Thoughts from the Easter Vigil

Recall that according to Biblical reckoning, a day starts at sunset of the preceding day.  “And there was evening and there was morning, the first day” (Genesis 1:5).  This is why the Jewish Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday evening and why Christmas Eve is actually Christmas.  So “the third day” on which Jesus rose from the dead would have started on Saturday night.  We know that the women went to the tomb “toward the dawn of the first day of the week” (Matthew 28:1) and that Jesus had already risen.  We don’t know when, exactly, but it would have been in the dark.

So the Easter Vigil takes place on Saturday night, which is Easter Eve, the beginning of Easter day.  Ours began at 7:00 p.m., which is when all of our evening services begin, but one of my fellow-members told me that the church he used to go to would consult the U.S. Weather Bureau to find the exact time of sunset on that particular day, and that would be when their Easter Vigil would begin.  That would have been 7:27 p.m. for us in St. Louis, so we started a little early.

So there was still some daylight when the congregation gathered outside around the fire that had been kindled.  This was the beginning of the first part of the vigil:  the “Service of Light.”  From that fire, the year’s new Christ candle that will be at the front of the sanctuary was lit, amidst various prayers and blessings.  Everyone in the congregation had also been given a candle, which some lit from the Christ candle and then that flame was passed around until everyone held a lit candle.

We then followed the Christ candle in a procession into the sanctuary, which had been darkened at the Tenebrae service and stripped of its paraments, altar furnishings, flowers, banners, ornaments, and crosses.  The sanctuary was still bare and only dimly lit.  But the light increased with all of the candles, bathing the space with a warm, flickering light. (I’ll let you unpack the symbolism.)

The next part was the “Service of the Word.”  This consisted of reading key Bible stories, in full:  the Creation (Genesis 1-2), the Flood (Genesis 7-9), the Testing of Abraham (Genesis 22), Israel’s Deliverance at the Red Sea (Exodus 14-15), Salvation Offered Freely to All (Isaiah 55), The Valley of Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37), Job Confesses the Redeemer (Job 19), Jonah Preaches to Nineveh (Jonah 3), the Gathering of God’s People (Zephaniah 3), The Fiery Furnace (Daniel 3).  After each reading, we prayed a collect on the theme and the  application of the text.

That may seem like a lot of reading to sit through, but I loved it.  We know these stories, but we seldom read the whole version in our weekly pericopes.  And the Biblical texts are so beautifully and powerfully written.  Hearing them read and following along was a great experience.  This was a strong dose of God’s Word, both Law and Gospel, from the Old Testament.  This service, by the way, is unique–at least the way our congregation does it–in that there is no sermon (though I recall some of the other Vigils I’ve attended had one, or even many mini-sermons on each text).  This lack of a sermon, I hasten to say, is not why I like the Vigil so much!

Next came the “Service of Baptismal Remembrance.”  The Easter Vigil was a time for Baptisms in the early church, and even today this is a prominent time for Baptisms, especially of adults, though children too.  (One of my granddaughters was baptized at an Easter Vigil, so we celebrated her Baptismal Birthday at this one.)  I know a congregation that also does adult confirmations and welcomes new members during the Vigil.  The rite also has the congregation reciting the baptismal confessions, including renouncing the devil, affirming belief in the three parts of the Apostle’s Creed, etc.

Then came a “Service of Prayer,” consisting of a “Litany of the Resurrection.”

Then “The Paschal Celebration.”  The pastor shouted, “ALLELUIA!  CHRIST IS RISEN!”  Suddenly, the lights that had been dimmed all came on full blast.  Those of us in the congregation were startled at the shout and the suddenly bright light.  Thus was depicted the Resurrection of Jesus.

I looked out the window and by this time, the sun had completely set and all was dark.  This could have been the moment when it happened!

And then the church came back to life.  As the congregation sang an Easter hymn, the  paraments, altar furnishings, flowers, banners, ornaments, and crosses–everything removed at Tenebrae–were all brought back in.  The darkness of Good Friday, with the Resurrection, was turned to bright light.  The altar, stripped of its cloths like Christ was stripped of His clothes, was adorned.  The crosses and banners reappeared, as did the living plants and flowers.

This led to the high point, the “Service of the Sacrament.”  This was the ordinary rite of Holy Communion, just like we have it every Sunday.  But in this context it hit me hard:  the Resurrected Jesus is with us at this very moment in His body and blood!

Photo:  Easter Vigil via Working Preacher, Creative Commons Image by Prayitno