Bell, book, and candle

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The phrase "bell, book, and candle" refers to a Latin Christian method of excommunication by anathema, imposed on a person who had committed an exceptionally grievous sin. Evidently introduced by Pope Zachary around the middle of the 8th century, the rite was once used by the Roman Catholic Church. In current practice, a simple pronouncement is made to anathematize formally.

Ritual 

The ceremony was described in the Pontificale Romanum until the time of the Second Vatican Council. Subsequent post-conciliar editions of the Pontificale omitted mention of any particular solemnities associated with excommunication.

The ceremony traditionally involved a bishop, with 12 priests bearing candles, and would solemnly be pronounced in some suitably conspicuous place. The bishop would then pronounce the formula of the anathema, which ends with the following words:

In English:

After this recitation the priests would respond: Fiat, fiat, fiat ("So be it! So be it! So be it!") The bishop would then ring a bell, close a holy book, and he and the assisting priests would snuff out their candles by dashing them to the ground. However, the rite of anathema as described in the Pontificale Romanum only prescribes that the candles be dashed to the ground. After the ritual, written notices would be sent to the neighbouring bishops and priests to report that the target had been anathematized and why, so that they and their constituents would hold no communication with the target. The frightful pronouncements of the ritual were calculated so as to strike terror into the ones so excommunicated and bring them to repentance.

This form of excommunication was inflicted on Robert II of France by Pope Gregory V for his marriage to Bertha of Burgundy in the year 996, because Bertha was his cousin. He was later reconciled with the Church after negotiations with Gregory's successor Pope Silvester II.

Cultural references 
The dramatic nature of the ritual has lent itself to frequent depictions in culture and media.  It is referenced directly in the title of the 1958 film Bell, Book and Candle, based on the play by John Van Druten.  Bell, Book & Candle is the name of a restaurant in the West Village section of New York City.

The ceremony was also dramatised and popularised in the 1964 film, Becket, in which Archbishop Thomas Becket (played by Richard Burton) excommunicates Lord Gilbert.

The store owned by the main character in The Good Witch film and television series is named Bell, Book, & Candle.

A similar ceremony is featured in the roguelike computer game NetHack.

The board game Betrayal at House on the Hill, where a group of adventurers explore a haunted house, features items the explorers can use. Three of which are the Bell, Book, and Candle, and when one owns the three simultaneously they confer a significant benefit to the player.

In the 2019 TV series Good Omens, the witch finder Newton Pulsifer is presented with a bell, a book, and a candle (along with other objects), before he goes off to face the witch Anathema Device.

References

Further reading
 

Category:Catholic liturgy