Easter Vigil Mass...Holy Saturday

Why does our Easter Vigil Mass have to be so late in the evening?

     As we draw closer to Easter, I want to speak of the Easter Vigil Mass in the life of the Church while also addressing the question of why it starts at the
scheduled time of 9:30 pm (and not earlier).

     In the liturgical year, it is the Sacred Triduum that stands as the high point of the entire liturgical year as the Triduum commemorates the Lord Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection. For it is in these mysteries that Christ accomplishes His redeeming work of freeing us from sin and gifting us with a share in His eternal kingdom. This “triduum” contains the three separated, but deeply connected moments of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening, the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord on Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night after dark on Holy Saturday. In fact, these three moments are so intimately connected that they are kept as one liturgy (and hence this is why the Mass on Holy Thursday and the service on Good Friday do not conclude with a blessing or dismissal and why the service on Good Friday and the Easter Vigil Mass do not begin with a Sign of the Cross and greeting).

   To the Easter Vigil itself, the Church’s description of this Mass in the Roman Missal calls it “the greatest and most noble of all solemnities.” For it is at this Mass that the Church meditates on the history of our salvation (as given through the chosen Scriptural passages – of which there are seven Old Testament readings, along with a short passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans, culminating in the proclamation of the particular Gospel account of the resurrection for the given year in the lectionary cycle [which this year will be from Matthew]). In addition, at this Mass wherein the Paschal Candle is blessed (that symbolizes Christ, the Light of the World), we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection that destroys the darkness of sin. All who believe in this mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection are invited to share in that light of Christ through baptism (or the renewal of baptism for those who have already received baptism). 

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