Easter Vigil
About Easter
Easter Vigil
The Easter Vigil, also called the Great Vigil of Easter,
is a service held in many
Christian churches as the official celebration of the Resurrection of
Jesus. Historically, this is the preferred service for people to be
baptized. It is held on the night of Holy Saturday. In the Roman
Catholic Church, the Easter Vigil includes the first use of the word
alleluia since the beginning of Lent and is the most important Mass of
the liturgical year as well as the first Eucharist of
Easter. In Eastern Orthodoxy its Divine
Liturgy is held to be the brightest of all of them and is reflected to a
degree in all the others. The Easter Vigil has gained similar regard in
many of the churches of the Anglican Communion.
Roman Catholicism
In the
Roman Catholic tradition the service normally consists of four parts:
- The Service of Light
- The Liturgy of the Word
- Christian Initiation, or the Renewal of Baptismal Vows
- The
Holy Eucharist
Most parishes do not begin the service until after sundown on Holy Saturday.
The service begins in the darkness, often in a place other the nave, such as a
side chapel, or perhaps outdoors. A new fire is lit and blessed, and the Paschal
candle, symbolizing the Light of Christ, is lit from the fire. All baptised
Christians (those who have received the "Light of Christ") receive candles, the
congregation processes to the nave and their candles are lit from the new fire
which is passed from one member of the congregation to another forward through
the church. The deacon, or the priest if there is no deacon, carries the Paschal
Candle at the head of the procession and at three points stops and chants either
"Light of Christ" or "Christ our Light," to which the people respond "Thanks be
to God."
Once the procession concludes, the deacon chants the Exultet, and, the church
remaining lit only by the people's candles and the Paschal candle, the people
take their seats for the Liturgy of the Word, which consists of between two and
ten readings from the Hebrew Scriptures, detailing the history of the People of
God and in particular the story of the Exodus from bondage in Egypt into the
Holy Land, which is the Old Testament antetype of the Easter story. After these
readings conclude, a fanfare may sound on the organ and additional musical
instruments and the Gloria in Excelsis Deo is sung for the first time since the
beginning of Lent. During this outburst of musical jubilation the congregation's
candles are extinguished, the church lights are turned on, and bells rung while
the church's decorative furnishings — altar frontals, the reredos, lectern
hangings, processional banners, statues and paintings — which had been stripped
or covered during Holy Week, are ceremonially replaced and unveiled and flowers
are placed on altars and elsewhere. Members of the congregation may have been
encouraged to bring flowers which are also brought forward and placed about the
sanctuary and side altars. A reading from the Epistle to the Romans is
proclaimed. The Alleluia is sung, the Gospel follows, along with a homily.
After the conclusion of the Liturgy of the Word, any catechumens or
candidates for full communion are initated into the church, by baptism,
confirmation, respectively. After the baptisms, while the newly baptised are
being clothed in white baptismal garments, the congregation renews their
baptismal vows. Then all adults baptised at the Easter Vigil, and all adult
candidates for full communion are confirmed by the priest celebrant (rather than
by the Diocesan Bishop, as in the case of children). The general intercessions
follow.
Following the confirmations, the Liturgy of the
Eucharist
continues as usual.
Eastern Orthodoxy
In the
Eastern Orthodox Church the service runs as follows with some minor local
variations:
- The
Midnight Office is served on
Holy Saturday shortly before midnight.
- All the lights in the church are extinguished. A new fire is struck in
the altar
and distributed to the people. All the clergy and the people exit the church
and process three times around it while singing a hymn.
- Before the front doors of the church, ideally at the stroke of
midnight,
the chief celebrant gives the exclamation for the beginning of
Matins. The
clergy followed by the people sing the Paschal
troparion
and the
Paschal greeting "Christ is risen!" "Truly He is risen!" is exchanged
for the first time. To the singing of the troparion, everyone enters the
church.
- The rest of
Matins is celebrated according to special Paschal
rubrics.
- The Paschal
Hours are sung.
- The
Divine Liturgy of St.
John Chrysostom is celebrated as usual, but with special features in
commemoration of the feast.
The candles lit near the beginning are held by the people throughout the
entire service, just as is done by the newly baptized. At some convenient
moment, normally following Matins, the
Easter Homily of St. John Chrysostom is proclaimed. Following the dismissal
of the Divine Liturgy blessed eggs dyed red are usually distributed to the
people for the breaking of the
fast, and
baskets of food for the feast that follows are blessed with
holy water.
The service is generally finished by about 3:00 a.m.
Oriental Orthodoxy
In the
Indian Orthodox Church the Vigil begins in the evening after the service on
Good Friday. The faithful spend time in the church reading from the scriptures
and singing hymns.
