The Easter Vigil
Since there is so much in the celebrations of Easter, the high point of the
Church Year, I shall begin by giving an overview of the mother of all vigils:
the Easter Vigil, and then focus on the making and renewing
of the Baptismal Vows in both the Vigil and Sunday Masses.
The Roman Missal explains that during the Easter Vigil “The Church
keeping watch, awaits the Resurrection of Christ and celebrates it in the
Sacraments.” The Vigil begins in a darkened Church. The
large decorated paschal candle, representing the risen
Christ, is lit and is carried into the church while the words “Light
of Christ” are proclaimed. Usually, small candles, held by the
congregation, are lit from the paschal candle and the light is passed from one
worshiper to the next until the whole church is filled with light from the
candles. I see this as symbolic of the fact that we are to carry the light
of Christ into a dark world.
Several readings from the Hebrew Scriptures summarize the story
of salvation beginning with the story of creation, the choosing of the
Hebrews to be God’s people, and their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Then
the readings speak to God’s constant care until Christ comes. Prayers and
canticles follow each reading.
After the readings, the altar candles are lit from the paschal candle, and the
church is filled with light and triumphant music. The “Alleluias” are
heard in the Church again and the first Easter Eucharist begins. Our risen Lord
has come into the darkness to light up the world.
Following the Gospel, the Saints are invoked to pray for those to be baptized
and/or receive other Sacraments. Then the baptisms and confirmations take
place. Those who were baptized in Christian denominations whose baptisms
are accepted as valid by the Catholic Church make a profession of faith in the
Catholic Church.
The people in the congregation are sprinkled with holy water as a reminder of
their own baptisms. They renew their vows to renounce Satan and promise
to serve God in the holy Catholic Church. For those who were baptized as
infants or young children, it is an opportunity to consciously verbalize their
commitment to Christ.
Since none of us is perfect, it is a way for all of us to start anew to live and
love as Jesus has taught us. The Liturgy of the Eucharist follows and the
newly baptized will join the rest of the people receiving Holy Communion.
The Easter Sunday Masses are like the ordinary Sunday Masses except for the addition of a sequence, the renewal of Baptismal Vows, and several choices for the Gospel readings.
Sequence
Christians, to the
Paschal Victim
Offer your thankful
Praises!
A Lamb the sheep
redeems;
Christ, who only is
sinless,
Reconciles sinners to
the Father.
Death and life have
contended in that combat stupendous
The Prince of life,
who died, reigns immortal.
Speak, Mary, declaring
What you saw,
wayfaring.
“The tomb of Christ,
who is living,
The glory of Jesus’
resurrection;
Bright angels
attesting,
The shroud and napkin
resting,
Yes, Christ my hope is
arisen;
To Galilee He goes
before you.”
Christ indeed from
death is risen, our new life obtaining.
Have mercy, victor
King, ever reigning!
Amen. Alleluia
Although there are several choices for the
Gospel on Easter Sunday, I shall focus on John 20:1-9. Many
believe that aware of how deeply His mother Mary was suffering, Jesus would
have appeared to her first. That may well be true. In fact, John concludes
his Gospel with the following words: “Now there are many other
things that Jesus did. If they were all written down one by one, I suppose that
the whole world could not hold the books that would be written” (Jn 21:25).
John, the evangelist, has personally witnessed Mary of Magdala grief-stricken
running to tell Peter and himself that the stone had been rolled back from
the entrance of the tomb. She fears that His body has been stolen.
In response, Peter and John hasten to the
tomb. John, being younger, arrives first but does not enter. When Peter
arrives, he goes inside and sees the burial cloths and the cloth that had
covered Jesus’ head, not with the burial cloths, but rolled up in a separate
place. Then John goes in, sees, and believes. According to John: until that moment, “they
had failed to understand the teachings of scripture that he must rise from
the dead” (Jn 20:9).
During the Easter Season, we shall be reflecting on the many ways the risen
Savior makes himself known to the people. What great joy they must have
felt after witnessing the cruel Passion of Jesus to know that He was
victorious and that they would someday share in His victory over death.
Reflection Question: How can I consciously bring the Light of
Christ into our world?
Comments:
Stephanie Morris, ASBS, Ph.D. Historian,
Certified archivist, emerita
To shine a light, you need to turn on a switch or strike a match
to light a candle. To bring the Light of Christ anywhere, we must first have
Christ’s light within us.
