Holy language, Batman!

Not being a Catholic, I am unfamiliar with many of the trappings of the church and their functions. I once put a cigarette out in what I later learned was holy water (in my defense, I was young, and the church was a very modern building. The stoups looked like ash trays placed at the entrance for that very purpose). Since then, I've visited many Catholic churches and cathedrals as a tourist, looking at architecture, art, and glorious windows. I've noticed and learned about the many things these places have in common, like "the stations of the cross," the autel (altar), the pulpit in the nave, and the candles.

These are cierges. I didn't see any veilleuses at this spot, but they must be somewhere.

The French have many words for candle: une chandelle (the origin of chandelier), une bougie (also the word for spark plug), and un cierge are a few that I'm familiar with. Candles that are lit in churches are referred to as cierges. They are tall and thin, just like the ones pictured here. However, the use of the word veilleuses in this context is new to me. It refers to what I would call a votive, a short and thick candle that burns inside a small glass container (called a photophore in French, into which you insert une bougie chauffe-plat, which I would call a tea light). Typically, the word veilleuse means "nightlight" or any small low-wattage light that remains lit. For example, the parking lights on cars are called veilleuses. So my visit to the église St.-Martin in Ligueil early last week was educational: I learned that the votives used in churches and cathedrals in France are also called veilleuses.