Lights Out! Flame On!

Pope Benedict XVI, Easter Vigil 2012, photo from The Herald

We are preparing with excitement for tonight's Easter Vigil. Tonight our niece and goddaughter will be baptized, confirmed and receive the Eucharist for the fist time. We will not be alone, for many other families in our parish will be celebrating their family members' entrance into the Catholic Church. Tonight, all across the world people are being brought into the Catholic Church.

It's been almost ten years since I attended my first Easter Vigil when our son Kevin entered the Church. Since then we have attended Easter Vigil each year whether we have a family member or friend entering the Church or not. The Easter Vigil Mass is the high point of the year. It is without equivocation the most sublime liturgical celebration. Did I mention it normally lasts 3+ hours and begins when the sun sets?

We will begin our evening in darkness. As the Mass begins we all will gather around a flaming pit where Father Mathew will light the Easter Candle. We will then proceed into the sanctuary where we will have our own tapers lit as a reminder of our own baptismal promises.

Next we begin the Liturgy of the Word, which tonight, consists of ten readings and is a synthesis of the entire salvation history of man and the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We begin with a reading from Genesis, "In the beginning..."  We are led into the Gospel reading of the Resurrection with a passage from the epistle letter of Saint Paul to the Romans.

The Mass continues with the administration of the initiation sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation and Communion. I hope to share pictures from this evening's Mass later tonight.