A candlelight vigil or candlelit vigil or candlelight service is an outdoor assembly of people carrying candles, held after sunset in order to pray, show support for a specific cause, or remember the dead, in which case, the event is often called a candlelight memorial.[1] Such events may be held to protest the suffering of some marginalized group of people. A large candlelight vigil may have invited speakers with a public address system and may be covered by local or national media. Speakers give their speech at the beginning of the vigil to explain why they are holding a vigil and what it represents.[2] Vigils may also have a religious purpose that contains prayer and fasting.[1] On Christmas Eve many churches hold a candlelight vigil.
Candlelight vigils are seen as a nonviolent way to raise awareness of a cause and to motivate change, as well as uniting and supporting those attending the vigil.[3]
Candlelight vigils in South Korea
In South Korea, the Candlelight vigils,[4] or Candlelight protests[5] is a symbolic collective gathering of political dissent in South Korea to combat injustice peacefully.[6] This method of protesting began in 2002 as a result of the Yangju highway incident,[7] was utilized in the rallies against the impeachment of Roh Moo-hyun in 2004, re-used again in the 2008 U.S. beef protests, and emerged in the 2016-18 President Park Geun-hye protests.[8]
Candlelight vigils in EVE Online
In the video game community of EVE Online, a "Cyno Vigil" (Cynosural Field) is held in remembrance of players who have died. The in game slang of "lighting a candle" is used when activating the Cynosural Field.
Gallery
- A pastor leads prayer in the Czech Brethren Church of John Amos Comenius for the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial (2001)
- 2010 National Police Week 22nd annual candlelight vigil at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial at Judiciary Square, Washington, D.C.
- Candlelight vigil at the Katyń Memorial Cross at the Church of St. Giles, Kraków following the Smolensk air disaster
- Candlelight service at Andrews Memorial Chapel at Westminster School (Connecticut)
- Every year from 1990 to 2019, people attend candlelight vigils on June 4 in Victoria Park, Hong Kong commemorating the victims of 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. It could no longer be held.
- A candlelight vigil in Lourdes, France.
See also
References
- 1 2 Shields, Bruce E.; Butzu, David Alan (2007). Generations of Praise: The History of Worship. College Press. p. 244. ISBN 978-0-89900-941-4.
- ↑ "Do Something: how to organise a vigil". Retrieved 28 December 2012.
- ↑ "love to know: Organise a candlelight vigil". Retrieved 28 December 2012.
- ↑ Cho, Elliot (13 December 2016). "South Korea's 'Candlelight Revolution' Matters". Huffington Post. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
- ↑ Kim, Yong-cheol; Kim, June-woo (2009). "South Korean Democracy in the Digital Age: The Candlelight Protests and the Internet". 40 (1): 53–85. ProQuest 209355027.
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(help) - ↑ Premack, Rachel (2 December 2016). "Koreans Have Mastered the Art of the Protest". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- ↑ Shinn, Henry (4 April 2010). "Deja vu? Candlelight vigils in 2002 and present". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
- ↑ "South Korea: thousands of protesters call for president to resign". The Guardian. 29 October 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2019.