Any lamp needs fuel. Matthew tells us that the “eye is the lamp of
the body” (6:22). During these difficult times, our eyes are almost the only
part of our face showing above our face masks!
Christ’s lamp within us needs fuel. Mother Katharine tells us that
prayer and the reception of Holy Communion are the food necessary for a strong
spiritual life. If we are open to being fed by the Word of God and to the love
He freely offers us, we can fan a little light of God into a fire of His Love
radiating from us. This fire will then illuminate our actions.
Do our eyes show that we are listening to those around us who are
asking for help or prayers? Do our eyes show the joy and gratitude we feel for
the love and mercy God has for us? Few of us are where we would like to be
physically or socially or perhaps spiritually. But we can keep trying to
do what God asks of us in a willing manner. Then our lives will shine the Light
of Christ to all.
At the Easter Vigil, we will sing: “Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts, Shine through the darkness.” May the Light of Christ shine in and through our hearts today and always.
Pat Chiaffa, ASBS
“But you, beloved, are not in darkness…for you are children of
light and children of the day.” These words from 1 Thessalonians 5:4 came
rushing to mind as a result of three individuals who chose to let their lights
shine one ordinary day.
Wednesdays are shopping days for mom and me. We adhere to a set
pattern. I gather her up and we leisurely walk down the long hallway to the
exit where I park the car. Once mom and her walker are in the car, we head to
Walmart, the Dollar Store, the supermarket, and occasionally, the State Store to
pick up a bottle of Manischewitz Concord Grape wine. She maintains that it
warms her “insides.” One blustery cold Wednesday our routine chores were
elevated to glimpse Compassionate Presence. The event that set my heart ablaze
was not announced or noticed by anyone other than myself but it was one of the
strongest sensations of being in the Light that I experienced, at the supermarket,
of all places.
All the handicapped parking spaces were taken, so I decided to drop
mom off at the entrance of the store. The area was exceptionally congested and
noisy due to active construction work. I pulled up, got out of the car,
went over to the passenger side to get mom and walker out. A young man,
who was gathering up shopping carts, paused and asked if I would like him to
get a handicap cart for my mother. Then, from seemingly nowhere, a woman
was standing next to us. She told me she would take care of my mother while I
parked the car. I was still trying to figure out where those two people came
from when I went inside the store and found my mother comfortably sitting on a
chair off to the side with a team of three people surrounding her. The third
person was a young male store associate who had fetched the chair for mom. They
attended to her as if she were a celebrity. I thanked them repeatedly,
and they were genuinely appreciative of my thanks.
The young men who tended to the needs of my mother each had speech
and physical impairments. Rather than limit their abilities, these
“handy-capable” individuals had innate insights which moved them to be of
service to a stranger. There was such simplicity in their actions and in their
caring! I sensed the movement of the Holy Spirit as I held back tears of
gratitude. Their response held the intrinsic energy of “We’re here for one
another.” I felt very much a member of the Body of Christ for a few brief
moments huddled in this little circle in the bakery department of Giant Market.
The woman, who was the supervisor of the boys, had stepped outside for her
break which she willingly sacrificed to watch out for my mother. Mom
benefitted from the attention and pampering, but the lesson was exclusively
mine.
Mom’s helpers were shining lamps radiating light all around
them. I felt embraced by warmth in their presence because Presence (The
Lord) was shining through them. The big question for me was, “Would I have even
noticed the elderly woman, the pressured caregiver, the tired mother?”
Regrettably, the truthful answer was probably “No.” My flame was
extinguished, mostly due to my recurrent bouts of negative thinking regarding
all the ongoing restrictions surrounding Covid. Would the prolonged darkness of
pain, separation, and self-suffocation of masks ever end? Not if I keep fanning
the flames of misery.
God’s Divine Mercy cradled me that day and restored me to renewal.
God’s Light is contained in His Word (Holy Scripture). I recognized I was
spending so much time reading and listening to all the fear-fueling news that
my prayer time with God had slipped to daily snippets. Darkness cannot drive
out darkness; only light can do that. Light begets light. I chose to reignite
my flame that day. That ordinary shopping day was a grace-filled gift for me.
Thus, I encourage any reader who may be experiencing distress over conditions
“out-there,” to spend adequate time going “within” to commune with Jesus who is
“Light from Light.”
“Let your light so shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).
