Bishop Kevin Farrell

The Chief Shepherd of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

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The Easter Vigil of the Lord’s Resurrection

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The Easter Vigil is not a Holy Saturday service, but is celebrated Easter Night, as each day begins with the previous evening’s vigil. It is the solemnity of solemnities, the pinnacle of the liturgical year. It is a waiting for the coming of the Lord.

No liturgy is richer in symbolic acts and gestures. There are four parts to the vigil liturgy: The Service of Light and the Easter Proclamation; the Liturgy of the Word, a prolonged meditation on the wonderful works the Lord has wrought for his people; reception of new members reborn in baptism and the celebration of the Eucharist, the high point of the vigil.

Properly, the Easter Vigil begins in total darkness which is dispelled by the light of the new fire that is blessed outside the church, recalling “…this most holy night when our Lord Jesus Christ passed from death to life…the Passover of the Lord.”

The new fire is blessed as a sharing in the glory of God “through your Son, the light of the world.” The new fire is used to light the Paschal Candle , symbolizing Christ. The Paschal Candle then leads the congregation in procession into the church, where “Christ our light” is intoned three times. The fire is then passed from the Paschal Candle to the congregation further dispelling the darkness in the church.

Concluding the first portion of the vigil, the deacon or priest chants the Easter Proclamation or Exultet , a poetic text that tells the story of the Easter mystery, including the “Felix Culpa” or Happy Fault, the “necessary sin of Adam which gained for us so great a redeemer.”

There follows the Liturgy of the Word, which includes seven readings from the Old Testament which give an account of the outstanding deeds of the history of salvation. The Gloria is then sung, the lights of the church turned on and the bells joyously rung after which we are reminded that God has “brightened this night with the radiance of the Risen Christ.”

Anticipating the baptism of new members, Paul’s Letter to the Romans reminds us that “we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death” so that “just as Christ was raised from the dead…we too might live in newness of life.”

The Gospel reading returns to Luke for the story of the women of Galilee visiting Christ’s tomb and finding it empty and being asked by the angel “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but he has been raised,” the first proclamation of the Resurrection.

Baptism and confirmation of new members follows the homily, including the blessing of the baptismal water wherein the priest recalls the important role of water in salvation history and prays that the Father will “by the power of the Spirit give to the water of this font the grace of your Son.”

Catechumens and candidates have spent a year in preparation for this night when the celebrant prays to God to “send your spirit of adoption on those to be born again in baptism.”

After the baptism of new members, the members of the congregation renew their baptismal promises and are sprinkled with water, recalling in gestures and words the baptism they had received.

Finally, for the first time the newly baptized and confirmed participate fully in the Easter Sacrament by joining in the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the commemoration of the sacrifice of the cross and the presence of the risen Christ.

The vigil concludes with the great Easter Allelulia

The Triduum – Holy Thursday

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In reality the Triduum is a single three-day celebration that includes Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. It begins on the evening of Holy Thursday, which is the vigil of Good Friday. For the Jewish people, the day begins at sunset of the previous day. The Triduum ends at sunset on Easter. For this reason, there is no concluding ritual on either Thursday evening or on Friday, because the observance is seen as continuing for the three days. For our purposes we will treat each of the three liturgies separately.

At the center of the Holy Thursday celebration is the Eucharist, not as it is in every liturgy, but in a special way as we remember and reflect upon the great gift of Thanksgiving that Jesus left us. In the opening prayer we are told that “He gave it to us when he was about to die and commanded us to celebrate it as the new and eternal sacrifice.”

The importance of remembering is brought out by the Passover story from Exodus which concludes with the words: “This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the Lord, as a perpetual institution.”

Interestingly the scripture recalling the institution of the Eucharist is taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. The memorial or remembrance theme is continued with Jesus’ words: “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” He repeats it with the cup when he says; “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

With these simple words the Lord not only instituted the Eucharist, but also the means of continuing it by providing a ministerial and hierarchical priesthood. We are reminded of exactly what the Eucharist is by the responsorial psalm: “our blessing-cup is communion with the Blood of Christ.” It is the Eucharist that unites with Jesus as well as one another.

In the gospel from St. John we see that Jesus commanded us not only to celebrate and remember him in worship but also in service. When Jesus began to wash the disciples’ feet, impetuous Peter shouted out “You will never wash my feet.” Not surprising since the task of washing feet was not that of a servant but of a slave.

