Lighting The Unity Candle

Example 1

Minister:(Groom)____________ and (Bride)___________, you have committed yourselves through solemn vows. Your life is now one. May your love be an indestructible force. May it shine as a beacon example.

Together please now light the candle symbolizing your sacred union.

"From every being there rises a light that reaches straight to the heavens, and when two people who are destined to be together find each other, their streams of light flow together, and a single brighter light goes forth from their united being."

Example 2

Minister: We will now ask the bride and groom to light a candle symbolic of their relationship and their individual selves. (Groom)____________ and (Bride)____________, these two candles represent the light of your individual spirits. The center candle represents the light of your relationship. In allowing the flames of only the large candle to remain lit, you accept each other's individuality as a means to fulfilling your oneness. May your love so endure that its flame remains a guiding light unto you.

Example 3

Minister: (Groom)____________ and (Bride)____________, you have entered into a union that is most sacred, requiring of those who enter it a complete and unreserved giving of self. It will bind you together in a relationship so close, and so intimate, that it will profoundly affect your whole future.

(The minister or the mothers light the two side candles.)

Minister: For over three thousand years, human beings have used candles as a source of light. They are also symbols of warmth, of hope, and of life itself. Would you now each, from your own candle, light a third as a symbol of your new relationship? Now, by putting out your two individual candles, you signify that you are no longer two individuals but one in marriage before God.

Example 4

Minister: Receive this holy fire. Make your lives like this fire.
A holy life that is seen.
A life of God that is seen.
A life that has no end. A life that darkness does not overcome.
May this light of God in you grow.
Light a fire that is worthy of your heads.
Light a fire that is worthy of your children.
Light a fire that is worthy of your fathers.
Light a fire that is worthy of your mothers.
Light a fire that is worthy of God.