Easter Vigil

The enormous significance of Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection has always been the central focus of Christian worship. Prior to the 4th century, Easter Day itself included all three emphases, but thereafter they were distributed over three days of special observance which St. Augustine called “the most holy Triduum of the crucified, buried and risen Lord.” These days have long been understood as the climax of the church’s year.

Since the last half of the twentieth century, Lutherans have been rediscovering the richness of the ancient Triduum and adapting the traditional services associated with it for use in evangelical Lutheran worship. Interestingly, the Lutheran Church in Germany did the same thing generations ago in rediscovering this ancient rite for the Western Church.

We have been celebrating the Easter Vigil at Epiphany Lutheran Church, Racine, WI for the past few years. It is still an relatively unknown and under-appreciated service. However, those who attend every year, love the symbolism of this evening.

We leave the Good Friday Tenebrae Service (Service of Darkness) in darkness and solemnity. The Paschal Candle is lit and led out of the service. On Easter Saturday, marking the day Jesus spent in the tomb, the worshipers gather outside the church at night beside a fire. The worshipers light their individual candles from the newly lit Paschal Candle. We walk into the darkness and solemnity of the church. Throughout the service, the darkness of Good Friday is reversed. The “alleluias” are reintroduced. We are prepared for Easter Sunday.

Throughout the next few posts, I will explain the Easter Vigil and its emphases. My prayer is that it will become a necessary preparation for Easter Sunday, just as Maundy Thursday and Good Friday have become.

The Easter Vigil, like the Christmas Vigil, remained a popular festive worship service in the Lutheran Churches during and after the Reformation. It was often celebrated in the early morning hours of Easter Sunday. As in all Lutheran services of this period, vernacular language was used in combination with traditional liturgical texts in Latin (such as the Exsultet). Elements which were considered unbiblical and superstitious where eliminated, such as the blessing of the new fire, the consecration of the candles or of water.

Emphasis was placed on the scriptural readings, congregational singing and on the Easter sermon. In Wittenberg the Easter Gospel (Matthew 28:1–10; 16 – 20) was sung in the German language in a tone similar to the tone of the Exsultet – a gospel tone only used for this worship service. The devastation caused by the Thirty Years’ War also led to a decline in worship culture in the Lutheran Churches in Germany. The rationalism of the 18th Century also brought about a change in worship habits and customs. The liturgical movement that arose in the German Lutheran Churches after World War I rediscovered the Easter Vigil in its reformational form. In an article from 1934 for the Liturgical Conference of Lower Saxony and for the Berneuchen Movement Wilhelm Stählin appealed to fellow Lutherans for an Easter service on early Easter Sunday or on Holy Saturday night using elements from the Missal, the Orthodox tradition and from reformational service orders.

An order for the Easter Vigil was published in 1936, and several Lutheran congregations in Hannover observed the Easter Vigil in 1937. Since then the Easter Vigil has experienced a revival in many parishes throughout Germany. This movement within the German Lutheran Churches contributed to a revival and revision of the Roman Catholic order for the Easter Vigil by Pope Pius XII in 1951. The “Agende II” for the Evangelical Lutheran Churches and Parishes in Germany from 1960 gave the “Osternacht” (German for “Easter Vigil”) a normative form. The most recent agenda for the Easter Vigil was published by the “Vereinigte Evangelisch-lutherische Kirche” in 2008[2]. The order for the Easter Vigil is comparable to the order of service used by American Lutherans. It is characterized, however, by a number of Gregorian chants, medieval and reformational hymns which have been in use in German worship services for centuries.
In North America the Lutherans, similarly to the Anglicans, have in many places returned to the observance of the Easter Vigil [including the restoration of the blessing of the new fire].

Source: Wikipedia

The Scripture readings all speak of creation to a new life. The creation of new life in Genesis 1:1-2:3. The destruction of preservation of life in the flood in selected verses from Genesis 7-9. The sparing of Isaac’s life by the substitutionary ram in Genesis 22:1-18. Israel’s deliverance from their old life and rescue to a new life in Canaan in Exodus 14:10-15:1. I’ll explain these readings more in depth in subsequent posts.

Following the reading is the Service of Holy Baptism. The Sacrament of Baptism is integral to the Easter Vigil. In the early church, catechumens were baptized and received their first communion at the Vigil. Baptisms are thus especially appropriate. When there are no Baptisms, worshipers are invited to remember their own Baptisms using the form included in the service order. Even if there are no Baptisms, the font is filled with water for the Service of Baptism.

Following the Service of Holy Baptism is the reading of the Resurrection Gospel and the introduction of the “Alleluias” again for Easter. Then comes the proclamation of the risen Savior and the blessed reconciliation to God through the Service of Holy Communion.

Like the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services, there is no blessing because there is no end to this service. It continues on Easter morning with the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord.

All You Works of the Lord
Benedicite, Omnia Opera
All you works of the Lord, bléss the Lord—
praise him and magnify hím forever.
You angels of the Lord, bléss the Lord;
you heavens, bléss the Lord;
all you powers of the Lord, bléss the Lord—
praise him and magnify hím forever.
You sun and moon, bléss the Lord;
you stars of heaven, bléss the Lord;
you showers and dew, bléss the Lord—
praise him and magnify hím forever.
You winds of God, bléss the Lord;
you fire and heat, bléss the Lord;
you winter and summer, bléss the Lord—
praise him and magnify hím forever.
You dews and frost, bléss the Lord;
you frost and cold, bléss the Lord;
you ice and snow, bléss the Lord—
praise him and magnify hím forever.
You nights and days, bléss the Lord;
you light and darkness, bléss the Lord;
you lightning and clouds, bléss the Lord—
praise him and magnify hím forever.
Let the earth bléss the Lord:
you mountains and hills, bléss the Lord;
all you green things that grow on the earth, bléss the Lord—
praise him and magnify hím forever.
You wells and springs, bléss the Lord;
you rivers and seas, bléss the Lord;
you whales and all who move in the seas, bléss the Lord—
praise him and magnify hím forever.
All you birds of the air, bléss the Lord;
all you beasts and cattle, bléss the Lord;
all you children of mortals, bléss the Lord—
praise him and magnify hím forever.
You people of God, bléss the Lord;
you priests of the Lord, bléss the Lord;
you servants of the Lord, bléss the Lord—
praise him and magnify hím forever.
You spirits and souls of the righteous, bléss the Lord;
you pure and humble of heart, bléss the Lord;
let us bless the Father and the Son and the Hóly Spirit—
praise him and magnify hím forever.

Exsultet of the Easter Vigil
O night that is brighter than day,
O night more dazzling than the sun,
O night more sparkling than fresh snow,
O night more brilliant than all our lamps!
O night that is sweeter than Paradise,
O night delivered from darkness,
O night that dispels the sleep of sin,
O night that makes us keep vigil with the angels,
O night terrible for the demons,
O night desired by all the year,
O night that leads the bridal Church to her Spouse,
O night that is mother to those enlightened!
O night in which the Devil, sleeping, was despoiled,
O night in which the Heir brings the co-heirs to their heritage.
(Asterius of Pontus AD 341-400)