Yesterday I received my Old Believer floats in the mail. (With enough wicking on order to last me the rest of my life. I ordered a bit much. But, hey, how was I to know? I've not been given any "vigil lamp" lessons.) They've been on the "to order" mental list for some time. Not quite a year ago I purchased a standing vigil lamp in which one could put either oil or a votive candle. For some time I've been wanting to use an oil lamp in my icon corner (which is actually the mantle of our non-functioning fireplace), but I was pretty sure the floating cork wick holders would be too big for my vigil lamp, so when I came across the "Old Believer floats" I was definite that that was what I needed. Still, I kept putting it off. I even tried to get advice from our priest on how to use oil in a vigil lamp, but he discouraged me from it saying that candles were plenty fine. And anyway, using oil was messy, one had to take care to trim the wick, and so forth. So candles it has been for more than a year.
But there's something about burning a cotton wick suspended in olive oil, that just isn't captured when using a candle. For one thing one cannot dip one's finger in the candle wax and anoint the forehead of one's family members "for the healing of soul and body" as one can with the olive oil of a vigil lamp. For another, the proper burning of a oil lamp emits a flame that does not flicker, but burns steady and a bit more dimly, something definitely more conducive to contemplation.
Through all the prayers said over the oil and its "passionless" flame, through the presence of the blessed icons, through the intermingling of the incense rising up as one prays, the olive oil takes on holiness. And that sanctification is for the healing of soul and body. The olive oil of a vigil lamp is sanctified, as is our food, by prayer as St. Paul says:
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. (1 Tim. 4:4-5 ESV)
And being sanctified, becomes, itself, a tactile form of prayer, just like our bodies:
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1 ESV)
This, the contemplation from the Prologue for 12 February, is how St. Nikolai Velimirovich puts it:
Matter is not evil of itself as certain Christian heretics, such as the Manicheans and other philosophers taught. Not only is matter not evil, but matter is not the sole conduit of evil, but in as much as matter is a conduit, so also is the spirit a conduit of evil. Every material thing is melancholic and even fearful because of man's sins, but matter is not evil. Matter is corruptible, weak and nothingness in comparison to the immortal spirit, but it is not evil of itself. And, if it were evil, would our Lord Christ have instituted Holy Communion of Bread and Wine and wold He call the Bread and Wine His Body and His Blood? If matter, by itself, is evil, how then, would men be baptized with water? How would the Apostle James have commanded that the sick be anointed with oil? How would Blessed Water [Holy Water] remain beyond spoiling and have miracle-working properties? How would the Cross of Christ have power? How would the garment of Christ transmit the healing power of the Savior by which the woman with the issue of blood was healed? How would the relics of the saints and icons have performed so many miracles and conveyed so much good to people from the kingdom of Grace? Therefore, how, then could good come to man through evil? No, no; matter is never evil of itself alone.
Don't misunderstand. I'm not suggesting an either/or situation: candles or oil. Nor am I at all suggesting that candles are not a tactile form of prayer, or that they somehow don't quite have the capacity to receive holiness as does olive oil. For goodness' sake, yesterday was the Feast of the Presentation, or, as it's known in some parts of the Church, Candlemas, and on that day, the candles used for worship for the coming year (or a fair representation of them) are blessed. (Though our parish, being small, we blessed the candles at the end of Liturgy Sunday.)
But throughout Scripture oil is rich with the symbolism of grace and mercy, healing and holiness. And even, unity. Remember this Psalm?
Behold now, what is so good or so joyous as for brethren to dwell together in unity? It is like the oil of myrrh upon the head, which runneth down upon the beard, upon the beard of Aaron, which runneth down to the fringe of his raiment. It is like the dew of Aermon, which cometh down upon the mountains of Sion. For there the Lord commanded the blessing, life for evermore. (Psalm 132 [133] Psalter According to the Seventy)
So perhaps you can understand how it is that I would prefer to use olive oil in my vigil lamp.
I still have a large pillar candle that I have been burning that will take some time to burn down to the base. So for now I will have twin lights illuminating my icons and symbolic of the light of God's revelation and his great grace and mercy.
It is the custom to keep a vigil lamp burning twenty-four hours a day. We're not yet ready for that in our home. But I can keep it burning all the time that I am at home. And lighting it and extinguishing it at the beginning of the day and before bed will be helpful reminders of the need for prayer at those times.
