Blessed Easter!

 

The Lord is Risen! Blessed Easter to everyone! I attended the Easter Vigil in our parish and although it was shorter than what I had been accustomed to (in the country I came from, the vigil is celebrated in its entirety - all readings and lasts until midnight then before dawn the next day, the meeting of Mama Mary and the Risen Lord is reenacted by a procession), I am still very thankful to be able to take part in the celebration that sums up our faith. Here is an actual Easter Vigil celebration. The Easter Vigil is the Mother of all Holy Vigils and the Great Service of Light - as St. Cyril of Jerusalem said, “The Easter vigil, although celebrated at night, is always as bright as day, symbolic of the Risen Christ” and I encourage everyone to take part in this celebration. The celebration does not start until sunset to signify the beginning of a new day. It starts with the Service of Light (preparation and lighting of the Paschal candle which symbolizes Jesus, the Light and His presence in the world, up to the sharing of the light to everyone present). The next part is the Liturgy of the Word where the history of salvation is recounted from the beginning of time (Genesis) to the Gospel and the Homily (nine readings, seven Old Testament and two New Testament, are provided but not all are required to be read due to time constraints - at least three Old Testament readings must be read, including Exodus 14). The readings are 1) the story of creation, Gen 1:1-2; 2; 2) Abraham and Isaac, Gen 22:1-18; 3) Crossing of the Red Sea, Exodus 14:15–15:1; 4) Isaiah 54:5-14; 5) Isaiah 55:1-11; 6) Baruch 3:9-15.32–4:4; 7) Ezekiel 36:16-17.18-28; 8) Romans 6:3-11; and 9) Gospel reading Matthew 28:1-10. The Gloria is sung before the reading of the Epistle of the Romans, and the Alleluia is sung before the Gospel. The Liturgy of Baptism is the time when the Easter water is blessed, new members are brought into the Church through baptism, and we, the faithful, are blessed with water and renew our baptismal promises by renouncing evil and professing our faith. The Liturgy of the Eucharist is the most anticipated part (specially for the neophytes) and the center of our Christian life and the culmination of the celebration - after we were fed by the Word, given new life in the waters of Baptism, we now receive the Body and Blood of Christ and ready to celebrate Easter.