account in
receiving Roman emperors, and on other public occasions, as at
present. "Throughout all the churches of the East," says St. Jerom,
"when the gospel is to be read, though the sun shines, torches are
used, not to chase away darkness, but for a sign of joy."[10] The
apostolic canons mention incense, and oil for the lamps, then used in
the churches.[11] Many out of devotion burned lamps before the bodies
of saints, as we read in Prudentius,[12] St. Paulinus,[13] &c. The
corporeal creatures, which we use, are the gifts of God: it is
therefore just that we should honor and glorify him by them. Besides,
in our embodied state, they contribute to excite our souls to
devotion; they are to our eyes, what words are to our ears, and by our
organs move the affections of our hearts.[14] Though piety consists in
the fervor of the soul, and is interior and spiritual, yet many
sensible things concur to its aid and improvement; and we may as well
condemn the use of words, which are corporeal, and affect the soul by
the sense of hearing, as the use of suitable approved ceremonies.
Christ made use of sensible signs in the institution of his most
divine sacraments, and in several miraculous cures, &c. The church
always used external rites and ceremonies in the divine worship. These
contribute to the majesty and dignity of religion, which in our
present condition would appear naked, if destitute of all exterior.
The candles are blessed previously to the use of them, because the
church blesses and sanctifies, by prayer, what ever is employed in the
divine service. We are to hold the candles in our hands on this day,
while the gospel is read or sung; also from the elevation to the
communion, in the most fervent spirit of sacrifice, offering ourselves
to God with our divine Redeemer, and desiring to meet in spirit this
blessed company in this mystery; likewise to honor the mother of God
in her purification, and still more so, with the most profound
adoration and gratitude, our divine Saviour in his presentation in our
flesh for us. The same lively sentiments of devotion ought to inflame
our breasts on this occasion, as if we had been present with holy
Simeon and the rest in the temple, while we carry in our hands these
emblems of our spiritual joy and homage, and of the consecration of
ourselves in union with our heavenly victim, through the intercession
of his virgin mother.

Footnotes:
1. Serm. 2.
2. Serm. de Purif. p. 959.
3.