The Great Vigil of Easter is the biggest event of the year in our church. It’s a powerful evening that marks the end of a long Lenten season - a multisensory liturgical experience that incorporates all five senses. The service begins with a ‘blessing of light’ which is basically a big campfire outside the sanctuary. Then we all light individual candles and carry them into the church where the first part of the ritual takes place in the dark just after sunset. There are five Hebrew Bible readings and some more solemn hymns.
I'm a lifelong Catholic, and we celebrate the Easter vigil Mass every year, in a manner very similar to what you describe, beginning outside, entering the church with candles, etc. I never cared for Easter morning Mass, and prefer the solemnity and awe of the vigil service. I'm sorry you didn't get to enjoy that as a Catholic child, but please don't assume that it doesn't happen, at every parish of which I've been a member, over the course of 64 years.
You are so right about it all, Jonas... including Easter Vigil with its beautiful imagery! And your final summary paragraph expresses such perfect prophetic truth! It is truly wonderful to hear the voice of enlightenment! Amen... Amen... Amen!
I'm a lifelong Catholic, and we celebrate the Easter vigil Mass every year, in a manner very similar to what you describe, beginning outside, entering the church with candles, etc. I never cared for Easter morning Mass, and prefer the solemnity and awe of the vigil service. I'm sorry you didn't get to enjoy that as a Catholic child, but please don't assume that it doesn't happen, at every parish of which I've been a member, over the course of 64 years.
You are so right about it all, Jonas... including Easter Vigil with its beautiful imagery! And your final summary paragraph expresses such perfect prophetic truth! It is truly wonderful to hear the voice of enlightenment! Amen... Amen... Amen!
Amen.