THE GREAT DIVIDE OVER THE UNITY CANDLE
I found this post via Kentucky Catholic Eye. Personally, we did not have a unity candle when Mr. Thorn and I married in '95. Even when I was a "trad in training"(i.e. no where near trad) I thought it was not a very Catholic symbol and a feel-good Protestant prop. We didn't do the garter or bouquet toss or cake smear either. In fact, I had a "do not play" list for the band that played the reception to avoid all the tacky wedding songs. It's not that I am not a fun gal, I just wanted the wedding to be classy and have the weight and solemnity that it needed. Anyway, I got sidetracked but I think it relates somewhat to the unity candle issue. We did not have a wedding Mass but I pray one day we may, whenever that may be. The unity candle, in a Mass setting, would take the focus from Christ in the Eucharist and put it on a mingling of flames and families which is not a good start to a couples life together. Anyway, I thought this was an interesting post.
Update: Since this entry has been getting a lot of hits, I found through further research that this practice has roots in the pagan/celtic handfasting rite. You can find more information by searching "handfasting unity candle pagan". Here is a link on how it incorporates into the Wiccan or pagan ceremony:
Handfasting Page
Another tidbit I found is that no one really used the unity candles on a widepread basis until Luke and Laura used it in "Soapland" during their wedding.
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