The Great Easter Vigil

Saturday March 31, 2024 - 8:00pm

Easter Vigil

 The Church liturgy was intended as the first (and arguably, the primary) celebration of Easter in the Book   of Common Prayer (pp. 284-95). It is also known as the Great Vigil. The service begins in darkness, sometime between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter, and consists of four parts:

The Service of Light
  Kindling of new fire, lighting the Paschal candle, the Exsultet;

The Service of Lessons
  Readings from the Hebrew Scriptures interspersed with psalms, canticles, and prayers

Christian Initiation
  Holy Baptism or the Renewal of Baptismal Vows; and the Eucharist.

Through this liturgy, the BCP recovers an ancient practice of keeping the Easter feast. Believers would gather in the hours of darkness ending at dawn on Easter to hear scripture and offer prayer. This night-long service of prayerful watching anticipated the baptisms that would come at first light and the Easter Eucharist. Easter was the primary baptismal occasion for the early church to the practical exclusion of all others. This practice linked the meanings of Christ's dying and rising to the understanding of baptism.

At Grace Church the service begins at 8:00pm when the light is brought into the Church and through music, prayers,lessons and communion we keep watch.