Easter

Dear Friends in Christ,

Today I would like to give you some explanation of the Easter Vigil,
which we will celebrate here in our church on April 7 with all three of our language groups present. There is a great tradition in our Catholic Church regarding this vigil. Here is a short history.

“This vigil opened with the blessing of the new fire, the lighting of lamps and candles and of the paschal candle. St. Cyril of Jerusalem spoke of this night that was as bright as day, and Constantine the Great added unprecedented splendor to its brilliancy by a profusion of lamps and enormous torches, so that not only basilicas, but private houses,streets, and public squares were resplendent with the light that was symbolic of the Risen Christ. The assembled faithful gave themselves up to common prayer, the singing of psalms and hymns, and the reading of the Scriptures commentated by the bishop or priests. The vigil of Easter was especially devoted to the baptism of catechumens who, in the more important churches, were very numerous. On the Holy Saturday following the deposition of St. John Chrysostom from the See of Constantinople, there were 3000 catechumens in this church alone. Such numbers were, of course, only encountered in large cities; nevertheless, as Holy Saturday and the vigil of Pentecost were the only days on which baptism was administered, even in smaller churches there was always a goodly number of catechumens. Rabanus Maurus, an ecclesiastical writer of the ninth century (De cleric. Instit., II, 28), gives a detailed account of the ceremony of Holy Saturday. The congregation remained silent in the church awaiting the dawn of the Resurrection, joining at intervals in psalmody and chant and listening to the reading of the lessons. These rites were identical with those in the primitive Church and were solemnized at the same hours.”

Today, the Easter Vigil takes place after dark on Holy Saturday night much like it did inthe times of St. Cyril and Rabanus Maurus. The rites celebrated also reflect those earlier times. The vigil is divided into four parts:

1. Service of Light during which the Paschal Candle is lit and we walk
in procession into the church singing “Christ, our Light!”

2. Liturgy of the Word, which includes Biblical readings from both
Old and New Testaments that recount the history of salvation.

3. Liturgy of Baptism, during which our catechumens will be baptized
and confirmed and we will renew our baptismal promises.

4. Liturgy of the Eucharist, at which Christ our Paschal Victim offers
Himself to the Father and gives Himself to us in the first celebration of Easter.

May the Lord bless you during this Lenten Season.