Easter Vigil

Since the early days of the church, Easter eve was a time set aside for baptisms. They were elaborate, dramatic services carefully timed to coincide with the proclamation of the Resurrection, symbolizing a new light shining, a new beginning. St. Francis church has continued that tradition, and the Great Vigil is one of the most dramatic services we offer. A study in contrasts, it begins in the darkness that we entered at Wednesday’s Tenebrae service. As the congregation waits in the darkened church, the paschal candle is lit from a special fire that uses palm fronds; these become the ashes that will be used the next year on Ash Wednesday. The procession then moves into the church following the paschal candle, and hundreds of candles held by congregation, choirs, lay ministers and clergy are lit. An ancient hymn, the Exultet is sung.  The Exultet is an ancient chant which reminds us of our links to the Israelites' exodus from Egypt.  Several Old Testament lessons are read, one of which is always the wonderful story of the parting of the Red Sea, and songs are sung.  These lessons and songs trace the history of our redemption from the time of creation up through the prophets.  The promise of redemption is further realized in the Sacrament of Baptism, and finally realized with the words proclaimed by the deacon at the conclusion of the baptisms: “Alleluia. The Lord is Risen.” The lights come on. The organ plays. Bells are rung in a great fanfare to indicate that this is indeed a festival. (Worshippers are encouraged to bring their own bells from home and to join in.)   When the church is fully bathed in light, we then celebrate the first festive eucharist of Easter together, as the light of Christ returns to our midst.

Posted to the calendar a few weeks before Holy Week.

There's an excellent sermon about Easter Vigil on the web site of St. Paul's, DeKalb, IL.  Click here.  An excerpt:

"There are few moments more exhilarating than that moment in The Great Vigil of Easter when the Celebrant declares, “Alleluia, Christ is risen.”  The congregation responds, “The Lord is risen indeed.  Alleluia.”  The lights in the nave and sanctuary come on.  Members of the congregation have brought bells and they are rung with joy.  The congregation and organ belt out joyful strains of the Gloria in excelsis.  The Celebrant sprinkles on the people gathered holy water that had just been blessed in the font.

....

"This event, this day, is what our faith is all about.  It is no accident and no secret that Christians are called “Easter people.”  Everything we do as Christ’s disciples today have their grounding in the events of Good Friday and Easter.

...

"The light of Christ is a free gift.  And those who accept that gift bask in the glow of that light.  Christ transforms that which is broken and makes it whole.  When we receive the light of Christ, we come to realize that our lives are not the same and they will never be the same again."

Easter Morning

Jesus' disciples had though of Passover as their reason for going to Jerusalem.  But before the sunset that was the start of Passover, Jesus' dead body had been taken down from the cross and laid in a tomb.  With Jesus' death it seemed everything had ended.  His disciples had entrusted everything to him, made him the center of gravity, the keystone that held their lives together.  And now he was dead, gone, finished.  The cross represented the complete refutation of everything to which the disciples had given their lives.

But then came Easter morning.  Something had happened that night ... during the  Easter Vigil.  The women who went to mourn that Easter morning say an angel in white and an empty tomb.  Mary, first witness to the miracle, ran quickly to tell the disciples, "I have seen the Lord.  He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see [him] too."

Alleluia!  Christ is Risen!  The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Easter begins with an encounter with the living Christ, himself - an encounter, first, between unbelieving, broken followers, who, by finding Jesus in a wholly new incorruptible body were themselves resurrected.  And now, our encounter, as the living Christ is present among us - with you - in his Spirit in the Eucharistic meal he instituted, and in his life which you appropriate here and now.

The great Easter truth is not that we are to live newly after death, but that we are to, and may, live nobly now because we are to live forever.  Jesus taught us how to do this by the action of his life and the meal he instituted:  Take what is received from God; bless it by giving thanks for it; break what is so consecrated so that it does not need to be kept for itself; and give it and ourselves to others in free service of love, following Jesus' example.

During the first Christian centuries, the events of the Great Fifty Days of Easter - from Easter to the Ascension to Pentecost -- were looked on as a unified feast.  The joyous Easter season is reflected in the seasonal changes in our worship: the liturgical color is white; the Gloria and the Alleluia return; Eucharistic Prayer B with its focus on incarnation is especially appropriate.

Alleluia!  Christ is Risen!  The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

- Chris+

Easter Eggs

And how did the tradition of dying eggs get started?  There is a story about Mary Magdalene.  She traveled to Rome and was received by Tiberius Caesar.  When she met him, she held up a plain egg and proclaimed the resurrection of Christ.  Caesar laughed and said Christ rising from the dead was as likely as the the egg in her hand turning red.  Then the egg turned red.  It has become an Eastern Orthodox tradition to greet one another on Easter by giving bright red eggs and proclaiming "Christ is risen!"  The egg represents new live, Christ bursting forth from the tomb.  Some churches today use red eggs at funerals and memorial services as a symbol of the hope of resurrection.