greeley's law confirmed

Andrew Greeley once quipped that as soon as Catholics drop an ancient practice (usually because the oh so modern liturgists decided it was too old fashioned) that it is picked up by someone else.

So fasting is picked up by Pentecostals, meatless Fridays is now green, and soon we will all be encouraged to buy modest clothing that is actually attractive.

one of the things "hit" by liturgist reformers (what is the difference between a liturgist and a terrorist? You can negotiate with terrorists) were those nice candles that one lit at home or in churches in front of a statue to tell the saint to pay attention to what we want honor the saint or to remember one's loved one. We still have that in the rural Philippines: I light two candles and leave flowers when I visit Lolo's grave, and he even put a candle on the grave of Mama dog after she died (and presumably went to Dog Heaven).

Now of course, one sees spontaneous "shrines" with candles and flowers and often a photo to remember someone who died, sometimes in honor of someone famous, but often just at the site of their death from an accident or crime... for example, even in secular NYC, these shrines popped up all over that secular city...and you can tell dangerous traffic areas in rural roads because of the number of shrines marking the site.

something that upsets the PC of course

but are getting more and more common.

So Brian Sibley reports the latest version:
Candles to your favorite author, to light while you are writing or reading his or her stuff. He writes:

As any regular reader of this blog will testify, there can be few more dedicated devotees of the late Ray Bradbury than I. We were friends for 30 years and I have several binders filled with his correspondence and a huge collection of his books, but even my reverence has its limits....

RAY BRADBURY SAINTED WRITERS PRAYER CANDLE

and yes, he reports that the candles are eco friendly:

Candles are made from hand-poured, unscented, non-GMO soy wax. The wicks have cotton cores. They are approximately 8.5” tall and 2.5” in diameter. Each can burn for up to eighty hours depending on the environment. Safety instructions are included.

more HERE.