7 Days Prayer Candle

We offer a service of lighting candles for seven days not because it is essential but because the ceremony is beautiful and because pairing candles with prayers and solemn ceremonies has a biblical foundation.

What happens during the seven days prayer candle service?

Our service includes lighting your candle for seven days—during which we will offer prayers on your behalf. As part of this service, we will take your seven days prayer candle, print your seven days prayer request, and take them to the Church of Holy Sepulchre. We will then light your seven-day candle, place your prayer request(s) on the Stone of Anointing, and hold your printed prayer request close to the Holy Sepulchre.

We will photograph and email you photos of the meaningful seven-day candle ceremony, noting how your seven-day lighted candle and your prayer request(s) were part of a special service near the Stone of Anointing.

What is the meaning of a seven days prayer candle?

Your prayer candle will shine in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for seven days. Ceremonies that combine prayers and candles are tied to rituals in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. The number seven is linked to the divine—to perfection—to God and His sovereign work. From the creation story in Genesis to the number of churches noted in the book of Revelation, seven is a recurring number of great significance.

What is the biblical link to of a seven days prayer candle?

Seven is a recurring number associated with aspects of the Old Testament period Temple. Seven is also a recurring number in the New Testament genealogy listing of Christ (Matthew 1), and a reference to the number of churches Jesus addressed in the book of Revelation (note: most Bible scholars believe the seven churches noted above represent seven distinct ages into key periods of Church history (as profiled in Revelation 1-3).

Though most menorahs in the Old Testament hold nine candles, the seven-candlestick menorah was known. On those menorahs, six candles symbolize branches of human knowledge, which find strength and guidance from the higher, central candle, representing God's wisdom.

In the New Testament, the seven lamps or candles represent the Spirit of God and His work among His Church (Revelation 1:12-13).

Within Catholicism, the seven-candlestick holder remains on the altar as a symbol of the presence of God. During regular services, six candles remain lit while the seventh remind congregants of the Light of the World who ministered among us, ascended to heaven, but promised to return.

The Seven Days Candle Ceremony reminds people of the importance of prayer. The ceremony illuminates our link to, and dependence on, the Almighty for guidance and provision in our times of need. The rays of light and prayers that comprise the Seven Days Candle ceremony, we believe, are received as an offering of "sweet perfume" by the Lord (Revelation 8:3-4).

Seven day prayer candles are made available by Orthodox and Catholic faith groups—they white in color—to symbolize purity—and designed to burn for seven continuous days.