By Leon Bent –
The Christian religion is not a mere collection of doctrines and moral precepts. It is remarkable action, uniting humankind to God through the One Mediator, Jesus!
The whole saving process may be summed up in just one word: “Passover”. The Church has preached and celebrated this Passover of Christ that it may become the Passover of humans, by way of the Redeemer’s Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension to his Father. The Mystical Body of Christ will continue to do this “until he comes again”.
In what spirit did the early Christians do this? In a spirit of reminiscence: They were fulfilling the command of Jesus, who said: “Do this in memory of me.” In a spirit of union “they persevered in the doctrine of the apostles and in the communication of the breaking of bread” (Acts 2:42). In a sense of expectation: They were looking ad longing for the Second Coming (the Parousia) of Jesus: “As often as you eat this bread and drink this chalice,” St. Paul told the early Christians, “you show forth the death of the Lord until he comes” (1 Cor.11:26).
It was in the early hours of Sunday that he had visited his apostles; hence as Sunday had tip-toed in, it was deemed the most fitting time for the celebration of the Christian mysteries. But, because they decided to be ready for the Parousia, to be awake watching for Jesus, they would meet on Saturday night, to pray and read Holy Scripture, until they celebrated Mass as dawn approached.
Sunday, then, was the Lord’s Day for the early Church. Every Sunday, after a vigil the previous night, they celebrated the events of Easter, the Passover of the Lord. Every Sunday, in fact, was a little Easter, a Passover, wherein they made the Passover of Jesus their own, showing forth the death of the Lord, until he would come again. Sunday was a Christian feast day. They had a Paschal Feast every week.
But, as time went on it was natural that they give prominence to one of these weekly Paschal feasts – which corresponded in date with the original happenings celebrated. This tendency became apparent, first of all in Jerusalem where the celebration by the Jews of the ancient pasch caused Christians to respond by laying special emphasis on the celebration of the Christian pasch, which occurred at the same time. Thus, a specific feast of Easter arose. It was considered the principal feast, of which all other Sundays were a echo.
The entire Passover of Jesus was celebrated: His passion, death, resurrection and ascension, not merely the rising from the dead. Thus, Easter brought to mind the basic facts on which the very existence and life of the Church existed. Easter is the greatest of all feasts and the Paschal Vigil is the summit and centre of the Easter celebrations.
By the 2nd Century A.D. Baptism was the sacrament which brought illumination by the light of Christ. In fact, during this period Baptism was called Photismos, “the Enlightenment” – “those who had been enlightened”. The lighted candle given to the newly baptized is a reminder to us, even now, of this beautiful thought.
Besides, St. Paul had described Baptism as a dying with Christ, and rising with him, to new life. So, there was an additional reason for administering Baptism during the Paschal Vigil: On no other occasion could its symbolism and full meaning stand out so clearly for all to grasp.
There is one more factor which contributed to the content of the Paschal Vigil, namely, readings from Scripture. Public reading was very important in the early Church, when books – all of them hand-written – were rare and expensive, and when too many in the Congregation were illiterate. There was no better way than to listen to reading from the Bible, chosen to suit the occasion. After the reading of each passage a Psalm or Canticle was sung, in which the participants were involved.
But, one could not read the Scriptures without light. So, the Service began with the lighting of a candle, for the celebrant who was to read. This candle was blessed accompanied by a wonderful song, which gradually took on the form of the mellifluous Exsulter. And, from this extraordinary melody grew all the ceremonies concerned with fire and light, and the spreading of light, which now form the first part of the service.
To sum up, then: The great Easter festival is today spread over a whole week, known as Holy Week. But, its climax is the Holy Saturday Vigil. It comprises a Night Watch, held in memory of the first coming of the Lord, and in expectation of his second coming. The contents of the Night Watch comprise a festival of light, followed by Scripture reading, song ad prayer. The Baptismal celebration follows. This culminates in a Mass of the Resurrection, early on Sunday morning in fulfilment of the Vigil. This is a brief account of the origin and meaning of the Paschal Vigil.
Leon Bent is an ex-Seminarian and studied the Liberal Arts and Humanities, and Philosophy, from St. Pius X College, Mumbai. He holds Masters Degree in English Literature and Aesthetics. He has published three Books and have 20 on the anvil. He has two extensively “Researched” Volumes to his name: Hail Full of Grace and Matrimony: The Thousand Faces of Love. He won The Examiner, Silver Pen Award, 2000 for writing on Social Issues, the clincher being a Researched Article on Gypsies in India, published in an issue of the (worldwide circulation) Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, New Delhi. On April, 28, 2018, Leon received the Cardinal Ivan Dias Award for a research paper in Mariology.