The Department of Health and Human Services is threatening the accreditation of a Catholic hospital for keeping its sanctuary candle lit.

St. Francis Health System in Oklahoma, the 12th largest hospital in the country, returned a letter Tuesday threatening legal action against HHS for violating their First Amendment religious freedom rights.

LONELINESS AS DEADLY AS SMOKING: SURGEON GENERAL

All Catholic churches have red sanctuary candles lit to represent the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. In April, HHS told the Catholic hospital it could lose its accreditation for keeping the candle lit due to an apparent safety threat of starting a fire.

According to the hospital's letter, which was sent by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the government and local fire marshal have approved the flame.

“We don’t know why HHS has decided to insist that the candle be extinguished now after it has been approved by the fire marshal and brought comfort to visitors to the chapel for many years," Becket Fund vice president and senior counsel Lori Windham told the Washington Examiner. "The reasoning keeps shifting. Saint Francis Health includes the largest hospital in Oklahoma and serves nearly 400,000 patients every year."

St. Francis Health maintains candles have remained lit for 15 years and 63 years at two respective Tulsa locations, the latter of which is the largest hospital in Oklahoma.

"In requiring Saint Francis to extinguish its flame, you are trying to extinguish not just a candle, but the First Amendment rights of Saint Francis Health System, as well as vital healthcare for the elderly, poor, and disabled in Oklahoma," the hospital letter to HHS states.

The HHS threat states candles are required to be "placed in a substantial candle holder and supervised at all times they are lighted." During a re-accreditation survey by the HHS Joint Commission, "there was a lit candle with open flame burning unattended 24/7."

However, the hospital included a picture of a candle encased in two glass globes, covered by a top, and attached to the wall of the chapel.

"If we go to court, you will lose," the letter states. "This case is not a close call."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

"The cornerstone of Saint Francis is love for God and man. To this day, the Saint Francis torch insignia indicates a space of hope: a place where the medical and spiritual stand as one," St. Francis executive vice president and chief operating officer Barry Steichen said in a statement. "We’re being asked to choose between serving those in need and worshipping God in the chapel, but they go hand in hand."

The Washington Examiner reached out to HHS for comment.