The Vigil of Easter (2024)
Dear brothers and sisters,
now that we have begun our solemn Vigil,
let us listen with quiet hearts to the Word of God.
Let us meditate on how God in times past saved his people
and in these, the last days, has sent us his Son as our Redeemer.
Let us pray that our God may complete this paschal work of salvation
by the fullness of redemption.
-Introduction to the Liturgy Word during the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night
Our lives are made up of stories.
In fact, some philosophers even say that it is our stories that really define who we are.
Imagine a new couple, just beginning to grow in their relationship and in their love for one another. They take time telling each other stories about their families, their time in school, and, even more simply, they just tell each other about what happened that day. Then, the time comes to “meet the family.” Then, more stories are told: stories of relatives long-departed, family vacations, embarrassing children moments, and a million other big and small things that families talk about. These stories are important because they help that new guy or girl to learn even more about their partner and it’s a way that they, too, can become part of the family.
In all of this, these two people haven’t simply been writing their own stories. Instead, they have begun to create a common story: how they met, the first date, the first kiss, the first argument. Their shared story begins to define who they are both as a couple and as individuals who are in a relationship with another person.
What is true for couples and families is also true religious communities, parishes, villages and towns, ethnic groups, and even countries. The stories we share, help us to make sense of the world around us and our place in it. They help us form a worldview and an identity. They help us know who we are.
That is what we are about in the Easter Vigil during the Holy Night.
When we gather in the dark to light the Easter Fire and bless the Paschal Candle, we share for a few moments in that same darkness that filled the minds and hearts of Jesus’ disciples following his death. Then, we hear the Exsultet, the ancient hymn of praise that reminds that “this is the night” when that darkness was cast out by the light of the Resurrection. And then we share stories and we sing songs that have been part of our “family story” for well over two thousand years. We talk about ancestors long-departed and we hear about good times and bad times. In all of this, we are given a chance to hear how all the events of our family story were helping to bring us to today, to this moment, to this church.
Detail of the Deacon proclaiming the “Exsultet” (note the Paschal Candle on the left) from an “Exsultet roll” (dated 1225-1227) housed in the Museum of the Cathedral of Salerno, Italy
The stories that we have shared in the vigil of Easter are stories that help us understand who we are and what is we believe about this God who has loved us so much that not even death itself can separate us from God’s love.
For those preparing for baptism, these stories are an essential part of their own initiation into this community. Just like marrying into a family, you need to know the stories—both the good and bad, the successes and the struggles—so you know what you’re getting yourself into! These stories tell us who we are as disciples of this Risen Lord and if we are truly open to the lessons they contain, they have the power to transform us.
On this holiest of nights, we remember.
But just as on Holy Thursday and Good Friday, we aren’t remembering simply for the sake of remembering. Rather our act of remembering and our storytelling make us witnesses of the empty tomb and our Alleluia! is our proclamation to the world that everything is changed— that we are changed—by what we have seen and heard.
O God, who through your Son
bestowed upon the faithful the fire of your glory,
sanctify † this new fire, we pray,
and grant that,
by these paschal celebrations,
we may be so inflamed with heavenly desires,
that with minds made pure
we may attain festivities of unending splendor.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
-Blessing of the Fire during the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night
