This page records how Orthodox Christians light a candle in church, following sources from the Russian Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), and the Greek, Antiochian and Serbian traditions. The library's Orthodox shrine has a tray of sand holding slender beeswax candles before a three-bar cross. Choose one or two candles and the tray receives exactly that many. In real churches what matters is where the candle is placed. The shrine has only one tray and cannot show that. The last section says so plainly.
IHow Many Candles
Orthodox sources say outright that there is no rule on the number of candles. One is enough. What they stress is sincerity and the prayer that goes with the candle.
The library does not offer 3, 4, 7, 12 or 40 candles. Those numbers appear only in rites served by clergy: three candles on the baptismal font, four in the form of a cross around the coffin, seven around the vessel of oil at Holy Unction. They are not the worshipper's own candles.
At the library's Orthodox shrine, each lighting counts as one sincere visit, whether you choose one or two candles.
IIWhere The Candle Stands Matters More Than How Many
IIIEight Prayers And Where Each Icon Comes From
The two basic intentions of an Orthodox Christian lighting a candle are for the living and for the departed. The other six come from what the Church prays for in the Great Litany and in the sacraments: the sick, travelers, thanksgiving, mercy, the family, peace. The list was chosen by the library. Each icon is an object, with a note on where it belongs and which source describes it.
Beeswax candles in a tray of sand. Pravmir records that candles for health are usually placed before the icon of the Saviour, the Mother of God, or Saint Panteleimon. An Antiochian parish in the United States describes a box of sand holding tall, thin beeswax candles. The same parish explains that beeswax symbolizes the pure flesh of Christ, the wick his soul, and the flame his divinity.
Common Orthodox practice · Source: Pravmir, Свеча церковная. Saint John the Evangelist Orthodox Church (Antiochian)A bowl of koliva with a candle. Koliva is boiled wheat mixed with nuts and raisins, blessed at memorial services for the departed, called panikhida in Slavonic. An Antiochian parish cites John 12:24 on the grain of wheat that falls into the earth, dies and bears much fruit, to speak of faith in the resurrection. According to Wikipedia, a candle is usually placed in the centre of the koliva and burns throughout the service. The prayer here translates the short prayer given by a Russian priest in Foma.
Orthodox memorial rite · Source: St. Michael Antiochian Orthodox Church, What is the koliva?. Wikipedia, Koliva. Foma, Свечи за упокойThe bowl of oil for Holy Unction. The sacrament of Holy Unction is for the sick, both the physically and the mentally sick. The OCA page cites the Letter of James: let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. The full rite calls for seven priests, seven readings, seven prayers and seven anointings. A person lighting a candle does not anoint. The icon only points to that sacrament.
Sacrament of the Orthodox Church · Source: OCA, Holy Unction. OCA, Great LitanyA boat. The Great Litany opens every Orthodox service. According to the OCA page, in it the people pray for travelers, for the sick, the suffering and those in captivity. The boat is the library's own drawing of someone far from home, not a liturgical object.
Petition of the liturgy, icon drawn by the library · Source: OCA, Great LitanyThe five loaves of the Artoklasia. The Artoklasia is the blessing of five loaves with wheat, wine and olive oil in the Greek tradition. Its prayer recalls how the Lord blessed the five loaves in the wilderness and fed five thousand. A parish of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America calls it a short service of thanksgiving, in which families offer the loaves to pray for the health and salvation of family and friends. Real loaves carry a stamped seal. The icon shows only a simple cross mark.
Service of the Greek tradition · Source: GOARCH, Artoklasia. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada, The Artoklasia. Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, ArtoklasiaThe prayer rope. The line here is the Jesus Prayer as given on the OCA site. The prayer rope, komboskini in Greek, is a cord of woollen knots that helps a person count repetitions of the prayer. An Antiochian parish notes ropes of 33, 50, 100 knots or more, the most common being 100, and says they are for all Orthodox Christians and not only monastics. The icon reduces the number of knots.
Orthodox life of prayer · Source: OCA, The Jesus Prayer. Saint John the Evangelist Orthodox Church, How To Use A Prayer RopeThe wedding crowns. In the Orthodox marriage service the couple are crowned. The OCA page explains: they are crowned with the crowns of God's glory to be his children and witnesses in this world, and heirs of everlasting life. The ribbon joining the two crowns in the icon is the library's way of drawing them and has no source read.
Orthodox sacrament of Marriage · Source: OCA, MarriageAn olive branch. According to the OCA page, the Great Litany begins with prayers in peace and for peace, then prays for all cities and countries. The olive branch is the library's own drawing of peace, not an Orthodox liturgical object.
Petition of the liturgy, icon drawn by the library · Source: OCA, Great LitanyThe library does not draw icons of Christ, the Mother of God or the saints as buttons. An icon is a holy image venerated in worship, not decoration. All eight are objects.
IVAfter Lighting
The same priest writes that the candle is an offering to God. Pravmir writes that without love of God and of neighbour our candles are not needed. Fr. Vladimir Berzonsky of the OCA calls the candle placed before the Lord a metaphor of the fire and light within the soul.
So at the Orthodox shrine, once the candle is lit, the library invites you to pray in your own words, silently or aloud, and then to say quietly: Lord, have mercy. That invitation is the library's own, built on the instructions of an Antiochian parish. Pravmir also dismisses the sayings that surround candles, such as placing them only with the right hand or a candle going out being a bad omen.
VWhat The Library Is Not Sure Of, And What The Shrine Cannot Show
Are you an Orthodox Christian and see something wrong? Please send a correction with its source to thayungkhiem@gmail.com. The library will fix it and credit you.
VISources
Sources read on 5 October 2026. Van Dao Duong describes. It does not replace a real rite and does not represent any church or parish.
Go to the Orthodox shrine to light a candle
?Quick Questions
How many candles should one light in an Orthodox church
There is no rule on the number. Pravmir writes that there are no obligatory rules on where to place candles or how many. One candle with a sincere prayer is enough.
Where do candles for the living and for the departed go
In Russian churches, candles for the living are usually placed before the icon of the Saviour, the Mother of God or the saints. Candles for the departed go on the kanun, a low square table with a crucifix. Some other traditions do not separate them.
What does one pray when lighting a candle
Pray in your own words. An Antiochian parish advises quietly saying Lord, have mercy. For the departed, a Russian priest gives the prayer: Give rest, O Lord, to the soul of your departed servant.
Does choosing two candles count as two visits at the shrine
No. Each lighting is one sincere visit by one person, whether you choose one or two candles. The tray does receive exactly the number you choose.