A triple candlestick was prescribed until 1955 in the

Roman Rite The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while dist ...

Easter Vigil service, held on Holy Saturday morning. In the associated ceremony, the deacon or priest lights each of its three candles in succession, chanting each time in ascending tones, " Lumen Christi" (The light of Christ), to which the choir answers " Deo gratias" (Thanks be to God). From one of the candles on the triple candlestick, the Paschal candle is afterwards lit during the chanting of the '' Exsultet''.''Missale Romanum'' (Marietti, 1921), pp. 177–183 In 1955 the triple candlestick was abolished in the liturgical reforms of Pope Pius XII. Since then, even with the promulgation of new editions of the Roman Missal from 1962 onward, the Paschal candle is lit directly from the Paschal fire at the beginning of the Easter Vigil mass.

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