As Pope Benedict XVI lit a prayer candle at Ground Zero in Manhattan, Martin Marklin felt a sense of peace and solidarity, but he was also keeping an eye on the candle’s performance. That’s because his family-run business, Marklin Candles, was selected to make the handcrafted wax pillar – with a red, blue and gold inlay of the Pontiff’s Coat of Arms – that burned as Pope Benedict prayed for peace on Sunday, April 20.

“We are a family that believes very much in peace,” said Marklin, as he prepared the Papal candle to be shipped to New York.

A company that specializes in custom-made, hand-decorated liturgical candles, Marklin also made the 62-inch tall Paschal candle used during the Pope’s outdoor Mass at Yankee Stadium on April 20. That candle required the extra engineering of a special wick and a wind-resistant chimney to shield the flame, Marklin said.

Although contributing one of his candles to such a large-scale Papal event was an honor, Marklin said, seeing the Pope light a Marklin candle at Ground Zero held special significance for his family.

“My mother and father-in-law were in the Empire State Building when it happened,” he said of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. “So we have a personal connection there.”

Marklin’s wife, Christine, who helps run the candle business, said her father was working in the Empire State Building and her mother had just stepped out for a cup of coffee when the attacks occurred.

“There’s going to be a silent power and a quiet intensity to the World Trade Center, in terms of calling people to think about peace in today’s times,” said Martin Marklin.

The manufacturing process at Marklin Candle is more typical of a century ago. It relies on “The Mark of the Human Hands,” the company’s trademark, to furnish a truly handcrafted candle. Workers at the Marklin production facility and retail showroom in Contoocook hand-dip the candles using 51 percent beeswax, a specification that was once required for all liturgical candles. An artist then uses an Exacto knife to carve intricate, custom designs on the candles. Hot colored wax is poured into the grooves and adorned with genuine silver or 24-carat gold leaf.

“By infusing hot molten wax into the candle, we’ve developed a unique inlayed wax process,” said Marklin, who started his company 23 years ago in the basement of his parents’ St. Louis home.

Marklin, who also made candles for a visit by Pope John Paul II to the U.S. in 1995, said he believes his company’s “liturgical awareness” and dedication to fine craftsmanship have led to its selection for the Papal events over his six U.S. competitors, some of which are based in New York. Having grown out of a childhood curiosity about the decorated candles Marklin saw in church around Easter, Marklin Candles has now branched into retail sales, making custom commemorative funeral and birth candles.

The company also has produced smaller versions of the Pope Benedict’s papal candle for those who couldn’t make the trip to see him in person.

“There’s a sense that perhaps these people who can’t get there can experience union with him through these candles,” said Marklin. “It’s a way of doing a virtual pilgrimage.”