These tall religious candles are EVERYWHERE in San Antonio. There are big walls of them at the grocery store, at Wal-Mart, wherever. They come with different saints on them (though mostly Mary), and they only cost $1-$2. Their low cost and wide availability suggest that a lot of people use them and that they go through them frequently.
I really like them. I bought one of the Virgin of Guadalupe. I haven't found anything online about their history or use, but I'm curious.
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I have found in my travels that the number of those candles available in stores correlates to the number of lowered pick-up truck with decals of the virgin mother mary on the tinted back window.
try Arizona. Whoa. They're everywhere. Actually, I see them a lot near crosses on the side of the road. The hispanic families re-light them all the time. Very sad to see driving by.
You will frequently see the candles depicting Christ (The Sacred Heart), the Virgin Mary (Our Lady of Guadeloupe), and other Saints in any predominantly Catholic area of the world; especially Latin American countries and the southern states of The USA.
Candles are constantly used in the Catholic church as a symbol of Light and Prayer. Light, used widely in the Bible, even from the beginning of the Old Testament (Gen. 1: 3-4), signifies: joy, optimism, goodness, purity, beauty, festiveness, dignity and life. Light opposes darkness which signifies: sadness, gloom, death, desolation, ignorance, and evil altogether.
These candles are used in time of serious prayer. Ones depicting The Virgin Mary or Saints probably means the person praying is asking Mary or that particular Saint to help them pray to God for whatever cause. You will always find candles burning anytime you walk into a Catholic church. Hope this post helps!
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