Lighting a Candle in Rome

[Doingitagain]

A woman who is effectively DH's grandmother passed away today. We will be in Europe on the date of the funeral. We would like to light a candle for her at St. Peter's while we are in Rome...any suggestions on where and how to do this?

Her daughter is a Sister in the Order of St. Benedict, so we think this will be very special for her.

Thanks!

 

[snelsonbrown]

Sorry for your loss, but what honor to be able to go to St. Peter's church and lite a candle. I believe being able to go to a church that has so much history as St. Peter's would be such an honor. good luck in finding out the details and please share the experience.
Always
Shirley

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

That woudl be a wonderful thing to do .


I have never been--so don't know much about St. Peter's.

I have been to the National Basilica in DC and in most any catholic church--there are spots throughout the church to light candles. Typically it is done for a monetary donation. My church charges $1 per candle. I think the National Basilica charged $5 and $10...something like that. I can't recall why there was a difference...I think it was tealight candles that would probably be snuffed daily....and then pillar candles. They were located throughout the basilica.

I'm sure St. Peter's would have something similar--I tried very hard to find the info for you and just cannot find an official guideline for St. Peter's. But I trust that it is possible. You would just make sure to have some Euros to bring along to donate (my church, other churches, and teh basillica has a lock box by the candles that you stick it in).

I know Aunt Polly has been to the Italy/Vatican before---you may try PMing her to see if she knows. Not sure if she has been inside--but I would guess that she may have. She may be very aware of how candle lighting works at St. Peter's.


Enjoy your trip and thoughts and prayers with your family over the loss of your grandmother.

ETA: I just pm'd auntpolly---hopefully she can shed some light on how to do this for you. Have a safe trip!

 

[Valencia Joe]

If I remember right, there should be little enclaves on the left once you enter St. Peter's. That is on the same side as the baptismal fonts used for baptisms. You should find a statue of Mary or another saint that you could lite a votive candle for.

BTW, on a side note, my oldest daughter (who is 7) was baptized at the Vatican during Holy Year (2000), and she was the only one since we requested an English-speaking priest to perform the service (the Italian-language service had a lot of kids getting baptized). It was quite a trip for us since the service attracted a lot of tourists who just wanted to see what was going on.

 

[smores]

my mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 3 years ago--shortly after her surgery, we went on a med cruise--every church we passed on every tour--i lite a candle for her--she is alive and free of cancer 3 years after her dreadful diagnosis!

 

[auntpolly]

Hi! Lisa pm ed me and asked me to take a look and see if I knew the answer to this - I literally just today got back from Rome but didn't go into St. Peter's this trip, so I'm just trying to remember where everything is. It will be obvious though - there are little chapels all around the inside.

There are SO MANY beautiful churches - you could spend your day going from church to church looking at famous art in the churchs and lighting candles. You need to leave a little donation - sometimes they specify and sometimes they don't.

I'm so sorry to hear about your grandma - we bought a rosary at the vatican for a friend who is very ill and the day after we called to tell her about it she got very good news from the doctor!

 

[poconoboatniks]

I'm sure that Deb Wills mentioned in her podcast that she lit a candle in her Mom's honor. I'm just not sure if it was in St Peter's. I don't remember seeing a place for candles, but we were so awestruck that we may have missed it.

We attended mass at Notre Dame de la Gard and did see large white taper candles being sold for intentions in the lower level of the church. If you don't find a place in Rome, check out Notre Dame in Marsielle. It's a beautiful church and the view was gorgeous. You can purchase little train tickets where they drop you off from the DCL shuttle bus. The train will take you to the church and you can ride the train back down.

 

[Doingitagain]

Thank you for all the suggestions. My sister also suggested that I bring back a small bottle of holy water. I know she has done that before.

Thanks!