Votive candle

[1][2][3][4] In Christianity, votive candles are commonplace in many churches, as well as home altars, and symbolize the "prayers the worshipper is offering for him or herself, or for other people.

In other religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, similar offerings exist, which include diyas and butter lamps.

In the Roman Catholic Church, candles are at times placed before a statue of Jesus, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or of some other saint.

As in Eastern Orthodox Churches, Nordic Lutheran votive candles are also long and thin.

During all the Middle Ages the burning of lamps, or sometimes candles, before relics, shrines, statues, and other objects of devotion was a form of piety which greatly appealed to the alms of the faithful.

Almost every collection of early English wills bears witness to it, and even in the smaller churches the number of such lights founded by private beneficence was often surprisingly great.

Many of these bequests will be found conveniently illustrated and classified in Leland Duncan and Arthur Hussey's Testamenta Cantiana, London 1906.

In the 2010s, votive candles have been sold with celebrities or political figures fashioned to look like saints.

[9] Some secular subjects of votive candles include Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Jonathan Van Ness.

[10] In 2019, Vox wrote that "by replacing a saint with a celebrity that is outright silly (like Steve Buscemi or Harambe the gorilla), you are dismissing the function of the prayer candle altogether."

"By definition, a celebrity doesn't need a PR presence, so the likely motivating force is narcissism," he says.