Four candles?.................

....just one will do.

A priest friend related that, when taking the Blessed Sacrament to the sick, he is rarely, if ever, is met at the front door of the house by someone bearing a lit candle.

A sad insight into one of the more simple but vital elements that have been lost in the Church.

This seemed like a prompt from Heaven to make sure that a supply of blessed candles is always at hand.

One for receiving the Lord into your home and two for...well, you know....um, should the Last Rites be required.

And three just in case the three days of tribulation should occur when we least expect it (which is precisely when it will happen).

The fourth?

Well, one for luck providence.

While on the subject of candles I have to relate a story regarding one of my granddaughters, just two years old and going by the name Eva Florence (EF, of course).

At Mass recently, as the four acolytes processed down the aisle, little EF who is blessed with cast iron lungs, triumphantly bellowed: "I like this bit, swords of fire, I love swords of fire"

You know what EF?

So do I.