On a side note: All of this, by the way, reminds me of a song we used to sing at church camp and in Sunday School in the churches I grew up in. There were numerous verses to be sung, but this is the pertinent one:
Give me oil for my lamp,
Keep me burnin' for the Lord
Give me oil for my lamp I pray
Hallelujah!
Give me oil for my lamp,
Keep me burnin' for the Lord
Keep me burnin' till the break of day
Sing Hosanna
Sing Hosanna
Sing Hosanna to the King of Kings
Sing Hosanna
Sing Hosanna
Sing Hosanna to the King
And there you have it. A little glimpse into my spiritual formation.
Posted by Clifton at February 3, 2004 05:00 AM | TrackBackOne misses the lamp when it's not around. I waited until I moved into a larger room to relight mine.
Tips from the "Orthodox Converts Mailing list" and also from experience.
Soak the wicking in white vinegar for a day or two and then air dry it. It'll burn better this way.
Keep the oil you will use in a small container - don't try to pour oil from a "full sized" oil bottle - take it from one who knows!
Keep the wick trimmed - daily. The little nob on the end of the wick can suddenly go POP! and spray oil and soot all over your icons.
I keep my lampada in a sand box without the sheilding of any other container. Thus the sand box also holds my votive lights. It makes for a nice party of light :-)
Great tips, Huw.
And it looks like you posted your comment as I was re-editing the post. You might refresh your browser and see if you caught it all.
Posted by: Clifton D. Healy at February 3, 2004 05:34 AM:-) I forgot one thing...
In the bottom of the glass container you should put about 1/4 inch of water, plus a pinch or two of salt: the water is a safty measure. The salt keeps the growing of "stuff" in the water down.
Posted by: Huw Raphael at February 3, 2004 03:34 PMThanks for all this info. I want to make one of these lamps for myself, so it's good to read this advice.
Posted by: Jakob Smith at February 3, 2004 03:48 PMHey Clifton ~
Interesting timing. Let me guess, you also ordered from Eastern Christian Supply? I've had my oil lamp going, with the same wick holder for about three weeks now. I got a *hanging* vigil lamp for my chrismation from my godparents. Yes, our priest also told me he had never had luck with this sort of wick holder!
Even with (lately) soaking the wicking in vinegar, I still get some smoking, and the top of the holder is getting very black with soot. Anyone have any ideas to stop it? I tend not to keep a lot of wick about the holder. I also burn mine all the time at home. Too paranoid about fire to burn it when I'm not here.
Another tip: the cheapest olive oil burns the best. And even better if it's rancid (or so I'm told on the Orthodox Convert list on Yahoo). It's called Pomace Oil. I got a three liter can for about $6 on sale. If you have access to a Sam's it's even cheaper, I'm told. I pour my oil from a small cup into the votive glass.
Posted by: Michele at February 3, 2004 06:32 PMMy friends, it was by chance I came accross your web site and read with interest the many tips you offer. I too ordered from Eastern Christian Supply but because I have a large Oratory with the True Presence and many Icons, I keep many lamps burning perpetually. Now I know Olive Oil is the Traditional oil going back to biblical times, but because it is so expensive in Ireland, I use ordinary vetetable cooking oil. I find it burns better also because it is lighter. Am I insulting God?
sister irene
The other question I wanted to ask is about the "old believers" floats. I just couldn't keep these lighting! Luckly I only ordered two. But the cork wick float works well.
Sister Irene
Sister Irene:
I cannot speak to whether using vegetable oil is insulting to God or not. The tradition is clear, but flexible. The key is what is in your heart. And that only you (and your spiritual father) and God can discuss.
As for the "old believer" floats. They're the only thing I've used, and I don't know if it's "beginner's luck" or what, but as long as I maintain the oil level, and carefully watch the wick every ten to twelve hours, I can maintain the light. Unfortunately, my schedule and responsibilities are such that I frequently am not able to keep the lamp burning (through the day when I'm gone to work and teaching). But I can keep it lit from the time I come home in the evening, through the night and till I leave in the morning. I just have to be watchful.
Which is an excellent discipline.
Greetings from the heart of the Sonoran desert at the foot of the Coyote Mountains west of Tucson, Arizona! I have a question that I have been trying to find a solution for. I keep oil lamps burning in our icon corner and I use the 'Mt. Athos type' of wick floats in them. My problem is finding sources for the cotton wicking for this type of a wick float. In desperation, I have resorted to using cotton string I find at the hardware store but it doesn't burn as well as the wicking I have found at the church I attend. Sometimes they have it and most of the time, they don't. So I would be so grateful if anyone would
share any information about possible sources for
this. Thank you.