 The purpose for lighting a candle or torch at this point was to enable people in ill-lit churches to see the Host as it was raised, the same reason that led to placing behind the altar a dark hanging to offer a distinct contrast to the white Host.Medieval miniatures often show the elevation of the Host with the altar server lifting the priest's chasuble to help secure the maximum elevation by taking some of the weight of the vestment, while at the same time holding aloft a long rod topped with a lighted candle to about the same height as the raised Host.A more ancient elevation of Host and Chalice occurs in the Mass of the Roman Rite while the priest speaks the concluding doxology of the Eucharistic Prayer