 On the morning of April 20, 2008, the final day of the Pope's inaugural visit to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI, walked the empty and barricaded streets of lower Manhattan to Ground Zero. In stark contrast to the commotion of the preceding days, there was no media and no throngs of cheering crowds to greet the Pontiff. Instead, the Pope found a simple pool of water, a kneeler, and a candle.
On this now sacred ground, Pope Benedict knelt in silence, prayed, and personally lit the candle as the rest of the world paused to remember the tragic events of September 11th. Martin Marklin watched with particular interest that morning, because his company, Marklin Candle, created the candle. Only two weeks prior, Marklin Candle had secured the commission to fabricate the custom candle, bearing the Pontiff's coat-of-arms, beating out some of its fiercest competitors.
Fabricating the solitary candle that the Pope lit that day had particular significance for Marklin. The parents of his wife and business partner, Christine, were in the Empire State building on September 11, 2001 when the Twin Towers were struck. "Candles have power," noted Marklin. "I'm not talking about lumens or brightness. Rather, candles have the power to draw our attention and keep it focused. And candles have been inextricably linked to tragedy. We light candles on the side of roads when there is a car accident, and we have candle-light services to grieve the loss of life. Yet, a candle's power comes not from its wax - or substance which gives light - but rather from the profound symbolic nature of light, for whose sake the candle expends itself."
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Based in Contoocook, New Hampshire, Marklin Candle, specializes in hand-made beeswax candles for churches, a niche market in which only seven companies compete. Recently Marklin Candle has expanded its reach into the collegiate and business markets, making candles bearing college seals and business logos. The business has its roots in St. Louis, Marklin's hometown.
Inspired by his memories of his parish's Easter candle, Marklin first experimented in his parents' kitchen, melting colored wax on the stove. "The first attempts were disastrous", Marklin recalls. "It seemed nearly impossible to infuse the colored wax into the candle while staying within the grooves." Marklin's tenacity paid off. After a few years, he discovered a way to quickly and artistically infuse molten wax into a candle; a proprietary process refined and utilized by Marklin Candle today. Marklin decided to take his craft to the next level. Upon graduating from college, Marklin began his business in his parents' basement in St. Louis.
Eventually, Marklin moved to New Hampshire teaching mathematics to high school students by day while working on the business at night and weekends. Through teaching, he met his wife, Christine, with whom he has worked full time in the business since 1992. Christine brought to the company a keen eye for design and a discerning understanding of color. Their collaboration led to unprecedented growth in the 90's.
Marklin continued to serve the church market with innovations in wax decoration as well as expanding its product line to complement the Easter (Paschal) candle. The company also introduced a line of ecclesiastical furniture which they fabricate in-house, primarily wooden candle stands that can be customized to fit the décor of the worship space. Marklin also fabricates many of the brass and bronze accessories sold with the candles.
In 1999, Marklin moved its operations to its current location in Contoocook. Its 50,000 square foot facility is located on 8 acres in the center of town just a "stone's throw" from the town's historic covered bridge. There, Marklin fashions candles by hand and sells to churches in all 50 states and abroad.
While considerably smaller than its competitors, Marklin has risen to "liturgical stardom" in its short existence. Today, Marklin supplies nearly half the cathedrals in the country with their Easter candle. When Los Angeles built its new cathedral and asked its art consultant about candles, the answer was "call Marklin". Marklin also received the commission to fabricate a decorative candle given to the Prime Minister of Ireland, during a visit to St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. And again, Marklin was commissioned to fashion the candles for the papal visits of John Paul II in 1995 and of Benedict XVI in 2008. Martin Marklin attributes this success to the superb quality of the candles and the liturgical appropriateness of his designs.
NOT JUST FOR CHURCHES 
As noted, Marklin has branched out from its original market. Several years ago, Martin recognized the ecclesiastical market had begun to stagnate. Coupled with an unprecedented rise in the cost of raw materials, the declining market suggested a need to expand the market. So, Marklin decided to diversify.
Marklin already owned "The Mark of Human Hands" as its registered trademark, based on its hands-on approach to candle making. While other companies went after the scented paraffin market and candles in a jar, Marklin wanted to remain true to its legacy of hand-dipped, beeswax candles.
And so, MomentMarkTM was born - a line of candles to mark any of life's moments. Marklin now offers customized candles to welcome a child (births), to witness a love (weddings), honor a life (funeral), and to mark God's grace (religious). This new line allows a customer to order a hand-dipped, beeswax candle, choose a design and color of decoration, select from a variety of noble materials (genuine gold or silver), suggest up to three lines of text, and in some cases have the candle shipped same day
Marklin's unique ability to present a logo on a candle has given rise to interest by corporations and colleges. Marklin's treatment of the Southwest Airlines' logo captured the attention of Colleen Barrett, at the time Southwest's president, who purchased them as corporate gifts. More recently, Marklin fashioned 450 candles for a black-tie dinner at Boston College as part of its new capital campaign kick-off.
In November, Marklin will open a retail store at its facility in Contoocook, featuring its full line of candles, along with selected home goods, jewelry, and items from local artists. Noteworthy among this collection is a line of candles designed by nationally acclaimed childrens' book illustrator, Tomie dePaola.
Marklin welcomes this new collaborative effort with dePaola and his colorful, playful motifs that adorn the candles. "I have tremendous respect for Tomie and his life-long commitment to creating art for our children," commented Marklin. It was in this spirit that Marklin carved the initials of his own four children - Matthias, Judith, Simeon, and Anna - into the bottom of the candle which the Pope lit at Ground Zero. He did so not to memorialize his children but "with a hope and a prayer because without a conscious effort for peace, we may not have a future to hand on to our children."
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