In religious settings, an Ave Maria is popular. Whether your Cincinnati wedding rite is secular or religious, this ceremony lends itself to a musical opportunity. The individual candles represent your lives before today. However, I am not aware of any Vatican prohibition of this “add-on,” and most parishes allow it, should the couple desire it.” “The lighting of a unity candle is not a part of the official Catholic wedding ceremony - i.e., it is not included in the Vatican-approved rite of marriage. The Catholic Church is a stickler when it comes to wedding liturgies, but most allow the unity candle ceremony. You’ll see the ceremony take place in both religious and secular ceremonies. Some trace the origin of the tradition to an early 1980s television soap opera. If loved ones have been lost then sometimes a separate candle in memory of them is also lit. The Zohar turns our attention to a burning candle as an object of meditation on holy unity. For the flame only rises when it is attached to a coarse (alt. It can occur during both civil, religious and other denominational marriages and is quite a special part of the day. Come and see, one who desires to know the wisdom of holy unity should gaze upon a flame that rises from a coal, or from a lit candle. Following the exchange of vows and rings, the bride and groom light a larger, “unity,” candle with two smaller tapers, symbolizing the unity of two lives and two families. Once married the couple then light a unity candle from the light of the two individual candles symbolising their union in marriage. The unity candle ceremony is a late 20th century American innovation.
