Essay About Easter Vigil Mass And Easter Vigil

The Easter Vigil Mass
Essay Preview: The Easter Vigil Mass
Report this essay
THE EASTER VIGIL MASS
The Easter Vigil is celebrated on the eve of the resurrection of our savior, Jesus
Christ. Easter is the holiest and most important event in the Christian religion. The Easter
Vigil Mass is celebrated in a deep, spiritual, solemn way. Although different Churches
and Christian orders may have minute differences in some of the rituals during the mass,
but the over all feeling in the Easter Vigil liturgy is of solemnity and holiness. The
ceremony begins in almost complete darkness and is slowly lighted by the flames of the
congregations candles paralleling Jesus symbolically lighting the world we live in. Also
all Easter Vigil liturgies include four parts, the Service of Lights, the Liturgy of the
Word, Celebration of the Rites of Initiation, and Liturgy of the Eucharist.
The Service of Light is composed of three parts. The Service of Light opens the
Mass. The first part of this ceremony is the lighting of the Paschal Candle. The minister
sprinkles the candle with holy water and blesses the fire. The minister carves the letter for
the Greek word “Alpha” on the top of the cross, and the Greek letter for the word
“Omega” below the cross. These letters symbolize the beginning and the end of the life of
Christ. The Paschal Candle is then lit and brought to the front of the Church as the
Catholics cry out in harmony, “The Light of Christ!” The harmony of the Christian
communitys hymns and songs illustrate the events we are celebrating. For example the
“Exultet,” proclaims the salvation that Christ rising from the dead brought about. From
the lit Paschal Candle all the members of the congregation light smaller, individual candles.
The lighting of the candles symbolizes Christians led by Jesus, the light,
overcoming evil, which is represented by darkness. The Trinity overcoming darkness is
represented by the Christian community overcoming the darkness that filled the Church.
In this ritual of the Easter Vigil we celebrate the triumph Jesus Christ had over sin, evil,
and death.
The next part of the mass is the Liturgy of the Word. The readings are read by the
lector and each is followed by a Responsorial Psalm. There are seven readings in the
missal but only three of them were used at the mass: Genesis 1:1-2:2 (“the story of
creation”), Exodus 14:15-15:1(“through the Red Sea”) and Romans 6:3-11(“dying and
rising with Christ”). The readings seemed very appropriate to me relating back to that
theme of coming out of the darkness into the light. The story of creation, I believe, has the
most significant example of this theme. The idea of God bringing everything in the world
out of total darkness relates especially to the new members of the Church about to be
baptized, confirmed, and receive the Eucharist. God can bring something out of nothing
and soon he will make these people of whom some have not received a single sacrament
into fully confirmed Catholics. It is truly an amazing thing to think about and allows you
to think deeply about the mystery and power of God.
At the next part of the Vigil, the Rite of Christian Initiation, the priest called the
catechumens to the back of the church where the Baptism would take place. Once they
were back there, and separated from the congregation, the priest asked each person the
questions of the creed individually. Then, after each one had answered them, he
immediately baptized each one. I