The Mother of all Vigils - becoming present with Christ

Father Lee Marshall

The Easter Vigil is the most important moment of the year for all our Christian communities and each Church marks it in a unique way. It was dubbed ‘the mother of all vigils’ in the Roman Missal (the book used for the celebration of mass), quoting one of St Augustine’s fourth-century sermons, emphasizing the importance of this particular celebration.

Catholics wait in anticipation through the liturgical year for this Sacred Triduum – one single act of worship that spans three days, from Maundy Thursday to the Easter Saturday Vigil. It is the crux of our joy and faith.

The community looks forward to experiencing this extraordinary time together, with lots of music, prayer, and grace. The Sacred Triduum is the climax of Holy Week where we celebrate the Paschal mystery - the Passion, death and Resurrection of Christ.

“In a mysterious way, we are there with Christ and his disciples; we are part of the event.”

The thing that excites me the most about the Triduum is the way in which we enter the Paschal mystery; we’re not simply ‘re-enacting’ the events that took place two thousand years ago, like some kind of theatrical play. Our celebration of the liturgy makes the event ‘present’ to us and we to it. In a mysterious way, we are there with Christ and his disciples; we are part of the event.

On Holy Thursday we gather with Jesus and his disciples for the Last Supper. We experience Jesus washing our feet, as he did with the first disciples on the first Holy Thursday. We relive the moments that Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist with his disciples.

We walk (symbolically: we all move to another part of the Church) with Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane and then wait with Him in silence, usually until midnight. We often share the disciples’ experience of trying to stay focussed and are haunted by Jesus’s words: “Could you not stay awake with me one hour?”

We gather again in the Church at 3pm the next day, Good Friday, to celebrate the Passion of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The Church is bare, everything has been stripped away or covered, we now enter the heart of Jesus’s suffering.

Like other Christians, we fast on this day, we stand as the Passion narrative is read in its entirety from John’s Gospel, we pray and intercede for all peoples, then we adore the Cross on which our Saviour died. After the Good Friday service, we leave the Church in silence and then we wait.

There is a sense of profound sadness for what we have just witnessed and remembered, but also excitement: no matter what else we are doing in our lives we wait and fast. I always feel close to Mary the Blessed Mother at this time; Mary was the one who waited for the Resurrection of her Son, on that first Holy Saturday. On that day, she was the community of believers, so we wait with Mary, full of sorrow and full of excitement.

This eerily intense period that cloaks us lasts until the Easter Saturday vigil. After the sun sets, a new fire is lit and blessed. From this powerful blaze, the Paschal candle is lit and carried into the dark church. And so, we experience a new beginning with the Resurrected Christ. 

We read up to seven readings and sing psalms from Scripture, we then renew the promises of our Baptism. This is also the moment when new members join our community.  Finally, with great joy and praise we celebrate the Eucharist.

Father Lee Marshall is the Chaplain of St. Vincent’s Mission Hub in the Catholic Diocese of Hallam.

Find out more at www.stvincentsmissionhub.org Instagram: @stvincents_missionhub