Holy Saturday - Easter Vigil
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| (Found here) |
“Tonight, we keep a solemn vigil. As we listened to the sacred texts, we were reminded of a fundamental right that can never be taken away from God’s people: the right to faith founded on hope. ‘Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see’ (Heb. 11:1). We gather in the great silence of Holy Saturday awaiting the coming of the dawn. We gather waiting for the spark that will enlighten our darkness. As we wait for the morning star, we walk along the path leading from death to life. With the faithful women, we have gathered in the darkness, awaiting ‘the dawn of the first day of the week’, the day that will renew the face of the earth. Jesus, like a seed buried in the ground, makes new life blossom in the world. Jesus plants in our hearts the conviction that God can make everything work for good because the grave became the seed-bed of life.
. . . On this holy night, the Lord calls us to get up, to rise at his word, to look up, and to realize that we were made for heaven, not for the earth, for the heights of life, and not for the depths of death. On this night, God asks us to view life as he views it. When he looks at us, he sees an irrepressible kernel of beauty. On this night, the Light of Christ fills us with hope, assuring us that we are loved, no matter how much we make a mess of things. Through his radical love for us, the heart of God and the heart of man touch. Jesus Christ took light from heaven and brought it to the earth – the light of truth and the fire of love that transform us.
On this most holy night, we recall how Jesus rose from the grave. We are reminded that life is stronger than death; good is stronger than evil; love is stronger than hate, and truth is stronger than lies. The darkness of the previous days is overcome the moment Jesus rises from the grave and manifests the Father’s pure light. This night reveals God’s light to us. It is the true enlightenment that enables God’s light to break into our world and opens our eyes to the light of life.
On this night, the Church presents the mystery of light to us using a unique and very humble symbol: the Paschal candle. This is a light that lives through sacrifice. The candle shines because it is burnt up. It gives light because it gives itself. Christ is the Light of the world from which all light originates. He enables us to recognize the glory of the Father from one end of the earth to the other. He points out our path. He is the light of Day which, as it grows, is gradually spreading throughout the earth.”
~Jerome Machar
. . . On this holy night, the Lord calls us to get up, to rise at his word, to look up, and to realize that we were made for heaven, not for the earth, for the heights of life, and not for the depths of death. On this night, God asks us to view life as he views it. When he looks at us, he sees an irrepressible kernel of beauty. On this night, the Light of Christ fills us with hope, assuring us that we are loved, no matter how much we make a mess of things. Through his radical love for us, the heart of God and the heart of man touch. Jesus Christ took light from heaven and brought it to the earth – the light of truth and the fire of love that transform us.
On this most holy night, we recall how Jesus rose from the grave. We are reminded that life is stronger than death; good is stronger than evil; love is stronger than hate, and truth is stronger than lies. The darkness of the previous days is overcome the moment Jesus rises from the grave and manifests the Father’s pure light. This night reveals God’s light to us. It is the true enlightenment that enables God’s light to break into our world and opens our eyes to the light of life.
On this night, the Church presents the mystery of light to us using a unique and very humble symbol: the Paschal candle. This is a light that lives through sacrifice. The candle shines because it is burnt up. It gives light because it gives itself. Christ is the Light of the world from which all light originates. He enables us to recognize the glory of the Father from one end of the earth to the other. He points out our path. He is the light of Day which, as it grows, is gradually spreading throughout the earth.”
~Jerome Machar
O truly blessed night,
when things of heaven are wed to those of earth,
and divine to the human.
Therefore, O Lord,
we pray you that this candle,
hallowed to the honor of your name,
may persevere undimmed,
to overcome the darkness of this night.
Receive it as a pleasing fragrance,
and let it mingle with the lights of heaven.
May this flame be found still burning
by the Morning Star:
the one Morning Star who never sets,
Christ your Son,
who, coming back from death’s domain,
has shed his peaceful light on humanity,
and lives and reigns forever and ever.
Amen.
(Excerpt from The Exsultet: The Proclamation of Easter)
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