Easter Vigil
I love the pageantry of this time of the liturgical year. Even if I’ve been an irregular churchgoer, the Lenten and Easter seasons always bring me back.
But Easter Vigil is hands-down my favorite service of the year, and always has been. When I was little, it meant that I was allowed to stay up extra-late and play with candles (I may have set my church program aflame once or twice). When I was in high school, I made strawberries dipped in chocolate for the always-amazing after-parties we’d have at our church. And when I was at Whitman, going to Easter Vigil in Walla Walla every year felt a bit more like being at home.
It’s pretty theatrical, sitting in the dark and listening to stories that are thousands of years old. My mind always wanders at some point to imagining ancient life in the holy land; to contemplating the symmetry of the whole story, from the passage of the Jews to the resurrection of Jesus; to wonder at the questions raised by his triumph over death and the rising of the dry bones. I love how the readings anchor the Christian story firmly in Jewish tradition. I love the theatricality that makes this Eucharist different from every other one we might celebrate throughout the year. The year that I attended Easter Vigil at St. Mark’s Cathedral, they did the full nine lessons and psalms, and when it came time to celebrate the resurrection, the bishop yelled it out, they threw on all the lights at once, and the organ went full-blast. It was not entirely unlike watching a geyser erupt.
If you have the time this Saturday night and are so inclined, I’d highly recommend it. If you’re not Christian, it’s like a crash course — it says: here, this is what we’re about. If you are Christian, but haven’t experienced it, try it out. It will renew and reset your perspective. And it’s fun.
The Episcopal service opens with this prayer:
This is the night, when you brought our fathers, the children
of Israel, out of bondage in Egypt, and led them through the
Red Sea on dry land.
This is the night, when all who believe in Christ are delivered
from the gloom of sin, and are restored to grace and holiness
of life.
This is the night, when Christ broke the bonds of death and hell, and
rose victorious from the grave.









