When Pope Benedict XVI visited ground zero
in 2008, he knelt alone and prayed inside the cement-walled crater
where the World Trade Center once stood.
As a sign of bringing light and hope to the dark memory of 9/11, the
pope lit a large beeswax candle adorned with his papal coat of arms.
That simple symbolic act, however, required lots of preparation and a few excruciating seconds of uncertainty.
Martin Marklin from Contoocook, N.H., has been making liturgical
candles for U.S. dioceses and churches since 1985 as well as for events
during stateside papal visits.
His candles are works of art -- seamless and smooth because they're
hand-dipped after they're released from their molds. They can be
hand-carved, decorated with wax inlay or brushed with glittering gold
leaf.
Martin told Catholic News Service about how he was commissioned --
just a few weeks prior -- to provide the 9/11 memorial candle for Pope
Benedict's April visit to ground zero.
The first worry was transport.
Wax candles are extremely delicate and
they can easily break, crack, melt, bend or get dents.
He had to find a
reliable shipper from his New Hampshire factory who could get the
candle and a backup copy to New York safely and on time.
With three days to go before the event, the candles were put in a
special container on a FedEx flight from Manchester.
However, the plane
broke down and the cargo had to be taken off and loaded onto a different
plane.
The papal payload, unfortunately, got lost and sent on a flight
to Memphis, Tenn.
Martin got on the phone with FedEx right away and said he found "a
good Catholic executive" who worked a miracle and got the shipment to
New York late Aug. 18 for the Aug. 20 service.
When the candle safely arrived, Martin was then concerned about how
it would be lit.
It was Pope Benedict's desire to light the candle
himself, and Martin wanted to make sure it could be done right.
Lighting
a candle may not seem like a big deal, but given the huge number of
people watching and the importance of the event, the lighting needed to
be dignified, smooth and actually result in a flame, he said.
The event organizers took Martin's advice and supplied a brazier and a taper for the pope to light the candle.
However, on the big day, the server was holding the taper in such a
way that even though it had a glass draft protector, a breeze blew out
the flame.
Msgr. Guido Marini, master of papal liturgical ceremonies, and the acolyte looked at each other.
There was no light!
But, instead of panic, the monsignor reached into his pocket and
pulled out a plain disposable lighter and helped the pope light the
flame.
Msgr. Marini's resourcefulness saved the day, but Martin said he was
disappointed that the thing he was trying to avoid -- a tacky lighter --
was the light's source.
He told CNS that before he shipped the candle, he carved the initials
of his four children in the candle base because "If we're going to have
a world to pass on to our children, we need to pray for peace."