction of religious sites prompted people to start traveling to Jerusalem and surrounding areas in an effort to trace the events of Jesus’ life. Known as pilgrimages, the trips offered an indulgence to the pilgrim who successfully completed the trip. However, traveling to Jerusalem was challenging and oftentimes dangerous. The solution: “copies” of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre were built in other locations with markers representing the tomb or other events of the Passion in an effort to mimic a pilgrimage by instead visiting several churches within a regional area. (Note: These churches were often not constructed in a manner that replicated the architecture/design of the original in Jerusalem given a combination of lack of details on what the original looked like and the material resources locally available for construction.)
However, over time it became apparent that these reproduced pilgrimage walks were not an option for everyone still so in the 14th century the Franciscans began putting up wooden crosses in their churches and then in parish churches everywhere with each cross ornamented in a way to depict a “station” or event in the Passion. This became known as the Way of the Cross with the spiritual benefits of an indulgence still offered if one meditated on each station. With the number of stations varying some, Pope Clement XII in 1731 fixed the number of stations to the fourteen which we know today. Over time the wooden crosses of the stations became increasingly decorated and in many cases were altogether replaced by sturdier materials for the construction of elaborate artwork.
Let There Be Light: The Short Story on Candles in Prayer and Liturgy
Within the Catholic Church there are three primary ritual applications behind the use of candles: 1) to symbolize God’s presence, 2) as acts of devotion, and 3) as sacramentals. But why did candles take on these particular uses within the Church? Let’s take a quick stroll down history lane to get a better understanding.
Light has taken on important symbolism since the beginning of time. It represents an opposition to darkness and its related attributes: ignorance, sadness, death, error and evil. Anyone familiar with the Old Testament will likely recall the construction of the Ark of the Covenant and its dwelling space for God shortly after Moses’ reception of the ten commandments (see Exodus 25-27). This dwelling space, initially consisting of a partitioned tent structure with a courtyard to perform certain sacrificial offerings, became known by various terms such as the tabernacle, meeting tent, and then later the Temple when constructed at a permanent location. Within this tent structure existed among other things a lampstand with seven lamps, later called the menorah, which was to be lit continuously and fueled by olive oil. The significance of the menorah for the Israelites continued in subsequent centuries even with the rise and fall of the permanent Temple in Jerusalem. About 150 years before the arrival of Christ, a newer Jewish feast called Hanukkah re-established the significance of light (and the menorah) within the Temple. The feast commemorated the success of the Maccabean Revolt with the restoration of Jerusalem and the rededication of the Temple including the relighting of the menorah.
Throughout the centuries many pagan rites also used various forms of light (lamps, candles, and fires) in veneration of their gods, the dead, and/or the emperor. In fact, with this common usage among pagan rites, the early Church in opposition to pagan practices initially resisted extensive use of candles beyond simply their illumination purpose. However, as the Church grew and paganism decreased, things changed. Constantine the Great, one of the greatest benefactors of the Church, provided lampstands and oils for many churches during the building boom of the 4th century when the Christian faith became legalized. St. Jerome (c. 342-420) mentioned within his writings of the common use in the East of candles when reading the Gospel as a symbol of joy. He also saw the lighting of candles for loved ones and the deceased as acceptable with the understanding that it was a purely symbolic gesture and not meant to fulfill any obligation or be a means to acquire a reward from God. Depending on region and cultural background, the practice of lighting votive candles became common. The root of this practice goes again back to Old Testament times and the use of burnt offerings as one form of several types of offerings given by the Israelites to God at the tabernacle. The rising smoke served as a symbol of one’s prayers rising up to heaven.
Interestingly the Latin word ceremonius, which our English word ceremony comes from, refers to “the person who carries a wax candle at public rituals.” It seems over time candles had become a normal part of liturgical ceremonies. One of the earliest officially recognized Christian feasts going back to at least the 300s AD, initially called the Feast of the Purification but more commonly known today as the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord when Jesus was brought by Joseph and Mary to the Temple for the first time in the presence of Simeon, is also called Candlemas. This feast serves as a time to bless the candles which are to be used for the upcoming year. The blessed candles serve as sacramentals, an aid towards the good of the soul. Other examples of sacramentals, which will be discussed in future editions of this series, include holy water and the rosary.
During the Middle Ages and the 12th century in particular oil burning lamps became supplanted by candles as we know them today. Through the work of the scholastics of this age candles took on a much deeper symbolism too centered on them being a representation of Christ’s presence as He is the “light of the world” (John 9:5). The pale color of the candle wax symbolized Christ’s flesh with the wick embedded in the center representing His soul and the flame His divine nature. The consumption of the wax served as a representation of Christ’s sacrifice for us. (Note: This is why electric candles, despite some practical advantages, quite frankly don’t offer the same kind of symbolism as provided by regular wax candles.) The aroma released from the burning was also meant to be aesthetically pleasing. The sanctuary lamp, typically red in color and located near the tabernacle, became a common feature in the Catholic church. It is meant to be kept lit whenever the Blessed Sacrament resides within the tabernacle. This lamp ultimately is a Christian adaptation of some of the symbolism associated with the aforementioned menorah and the tabernacle in Judaism.
With the onset of the Protestant Revolution in the 16th century, one of the many changes pushed by Protestants was the removal of candles, among many other items, from within churches. The movement claimed it was ridding churches of practices of idolatry, not understanding the symbolic-only role associated with candles. However, the aforementioned customs involving the use of candles were well-established and remained. They represent just one of the many riches of our Catholic culture.