Listen! Do you want to know a secret? Do you promise not to tell? No, no, no! Wait, once you know it, we want you to tell!
For many of us who grew up in a Western liturgical tradition, Episcopal, Roman, Presbyterian, Lutheran, or Methodist, our primary experience of Easter has been at the Eucharist on Easter Sunday morning. But did you know that each of these faith traditions, including our own, acknowledge that THE primary liturgy of Easter Day is not on Easter morning but the one that begins after dark on Easter Eve?
This service, properly named the Great Vigil of Easter, is the mother of all vigils, including the one we keep on Christmas Eve. It is the first celebration of Jesus’ resurrection on Easter and the central liturgy of the church year. It is the culmination of the three-day liturgy called the Triduum, which begins on Maundy Thursday and ends with the joyful Eucharist celebrated at the end of the vigil on Easter Eve. We keep watch and wait for the celebration of the resurrection in a liturgy that is only second in age to the celebration of the Eucharist itself.
It makes full and resplendent use of the primal gifts of fire and water. It embraces us in shadows and darkness as we hear and respond to the telling of our salvation story through the Hebrew Scriptures, in the glow of the paschal candle lit from a roaring fire. It is a time for those entering the church to be baptized and for us to renew our baptismal vows with newly blessed water. It is time to make a joyful noise with bells and noisemakers and loud alleluias as the announcement of Christ’s resurrection is made and the Eucharist itself is celebrated in the midst of beautiful flowers and vestments that convey our joy in Jesus ‘s resurrection and the sure hope of our own. Our senses are overwhelmed with sights and sounds and scents and taste.
This service has four major parts: Light, Word, Water, and Eucharist. And yes, it is longer than most, but this is the Passover of the Lord, and no one hurries through a Passover.
Look for more information on each part in the coming weeks. But mark your calendars now. March 30, 2024, at 7:00 pm. Tell others! Bring them! And whether you’ve been to a vigil or not, join us in keeping this Great Vigil of Easter.