Easter Vigil

a reflection by Ken Canedo

There is a sense of
incompleteness
on Holy Saturday,
a strangeness.

Pensively, I walk
through this day,
uncertain.

Two emotional nights
exhaust me:

Thursday’s mandate to wash feet.
Bread and wine, to remember him.
Intensive prayer, alone in his Eucharistic presence.

Friday’s stark cross
on which hung the Savior
of the world.

What do these things mean to me?

I think about his disciples
on that tumultuous first Holy Week,
going from Palm Sunday hosannas
to the shocking finality of his death.

How could it end this way?
What would become of them?
Were they now guilty by association?
Would they meet the same crucified fate?

I picture that primal Saturday
as a day of despair.

Something needs to break through
this void,
this emptiness,
this darkness.

We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more.
Death no longer has power over him. (Rom 6:3-11)

The Easter Vigil is the greatest and most noble of all liturgical solemnities. It is intimately connected with our RCIA Elect, who have prepared all year for their reception of the Sacraments of Initiation on this night. 

The liturgy of the Easter Vigil consists of four parts:

       - Lucenarium (Service of Light)

       - Liturgy of the Word

       - Baptismal Liturgy

       - Liturgy of the Eucharist


The Lucenarium includes the blessing of the Easter fire; the preparation of the Paschal Candle which leads the Procession of Light; and the solemn chanting of the Exsultet, the proclamation of the Risen Christ that is arguably the Church’s greatest song. 

The Liturgy of the Word gives a basic overview of salvation history, from the Creation story in Genesis through the Resurrection account in the Gospel. 

During the Baptismal Liturgy, our RCIA Elect receive the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. Those who are already validly baptized are formally welcomed into the Church at the Rite of Reception.

Once the Baptismal Liturgy is completed, we move into the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Mass proceeds as usual, but now with the presence of our new Christians who receive Communion for the first time on this night. They are a living symbol of the Risen Christ. Their faith inspires and renews the faith of those of us who have been walking this journey for many years!