Jesus not only took on human flesh, but the role of a slave and then commanded his disciples to do the same. “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” This theme of servant and slave will be amplified in the readings as the celebration continues on Good Friday.

During the liturgy of the Eucharist enough bread is consecrated to provide for the Friday observance. Because the bread for Friday is consecrated on Thursday evening, the Friday liturgy was at one time referred to as the Mass of the Pre-sanctified.

Finally, with no closing ceremony, the Eucharist is carried in procession to a chapel where it will be reserved until Friday. During the procession the Pange Lingua an ancient hymn that celebrates the institution of the Eucharist , is sung. The altar is stripped bare and any crosses in the church are covered.

We are left to reflect upon the unmistakable fact that worship of God is eternally linked to service to others.

Lent is all about Easter

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As we approach the end of Lent we should remember that the purpose of Lent is to prepare us for Easter. It is a time for us to reflect on the great mystery of our Redemption. This reflection begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Pentecost. During this time through ritual and symbol we reflect on the Passion, Death, Resurrection and return to the Father (Ascension) of Jesus, and finally the sending of the Holy Spirit by the Father and the Son after His return.

For thousands of years God reached out in love and faithfulness to reconcile humanity to himself. There was no response. Finally, in the Incarnation,God who called became the Man who responded. Jesus, fully God and fully man, responded perfectly to the Father’s call. But the rejection continued. In the words of John’s Gospel “He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.”

His rejection resulted in His Passion, Death and Resurrection. John continues: “But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.” Through the sending of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, we are empowered to join with Jesus and our imperfect response to the Father is joined to his perfect response…and the way to the Father is opened to us.

In liturgy, we celebrate our Redemption in three phases. Lent, which extends from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday evening, the Triduum (which is really a single three-day celebration) that includes Holy Thursday evening, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter. We conclude with the Easter Season which extends from Easter to Pentecost to complete the cycle of Redemption.

In the next few blogs we will consider how this holy season is, in a sense, a great catechism that teaches us by words, rituals and symbols the meaning of our Redemption.

Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion

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Austerity and simplicity are the marks of the Good Friday liturgy as is appropriate for the commemoration of the death of the Lord. No sacraments may be celebrated on this day except for the Sacrament of Penance and the Anointing of the Sick. In accordance with ancient tradition, no Mass may be celebrated. No musical instruments or bells are permitted.

Good Friday is nonetheless a time of celebration, celebration of our Redemption as noted in one of the opening prayers: “Lord, by the suffering of Christ your Son you have saved us all from the death we inherited from sinful Adam.” Ideally the Good Friday liturgy is celebrated at three in the afternoon, the hour of Jesus’ death, but it may be celebrated early in the evening at a time more convenient for working people.

The liturgy consists of three elements. The Liturgy of the Word, the Veneration of the Cross and Holy Communion.

In silence the priest and other ministers enter the Church and prostrate themselves before the stripped altar. This prostration symbolizes grief and sorrow and the submissiveness of man in the presence of God.

In the first reading from Isaiah, we reflect on the Messianic prophecy of the Suffering Servant. “…he was pierced for our offences, crushed for our sins: upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we are healed.” The second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews picks up on Isaiah and reminds us that “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of salvation for all who obey him.”

Once again the Passion is read, this time from John which is used every Good Friday. John alone tells us of Jesus placing his mother in the care of the Beloved Disciple: “He said woman, behold, your son,” and then to John, “Behold, your mother.” It is also John who anticipates Pentecost when he tells us that at the moment of his death the Lord said:”‘It is finished.’ And bowing his head, he handed over the Spirit.”

Following the Passion and a homily, a series of up to ten special intercessory prayers are said emphasizing that Jesus’ death was for the salvation of the world.

Then follows the unveiling and the veneration of the cross as the priest gradually takes the covering from the crucifix while singing three times “This is the wood of the cross, on which hung the Savior of the World.” The cross is then venerated by the priest and ministers and individually by members of the congregation as the ancient reproaches are sung recalling the history of salvation in which God cries out “My people, what have I done to you? How have I offended you? Answer me!”

The cross is left for veneration while a simple Communion service, beginning with the Lord’s Prayer, is held, at which the Eucharist concecrated on Holy Thursday is distributed.

There is no closing ceremony as the priest and ministers depart in silence. Only the cross and four candles remain, inviting us to reflect on Jesus in the silence of the tomb.