Traditionally, the principal service which corresponds to the Easter Vigil in
Eastern and Western rites would be conducted in the early hours of the morning,
typically at around 3 a.m. on Sunday. It is still the case in many parts of
Kerala, the southern state in India where Christianity is believed to have been
brought by St Thomas the Apostle in the first century. In many cities, however,
the service is conducted after 6:00 p.m. on Saturday; this is also the case for
practical reasons in former Christian lands of the Oriental Orthodox rite which
now have Muslim majorities.
Easter marks the change in the set of prayers said and sung before the
Eucharist. From Easter to the
Feast of the Cross on September 14, the prayers follow the Liturgy of
Easter.
A News Of Great Joy!
Traditionally the Prayers of the Night and Midnight hours are said. Then
follows the most dramatic moment in the service, the Announcement, when all the
lights in the church are extinguished other than from the Altar candles and
those held by those serving at the Altar. The Veil separating the sanctuary from
the congregation is drawn aside. The chief celebrant stands in the centre of the
sanctuary, holding a cross covered in a red embroidered cloth. This is the cross
which has been used in the Good Friday service for the procession commemorating
the Carrying of the Cross to Calvary and then ritually embalmed and buried in a
small coffin-shaped box behind the Altar, to commemorate the Burial. The chief
celebrant is flanked by the altar-servers, holding candles and hand-bells. In a
loud voice, the chief celebrant announces to the congregation, “Dearly beloved,
I bring you all news of great joy. Our Lord Jesus Christ has resurrected from
the dead and defeated His enemies.” Amid the ringing of the hand-bells and
church-bells, the congregation responds, "Truly, we believe that He is risen!”
This is done three times.
An Indian Orthodox Easter prcoession
The Easter Procession follows, in which the entire congregation, holding
lighted candles, participates with the celebrants and the altar servers. The
cross, covered in the red veil, used in the Announcement, is carried in
procession around the church. The hymn sung during the procession describes
Christ's answer to Mary Magdalene, when she sees him at the tomb and mistakes
him for the gardener:
Easter Cross
- O Mary! I am the Gardener truly,
- I am the One, Who established Paradise.
- I am the One Who was killed,
- I am the One Who entered the grave.
- Touch Me not, for I have not ascended to the Father.
- That I have gloriously arisen from that grave,
- Give thou this good news to the disciples.
Following this, the chief celebrant "celebrates" the Cross, by blessing the
four directions while the Trisagion is said.
The chief celebrant gives the Kiss of Peace, commemorating Christ's wishing
peace on the Apostles. This is passed on to the congregation. On this day alone
the Kiss of Peace is given twice.
Prayers of the Morning hours follow, and the
Holy
Qurbana is then conducted as usual.
Since Easter also marks the end of the Great 50-day Lent the Service of
Reconciliation (Shubhkono) is also held on this day. Special prayers are said.
Blessings from the Easter Cross
At the end of the service, instead of the normal touching by the Chief
Celebrant’s hand of the foreheads of each member of the congregation in
blessing, the Easter Cross is used.
The Easter Cross on its stand in the sanctuary
From Easter to the Feast of Ascension, the Easter Cross is moved from the
centre of the church to a stand inside the sanctuary. This stand, called
Golgotha, is itself shaped as a large cross. The Easter Cross is set on its head
and the whole structure looks like a Patriarchal Cross. It had been set up in
mid-Lent in the centre of the church and the faithful would kiss the cloth
covering it while entering and leaving the church.
Anglican Communion
Although the Easter Vigil is not universal in the Anglican Communion, its use
has become far more common in recent decades. Formerly it was only common in
parishes in the
Anglo-Catholic tradition.
The service follows more or less the same form as in the Roman Catholic
Church though normally with considerably more music. The current version of the
Book of Common Prayer used by the
Episcopal Church in the United States of America, for example, begins the
service similarly to the description of the Roman Catholic service above, with
some differences in names and custom. For example, the lessons from the
Hebrew Scriptures number between three and nine.
The traditions differ mainly in that the service of
baptism is
held immediately after the reading of the lessons. Traditionally, adults who
have not yet been baptised are baptised at this service, although children may
be as well.
Confirmations occur only when the bishop is present, because, in the
Anglican tradition, only a bishop may administer confirmation.
After the service of baptism, the celebrant announces the ancient Easter
acclamation "Alleluia! Christ is risen!" to which the people respond "The Lord
is risen indeed! Alleluia!" The
Gloria in Excelsis,
Te Deum or
Pascha Nostrum is then sung.
The service of the Holy Eucharist then continues as usual.
External links
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