Vigil is Most Important Celebration
of
Church Year

If you are going to the Easter Vigil, you will probably experience a dizzying parade of rituals and symbols.  Or maybe you will stay home, because the word is out:  The Easter Vigil is long.  People either love it or avoid it.  But that's the reaction the whole Christian life provokes.

You should know, however, that the Easter Vigil is the single most important celebration of the Church year.  It is Royals Opening Day, Thanksgiving Night on the Plaza, the Oscars, the Super Bowl, the Symphony's Truman Anniversary Concert, and the Prime Health marathon all rolled into one.  You can read about it, watch excerpts on video, or hear people talk about it, but if you're not there you've missed a once-in-a-year event that can't be replaced.  And if you miss it every year, your membership card may be fading.

Vigil.  Yes, the Easter Vigil is long, but its very length is the first of many symbols to explore.  After all, this is a vigil.  When was the last time you couldn't sleep?  When you heard some bad news?  Some exciting news?  When you had a chance to talk long into the night with a trusted friend?  When you got carried away on the dance floor?  
A good night's sleep does everyone good, but once in a while we forsake sleep because of something more important.  That's what we do at the Vigil.  The resurrection of Christ so excites us that we cannot sleep -- we have to explore it with our friends in faith.

Fire.  Easter begins with the lighting of the new fire.  The fire shatters the darkness of night, just as the resurrection will dispel the gloom of worldly cares, just as life will follow the despair of death.

The Easter Candle.  The candle first lit from the new fire represents Christ in our midst.  The wood of the cross has become the wax of the candle.  The cross of Christ is cut into the wax;  his wounds are studded with nails of incense.  The candle bears an inscription of time and eternity:  Alpha and Omega -- the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet -- proclaim Christ as the timeless God, and the numbers which define this year A.D. (anno domini, the year of the Lord) show that he is present to us now.
Christ enters our darkened church, where our tabernacles have been empty of Eucharist these three days.  From his flame we light our candles.  His fire never dims, even as our fires brighten the room.  The faith of the community shines through despair.

Scriptures.  Up to nine Scripture texts may be read at the Vigil.  Together, they take believers through the important events of salvation history; the creation of the world, the crossing of the Red Sea, the promise of an enduring covenant, the return from exile, the resurrection of Christ, and the meaning of Christian Baptism.  All the readings tell the same story: life follows death.
By the time we hear the Gospel of resurrection, we burst forth with a word we've suppressed for weeks:  Alleluia!  It leaps from our Lenten hearts, just as Christ rises from the tomb.  The word means, "Praise God," which is much the same as what we've been singing for six weeks ("Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ"), but, let's face it, "alleluia" is more fun to sing, and joy befits Easter.

Baptism.  Every unbaptized adult joining the Catholic Church celebrates Baptism at the Easter Vigil.  Only in rare circumstances are exceptions made.  The same is true for unbaptized children of "catechetical age," or children old enough for First Communion.  We usually welcome all new members at the Vigil, including those baptized in other Churches who desire communion in the Catholic Church.  But Baptism is the big event.
Baptism puts teeth into our Easter Vigil.  Belief in the resurrection of Christ lies in our hearts, but Baptism of individual Christians jumps to life before our eyes.  It's the same mystery.  We see new Christians coming to rebirth out of the tomb/womb of the font, just as Jesus rises from the dead.
The white garments and bright candles we give the newly baptized symbolize their new life in Christ, and their membership in his body.  The white garment carries the weight of other special clothes symbolizing membership:  a Roman collar, a school uniform, a cowboy hat, or that jacket people wear behind the counter of a fast-food restaurant.

Confirmation.  Confirmation celebrates the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the baptized.  It strengthens them to witness Christ for the community.  The oil of chrism lavished on the heads of the newly confirmed make them "christs," "anointed ones," and fills them with the Holy Spirit.  The sweet perfume of chrism fills the room just as the aroma of incense, and draws us all into the celebration.

Eucharist.  Finally, we're on familiar territory.  "Mass" gets back in gear.  You can almost hear the assembly breathe a sigh of relief when the bread and wine are brought to the altar.  That's not so bad -- we want to make this celebration special, so we return to the familiar now with a new sense of the sacred.
Communion itself will be First Communion for those who join the Church at Easter Vigil.  This seals their membership in the Body of Christ.  You may be eating a meal with family on Easter Sunday for the same reason:  We celebrate our identity best around a table.

Renewal of Baptismal Promises.  On Easter day, we substitute the Creed with the renewal of baptismal promises and the sprinkling of holy water.  In this way, those who miss the Vigil can still celebrate Baptism once a year.  The water reminds us of our entrance to the Christian life, and the promise takes on more meaning year after year. 
Have you ever complained that you never really made Christianity your own?  That you were baptized when you were too young to understand it?  That you wish sometime you would be asked to state publicly what you believe?  If so, what are you doing during the Creed Sunday after Sunday?  Every week, we stand together to proclaim what we believe, and once a year we do so in question-and-answer form so that it's clear:  "I do believe," we say, and we feel the baptismal waters on our flesh again.

Secular Symbols.  So, what about those chocolate Easter bunnies?  Every secular Easter symbol tells the same story as the Vigil.  Rabbits multiply, remember?  They are a symbol of new life in abundance.  Children are to Easter what newborn babies are to New Year's -- a sign of birth.  Eggs double for the mystery of the tomb.    That's why we hunt for eggs on Easter.  We imitate the women of Jerusalem hunting for the tomb of Jesus, and what do they find?  An egg.  A tomb from which Jesus has been 'hatched' into new life.  Chocolate heralds the end of Lent and the sweetness of the celebration.  New clothes extend the symbol of the baptismal garment and the coming of spring.  A whole season when new life begins.
Incidentally, that's why the date of Easter keeps fluctuating from year to year.  We celebrate Easter on the Sunday following the first full moon of the spring.  First, we wait for the moon, then we wait for Sunday.  The "firsts" have to come into line, then we celebrate this new beginning.
Every year, priests get the same inevitable question:  "Does the Easter Vigil fulfill my Sunday obligation?"  Well, if this doesn't take care of it, nothing will.
Perhaps a better question would be "Does Easter Sunday Mass fulfill my obligation to attend the Vigil?"  OK, there is a no real "obligation" to attend the Vigil in the Church's canon law, but there's no other ritual that will so steep us in the central ministry of Christian life as will the Vigil.
It only comes once a year, and for those who make Lent a time of renewal, for those who want to believe in life after death and for those who look forward to a bright tomorrow -- you gotta be there to believe it!

Easter Vigil
"There's no other ritual that will so steep us in the central
ministry of Christian life as will the Vigil."

[This article appeared in the Catholic Key on April 11, 1993 
  and March 31, 1996]

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