The well used 2017 Easter Candle

The Brand New 2018 Easter Candle

I absolutely love the Easter Vigil. It is the night where we celebrate the LIGHT that has come in to the world in the Resurrection of Jesus. It is the night where new LIFE comes to all of us because of the Resurrection of Jesus. It is a time of joy and celebration and has a history that dates back to the early days of the Church. It is a time of WELCOME. We welcome the Resurrected Jesus again and we welcome new adult members in to the Church. We emerge from the darkness in to the LIGHT. God is so good!
For those of you who have never attended an Easter Vigil service, I highly encourage you to do so. We start out with the church in darkness and build a fire in the front of the church. This fire reminds me of how great it is to gather around a fire and tell stories. And boy do we tell stories this night. The fire is blessed and then a brand new Easter Candle (Paschal Candle) is lit from the fire. The Deacon carries the lit Easter Candle in to the church and sings THE LIGHT OF CHRIST and the people respond THANKS BE TO GOD. The deacon then uses the Easter Candle to begin lighting the candles of all of the people in the church. The lighting starts from the back and goes out sideways as one person passes the light to another person. The Deacon stops in the middle of the church and again sings THE LIGHT OF CHRIST and the people respond THANKS BE TO GOD. He then continues towards the front as candles are being lit. He stops at the front and for the last time sings, THE LIGHT OF CHRIST and again the people respond THANKS BE TO GOD. The candle is put in its stand and the ancient and beautiful hymn the EXSULTET is then sung. It is beautiful to see how the dark church is lit up by all the people sharing their light. It reminds us that together we are called to share our light, the light of Christ, and then we can conquer the darkness.
The Liturgy of the Word now begins. There can be seven Old Testament readings each with its own responsorial psalm and prayer before we come to the Epistle, another responsorial psalm and then the Gospel and homily. Music plays an important part of the Liturgy of the Word and often at least one of the readings is sung.
After the Liturgy of the Word the Baptismal Liturgy begins. If there are candidates to be baptized the Litany of the Saints is sung. The baptismal waters are blessed and the candidates are questioned. Baptism and Confirmation are given and then all of the people renew their own baptismal promises. The prayer of the faithful is read and then the mass continues as does every other mass with the Eucharistic Prayers. The candidates that have been received in to the Church this evening receive first and then all of the congregation are invited to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus. After our final prayers and blessing we leave the church refreshed by the Risen Jesus. We leave in rejoicing the Risen Lord.
The Easter Vigil begins the Easter Season of Joy and Alleluia and New Life. It continues until the Feast of Pentecost when the Church celebrates its beginning with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Some candidates for Confirmation may be received at Pentecost.
In the pictures above you see the old 2017 Easter Candle and the new 2018 Easter Candle. The old one is quite short and almost used up. That is because the Easter Candle is the symbol of LIFE and is lit during the Easter Season and lit at every Baptism throughout the year and at every Funeral throughout the year. Baptisms are all about new life. So are funerals. It is only right that the symbol of New Life is lit for each of these.
Easter is a time not only for us to rejoice and give thanks to the Lord, but also to be refreshed and to find New Life in our own lives. Jesus has so much to give to us, all we need to do is to go to Him and ask. May this Easter season be one of New Life and Rejoicing for you and your families. Happy Easter.