Holy Saturday

The Easter Vigil begins in darkness.  The darknessitself is the first movement of the liturgy.  It represents alldarkness, and all the meanings of darkness – devoid of light; evil thoughts,motivations, deeds; all that is hidden and secret, deceitful and dishonest,divisive and abusive, immoral and sinful.  It’s the darkness of our world,and the darkness in our hearts.  If we come to the vigil and restlesslyand impatiently fidget in the dark “until something happens,” we will miss thepower of what is about to happen.  So, we prepare by readying ourselves toexperience the despair of darkness.

Then a light is struck.  It breaks into the darkness andthe priest prays: “O God, who through your son bestowed upon the faithfulthe fire of your glory, sanctify + this new fire, we pray, and grantthat, by these Paschal celebrations, we may be so inflamed withheavenly desires that with minds made pure, we may attain festivitiesof unending splendor.”

The Easter Candle is lit from this primordial fire. In thedarkness of the sanctuary, small candles are lit from it, and light ripplesuntil the whole assembly is illuminated with small white flames. Against thisbackdrop of the struggle between darkness and light, the Easter Exsultet isintoned:

…”This is the night
that even now throughout the world,
sets Christian believers apart from worldly vices
and from the gloom of sin,
leading them to grace
and joining them to his holy ones.”

Listen to theExsultet sung a cappella: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMfIHoJiqbk